The horizontal character of time in Heidegger and Husserl

This thesis discusses the thinking on time by Husserl and Heidegger. Heidegger’s Sein und Zeit and Husserl’s Vorlesungen are the two main sources of study. Husserl’s primary purpose with Vorlesungen is to deliver a phenomenological analysis of the consciousness of time. The preliminary goal that Heidegger sets for himself in Sein und Zeit is to provide an interpretation of time as a possible horizon of Dasein. The main question of this thesis is: What role does the concept of ‘horizon’ play in Seit und Zeit by Heidegger and in Vorlesungen zur Phänomenologie des inneren Zeitbewusstseins by Husserl, and how do these concepts relate to one another? Over the past decades, a number of comparative studies on Husserl’s and Heidegger’s concepts of time have appeared, many of which argue that Husserl’s Vorlesungen strongly depend on a metaphysical thinking on time. Heidegger too is critical towards Husserl, directly or indirectly, due to the fact that to his judgement, Husserl reduces all...Show moreThis thesis discusses the thinking on time by Husserl and Heidegger. Heidegger’s Sein und Zeit and Husserl’s Vorlesungen are the two main sources of study. Husserl’s primary purpose with Vorlesungen is to deliver a phenomenological analysis of the consciousness of time. The preliminary goal that Heidegger sets for himself in Sein und Zeit is to provide an interpretation of time as a possible horizon of Dasein. The main question of this thesis is: What role does the concept of ‘horizon’ play in Seit und Zeit by Heidegger and in Vorlesungen zur Phänomenologie des inneren Zeitbewusstseins by Husserl, and how do these concepts relate to one another? Over the past decades, a number of comparative studies on Husserl’s and Heidegger’s concepts of time have appeared, many of which argue that Husserl’s Vorlesungen strongly depend on a metaphysical thinking on time. Heidegger too is critical towards Husserl, directly or indirectly, due to the fact that to his judgement, Husserl reduces all experience to transcendental subjectivity, which results in everything being present to the subject. The purpose of this thesis, however, is to demonstrate that with Husserl as much as with Heidegger, we can speak of an ontology of time. This is clarified, amongst other things, using Husserl’s concept of ‘horizon’. The horizon concept that Husserl uses, appears to be merely empirical and ontic, as opposed to Heidegger’s existential-ontological horizon concept. Yet this thesis demonstrates that Husserl’s horizon does in fact have ontological attributes. To conclude so appears to be a small contribution to existing studies on Husserl and Heidegger, yet it certainly has consequences for an accurate interpretation and comparison of time concepts by Husserl and Heidegger. Even though the ontological character of time with Husserl is not thematic, it can certainly be found in Vorlesungen and therefore cannot be ignored. As a result, Husserl’s ideas can no longer be considered exclusively metaphysical.Show less

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The horizontal character of time in Heidegger and Husserl