Outline of a Phenomenological Metacritique of Philosophy of Science

This article is a reflection on the present state of philosophy in light of Husserl’s crisis‐concept. First, I will introduce a tentative classification of philosophical research areas, and stress the significance of philosophy of science for the present state of philosophy. Subsequently, I will use the phenomeno‐ logical theory of science as a foil to illuminate some distinctive features of philosophy of science, and to argue that these features can be understood as a consequence of the fragmentation of philosophy. Finally, I will show that, drawing on transcendental phenomenology, it is possible to bring to the fore some fundamental shortcomings of philosophy of science. These shortcomings stem from its inability to address in a rigorous way the philosophical question of the being of the world, which is, nevertheless, inescapable for any radical investigation concerning its own object.