Dehypostatizing the Sense in Sense-making

Abstract

The concept of sense or meaning is purported to distinguish Husserlian phenomenology from other schools of thought. However, it is also the most controversial notion, as few interpretations can preserve both the atemporality and singularity of meaning as Husserl believes. I meet this challenge by rejecting a key assumption in previous interpretations: that the sense made of an entity by an intentional experience is itself an entity. The dehypostatization of sense in sense-making, following Lask, explains why Husserl’s concepts of constitution, transcendental subject and epoché differ from their counterparts in Cartesianism and Neo-Kantianism. It helps diagnose where Husserl and Heidegger converge and diverge, and assigns different roles to art and philosophy in the research on meaning.