Is There A Phenomenological Research Program?

Abstract

This article has three aims: to establish the role of phenomenology in recent narratives concerning what "Continental" philosophy is; to explore the question of whether there is sufficient commonality within the "phenomenological movement" to speak of a genuine method and research program; and to employ the grid of factors that emerge from a positive answer to that question as a way of assessing the account of phenomenology given in two recent books, both entitled Introduction to Phenomenology, by Dermot Moran and by Robert Sokolowski. It is shown how each struggles with two aspects of the phenomenological research program in particular: its antinaturalism and its metaphysical "neutrality."