{"id":40,"date":"2012-04-23T16:22:55","date_gmt":"2012-04-23T23:22:55","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/phenomenologyblog.com\/?p=40"},"modified":"2013-02-24T21:39:19","modified_gmt":"2013-02-25T04:39:19","slug":"the-craft-of-phenomenology","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/phenomenologyblog.com\/?p=40","title":{"rendered":"The Craft of Phenomenology"},"content":{"rendered":"<\/fb:like><\/span>

\u201cHusserlian phenomenology, in its search for meanings, is guided by respect <\/em>for the given.\u201d \u00a0–Jitendranath Mohanty<\/a><\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a>Practicing phenomenological psychology, whether as a researcher or as a clinician, means learning a craft. Its raw materials are the descriptions given to us by interview participants\u2014or, if we are psychotherapists, by our clients. Our \u201ctools\u201d derive from the well-articulated practices of Edmund Husserl\u2019s<\/a> phenomenology, adapted for use in psychological research by Amedeo Giorgi in a body of work spanning more than forty years. These include the phenomenological reduction, epoch\u00e9, and imaginative variation (for a discussion of these, see Giorgi\u2019s 2006 article in the journal An\u00e1lise Psicol\u00f3gica<\/em><\/a>). Learning to take up these tools and engage with human science data in a sensitive, skilled way enables a psychologist to adopt a genuinely phenomenological attitude.<\/p>\n

Like any craft, phenomenological research places demands on the learner, requiring time and commitment. In this respect we can compare it to a highly skilled craft like wooden boat-building. A good friend of mine is a master instructor of traditional wooden sailboat building; he teaches students ranging from beginners to advanced apprentices. Having visited the school\u2019s workshop in Sausalito, where the frames of new boats are taking shape amid the sounds of construction, I can appreciate the analogies with our work.<\/p>\n

One must get a feel for one\u2019s materials and one\u2019s tools, and through practicing with others, experiencing successes and failures, and dialoguing with teachers, learn one\u2019s craft. Learning to build boats, one naturally recognizes that one isn\u2019t the first person in the world to build a sailboat! Human beings have been doing this for centuries, so there is an accumulated body of intersubjective knowledge\u2014a communal<\/em> body of craft-knowledge\u2014that one absorbs and draws upon, supported by mentoring and the community of fellow-learners. In this process, over time, one gains the foundation from which creative expression springs. For me, this process mirrors the lived-experience of learning to practice phenomenological psychology.<\/p>\n

The craft analogy comes to my mind spontaneously as I sit in a caf\u00e9, writing. Then, freely searching online, I discover that Elizabeth Behnke<\/a> published a lovely essay last year titled \u201cWorking Notions: A Meditation on Husserlian Phenomenological Practice\u201d in the book Advancing Phenomenology<\/em>. She invokes the image of the master craftsman or craftswoman as a representation of the phenomenologist\u2019s path of inquiry.<\/p>\n

Behnke points out that a one would never walk into a craftswoman\u2019s workshop and assume that one understood what all the tools are for and how to use them. Some of the tools might initially appear familiar, but one would have to become a student of the craft in order to learn, through practice\u2014and with guidance from the skilled craftswoman\u2014how the tools are properly used. To do otherwise would yield a \u201cboat\u201d that likely wouldn\u2019t be seaworthy.<\/p>\n

This feature of phenomenology has its detractors, however.\u00a0 Dermot Moran<\/a> notes that hermeneutic philosopher Hans-Georg Gadamer<\/a> criticized Husserl\u2019s phenomenology as being too indebted to the Platonic, classical Greek model of \u201capprenticeship to the master,\u201d with \u201ca certain \u2018craft-secret\u2019 approach to passing on the method of phenomenology\u201d (p. 244).<\/p>\n

However, it may well be that mentoring is an intrinsic requirement for the advanced practice of any discipline, including phenomenology. But our \u201csecrets\u201d are open secrets, hidden in plain sight. If one has chosen a challenging, alternative psychological method\u2014of whatever kind\u2014one\u2019s likely to find oneself with a small group of peers! That goes with the territory; it\u2019s not unique to phenomenology. As qualitative researchers, we are a distinct minority and are often perceived as marginal by mainstream practitioners.<\/p>\n

Living in this situation, we must naturally safeguard against becoming too insular, and continually reach out to the larger community, seeking genuine dialogue. Cross-pollination is critical and sustaining. At the same time, as Giorgi has remarked, as outsiders we face not only the challenge of adequately mastering our approach to research, but also, we are continually called upon by critical others to justify the basic premises of what we\u2019re doing. These are creative challenges, if supported by a community of co-researchers\u2014even if that community is relatively small!<\/p>\n

Thanks to <\/em>The Arques School of Traditional Boatbuilding<\/em><\/a> for images<\/em><\/p>\n<\/fb:like><\/span>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

\u201cHusserlian phenomenology, in its search for meanings, is guided by respect for the given.\u201d \u00a0–Jitendranath Mohanty Practicing phenomenological psychology, whether as a researcher or as a clinician, means learning a craft. Its raw materials are the descriptions given to us by interview participants\u2014or, if we are psychotherapists, by our clients. Our \u201ctools\u201d derive from the

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