Phenomenology as Cooperative Task: Husserl-Farber Correspondence During 1936-37

Abstract

The fiftieth anniversary of Edmund Husserl's death fell in the year i988. While symposia and exhibitions have been held in may parts of the world in his honor,' we are now offered a poignant reminder of the circumstances surrounding the founder of phenomenology in his la3t years of life. The occasion to reminisce is based on the materials of the late Marvin Farber recently acquired by the State University of New York at Buffalo. Among Farber's papers were found, along with other shorter exchanges mostly in the form of cards, four rather lengthy hand written letters from Husserl to Farber. Three of the letters date from I9 3 6 (February I8, August i8, November zo). The last and the longest, and, in our view, the most significant because it directly answers several questions which Farber raised while preparing his drafts for The Foundation of Phenomenology, is dated June i8, I937, about ten months before Husserl's death. We publish here this last letter with its English translation and Farber's letter of March z6, I937, to which Husserl was replying.Z In order to