Abstract

The bulk of the writings Husserl himself saw through to publication were, in one way or another, successive attempts at an "introduction" to phenomenology. That not a single one of these works is of easy access to those for whom phenomenology is something novel in no way contravenes the use of the term 'introduction" to name them. After all, to the end of his days Husserl spoke of himself as a philosophical beginner, and not from any false modesty, but because he knew that the philosopher has access to the archai or old beginnings only if, by his persistent questioning, he is always ready to make a new beginning. "Introduction" amounts, then, to a term of art in his philosophy, describing as much a work in progress as an invitation to the dance.