2021-12-07
Alexandra Mouratidou
Cognitive Semiotics Seminar, Lund University
09 December 2021
15:00 - 17:00
https://lu-se.zoom.us/j/61502831303 + H428b
Alexandra, who is doing her PhD studies in cognitive semiotics at Lund, will present her work on phenomenology as the basis for a science of lived experience - which could possibly serve as the impetus for a PhD course at Lund University, and beyond. All are welcome, with cameras on, from 3pm for greetings - in the room, or on zoom. The talk will start from 3:15, last about one hour, and be followed by discussion to 5pm. (A traditional post-seminar at Valvet for those who wish to come along!)
Phenomenology was conceived as a “humanistic science” (Husserl, 1970): “the science of human subjectivity in its conscious relation to the world as appearing to it in action and passion” (p.318). Since Husserl’s pathbreaking beginning, numerous thinkers - Heidegger, Merleau-Ponty, de Beauvoir, Ricoeur to name a few - have pushed phenomenology into a variety of directions, which are unfolding into new strands and traditions until today. One of the reasons of the pulsing and continual transformation of phenomenology over the course of time is that its philosophical underpinnings, as a descriptive philosophy of the essences of experiences, qualify it also as a method of qualitative research. I aim to demonstrate this by presenting central philosophical notions and introducing two main methodological approaches: the descriptive and the hermeneutic. I will describe how different researchers have developed their methodologies, the steps they follow when conducting research, and their applications on specific fields of study. At the end, I will address some of the challenges of doing phenomenology and suggest potential ways of overcoming them. I like to think that by giving an account of what phenomenology is and how can we practically use it in research, it will become obvious why we urgently need a science focused on lived experience.
