Abstract

This book presents a comprehensive summary and analysis of the development of Husserl's criticism of relativism as it appears in both published works and unpublished manuscripts. The author discerns three stages in the evolution of Husserl's position: an early emphasis on the formal contradictions implicit in various versions of relativism; a subsequent more positive phenomenology of evidence and truth; and a final effort to reconcile the ideal of absolute truth with the limits entailed by the plurality and relativity of lifeworlds. She makes a strong case for the merits of Husserl's later position, and also makes telling criticisms of extreme interpretations of Husserl either as an unrepentant absolutist or as a failed foundationalist. In addition, she engages throughout in an instructive dialogue with contemporary proponents of relativism.