Postcard from Edmund Husserl written 24.12.1921

Author Edmund Husserl

Category foreign researchers, incoming correspondence

Archive The Library of the Polish Academy of Arts and Sciences

Date of creation 24.12.1921

Reference code in archive Biblioteka PAU

Resource type postcard

Subject matter academic issues, personal issues

Field phenomenology, philosophy

Tags #academic work, #Alexander Pfänder, #Bell Foundation, #Christmas, #Conrad Martius, #constitutive problems, #Dawes Hicks, #dogmatic metaphysics, #Edith Stein, #Edmund Husserl, #Friedrich Neumann, #friendship relations, #Fritz Kaufmann, #future, #Hans Lipps, #humanitas, #ideal values, #Ideas: General Introduction to Pure Phenomenology, #Japanese, #Martin Heidegger, #Moritz Geiger, #Oskar Becker, #phenomenological group, #phenomenology, #philosophy, #political situation, #royalty, #University of London, #Yearbook

Freiburg on Christmas Eve, 24. XII. 21

Dear Friend!

Can you imagine, your letter arrived just two hours before the opening of Christmas presents, what a wonderful Christmas present. I will be reading it to my wife this evening; you know how much she cares about you. She will be happy, like me. Thank you for your detailed message about your unfortunately difficult life.15 I encourage you and your d[ear] wife to stay positive. After all, you are doing relatively well in such a difficult time and your strong foundation in [1] with its last ideal values, and your will to help pure humanitas to make a breakthrough. We are completely dedicated to this and to our ph.*. To my delight, I agree with you wholeheartedly in all respects, concerning Miss St[ein] and the new writing of Mrs. C[onrad]-Mart[ius]. I was just as surprised; but she was never really my student and she refuses consciously the spirit of a ph[ilosophy] “as a strict scie[nce].” Frankly, I repeatedly wondered if I should resign from the Yearbook. Even Pfänder’s phen[omenology] is essentially different from mine, and therefore he, by the way, a very honest and solid man, never fully understood the const[itutive] problems, slips into dogm.[2] metaph[ysics]. Even Geiger is only ¼ of a phenom[enologist]. But you are, I believe, a true one. Too bad that you were not here two years later to have had the opportunity to attend the four intensive lecture semesters. You would have completely seen through my horizon. I have come so much farther, although I do not dismiss the Id[eas] I (only in some individual details, which will be left out of my manuscript), as I have advanced the systematic so much further and purified it in many ways. I am quite sure now. God will help you through this. Heidegger has also developed his powerfully strange character and appears to be strong. Whatever evolves inside of him, it will be of high quality. Dr. Becker, who has just submitted his philosophical mathematical habilitation thesis, has developed magnificently. He has become a pure phenomen[ologist] and he is also rooted in aesth[etics] (just like as Mrs. Kaufmann). I am currently feeling tired and worn out, but I am going to return to work soon. Can you imagine the University of London has officially invited me to give four lectures at their school? I accepted, and I will probably conduct those at the end of April or the end of June. I will be staying with Professor Hicks in Cambridge. Try not to overburden yourself, instead look forward to your beautiful problems and write about them. Yearbook V is paid for and gifted by a grant from Bell’s foundation. Neumann is an adjunct professor of German Studies in Leipzig and has become a well-educated phen[omenologist]. Lipps has been vacationing in G[öttingen ] and sails the seas as a ship’s doctor. We have three Japanese over here, one of whom seems to be developing into a ph[enomenologist]. Finally, we wish you the best of luck and many blessings. Stay in touch with your old teacher.

Yours, E. Husserl

A remuneration of 100 M. per page has been approved for you.

[1] Translator’s note: The meaning of this sentence is not clear due to the foreign (Greek?) word.
[2] Translator’s note: Not sure what the abbreviation stands for (dogmatic?)