SOURCE: “Edmund Husserl and the Background of his Philosophy,” in Philosophy and Phenomenological Research, Vol. 1, No. 1, September, 1940, pp. 1-20.

In the following excerpt, Farber traces the precursors to and outlines the development of Husserl's philosophy.

Nothing in recent philosophy approaches the supreme confidence with which Husserl announced his triumphant beginning of a new science of philosophy, an “absolute” discipline achieved by means of an elaborately worked out method. It was advanced as the real positive outcome of the philosophical efforts of the centuries. In fact, all preceding philosophers were classified by him as either adumbrating or falling short of the ideals of phenomenology. There is something majestic and heroic about the tone of Husserl. His is not an opinion hastily advanced. More than fifty years of consecutive reflection and hard work, resulting in numerous superb examples of descriptive analysis, have made it necessary to greet his claim with...