The Phenomenology Of Everyday Life

The Phenomenology of Everyday Life presents results deriving from a rigorous qualitative approach to the psychological study of everyday human activities and experiences. This approach is grounded in the philosophical traditions of existentialism and phenomenology and employs dialogue as its major method of inquiry. The reasons for these choices are not arbitrary; all derive from the view that a proper study of human events must be framed in terms of a philosophy explicitly developed to encompass human activities. In addition, such events can properly be investigated only on the basis of a method sensitive enough to articulate the nuances of human experience and reflection. The purpose of the present work is not to replace scientific observation with humanistic analysis but to provide an additional perspective on significant human questions. The Phenomenology of Everyday Life should be of interest to anyone concerned with obtaining a clear and comprehensive description of someone else's experience. This includes students and professionals concerned with clinical or social psychology, sociology, anthropology, social work, philosophy, nursing, and education. Also included are individuals involved in research and practice in business, marketing, architecture, and law.

Presents results from a qualitative approach to the psychological study of everyday human experiences.

The Phenomenology of Everyday Life presents results from a rigorous qualitative approach to the psychological study of everyday human activities and experiences. This book does not replace scientific observation with humanistic analysis, but provides an additional perspective on significant human questions. The qualitative approach this book employs is grounded in the philosophical traditions of existentialism and phenomenology, which use dialogue as their major method of inquiry. These traditions are especially well adapted to encompass and describe human events and activities. In addition, such events can be properly investigated only on the basis of a method sensitive enough to articulate the nuances of human experience and reflection. In this latter regard, it is important to note that insights deriving from literature and the humanities are equally as revealing of the human world as those from experimental psychology, biology or medicine.

First Published in 2010. Routledge is an imprint of Taylor & Francis, an informa company.

Classic Writings for a Phenomenology of Practice features examples of newly translated classic phenomenological texts that have been largely forgotten or misunderstood. The writings are unique in that they speak to the practice of doing phenomenological research for the purpose of gaining insights and better understandings regarding aspects of professional practice and ordinary life phenomena and events. Phenomenology does not have to be impenetrable philosophy, dealing with tedious technical issues. Instead, phenomenology may offer relevance, value, and enduring allure to readers and researchers who are engaged with the quotidian life experiences and events of students, patients, clients, friends, and other individuals. This phenomenological approach aims to stay as close as possible to the ordinary events of everyday life: seeing the first smile of a child, feeling compulsive, being humorous, having a conversation, experiencing childhood secrecy, encountering new things—topics that span a manifold of life experiences. In this collection of classic phenomenological writings, each author is thoughtfully introduced, and each text is followed by a conversational descant: a reflection on the phenomenological reflection. The presentation of these classic writings and their reflections aims to show us what it means to do phenomenology directly on the phenomena that we live—thus asking us to be attentive to the fascinating varieties and subtleties of primal lived experiences and consciousness in all its remarkable complexities. This book is relevant for scholars and students who are interested in human science research and the origins and practices of the phenomenological method.

Everyday life events are employed in this volume to illustrate a phenomenological view of human nature, development and interpersonal relationships. Becker draws on the work of key thinkers in existential philosophy, phenomenological philosophy and psychology, blended with humanistic, descriptive accounts of living and relating, to show how their insights can provide a rich and useful orientation to the everyday world of human existence.

Phenomenological sociology and ethnomethodology have many adherents and practitioners throughout the world. The international character of interest in these two areas is exemplified by the papers in this book, which come from scholars in Canada, France, Germany, Japan, South Korea, Switzerland, and the United States. They exemplify the kinds of theoretical and research issues that arise in seeking to explore the social world in ways that respect what Edmund Husserl referred to as “the original right” of all data. The papers were inspired in various ways by the work of George Psathas, Professor Emeritus, Boston University, a renowned phenomenological sociologist and ethnomethodologist and a fundamental contributor to phenomenological sociology and ethnomethodology movements both in the United States and throughout the world. The collection consists of three parts: Phenomenology Sociology as an Intellectual Movement, Phenomenological Considerations, and Ethnomethodological Explorations, reflecting areas to which Professor Psathas has made significant contributions. A phenomenological sociology movement in the US is examined as an intellectual movement in itself and as it is influenced by a leader’s participation both as scholar and as teacher. Phenomenological sociology’s efficacy and potential are discussed in terms of a broad range of theoretical and empirical issues: methodology, similarities and differences between phenomenological sociology and ethnomethodology, embodied sociality, power, trust, friendship, face-to-face interaction, and interactions between children and adults.Theoretical articles addressing fundamental features of ethnomethodology, its development, and its relation to process-relational philosophy are balanced by empirical articles founded on authors’ original ethnomethodological research—activities of direction-giving and direction-following, accounts for organizational deviance, garden lessons, doing being friends, and the crafting of musical time. Through these papers readers can come to understand the theoretical development of phenomenological sociology and ethnomethodology, appreciate their achievements and their promise, and find inspiration to pursue their own work in phenomenological sociology and ethnomethodology.