The Essence of Phenomenology and Its Meaning for the Scientific Study of Religion

Contents: Preface - Introduction - The Confusion about 'phenomenology' in religious studies - The semantic potential of 'phenomenology' - The phenomenologies of Lambert, Robison, Hegel, Hamilton, Whewell, Peirce and Husserl - Ramifications of the philosophical meaning of 'phenomenology' for religion - Conclusions.

The Author: Thomas Ryba received his B.A. (Honors, philosophy), M.A. (History and Literature of Religions) and Ph.D. (History and Literature of Religions) from Northwestern University. Before teaching, he was employed as a research assistant, teaching assistant, educational project director, director of planning, research and evaluation (at Harry S. Truman College) and assistant professor of Religious Studies at Michigan State University from 1986 to 1990. Currently, he is the Theologian in Residence at the St. Thomas Aquinas Center at Purdue University.

This is a philosophically demanding work of the highest order. The quality and precision of its thought represent a definite advance in the understanding of phenomenology. This foundational study will be of great value to anyone working in this field and is an indispensable reference work for all scholarly libraries. (Ursula King, University of Leeds) Ryba has written an outstanding study on phenomenology. ... (He) considers his definition more universal, more comprehensive, more methodologically rigorous, and more easily articulated than previous philosophical definitions. ... Thomas Ryba's study is a profound and challenging one, and I was impressed after reading it. (Wim Hofstee, Method & Theory in the Study of Religion) There is little question that Ryba succeeds brilliantly in showing that the meaning of phenomenology can be constrained. His success is due to the close attention he pays both to the development of the phenomenological method and to the models proposed by phenomenologists in their theorizing about their subject matter. The book will be invaluable for all scholars interested in the subject.(E. Thomas Lawson, Journal of Religion) Thomas Ryba...offers a detailed and sophisticated treatment of the many forms of philosophical phenomenology and their relation (or lack of) to the phenomenology of religion. (Russell T. McCutcheon, Review of Religious Research) ...all of us in the fields of history, literary criticism, philosophy of religion and phenomenology proper have much to learn from the scope of Ryba's work and the excellence of his innovative scholarship. (Kathleen M. Haney, Religion)

"This is a philosophically demanding work of the highest order. The quality and precision of its thought represent a definite advance in the understanding of phenomenology. This foundational study will be of great value to anyone working in this field and is an indispensable reference work for all scholarly libraries." (Ursula King, University of Leeds) "Ryba has written an outstanding study on phenomenology. ... (He) considers his definition more universal, more comprehensive, more methodologically rigorous, and more easily articulated than previous philosophical definitions. ... Thomas Ryba's study is a profound and challenging one, and I was impressed after reading it." (Wim Hofstee, Method & Theory in the Study of Religion)
"There is little question that Ryba succeeds brilliantly in showing that the meaning of phenomenology can be constrained. His success is due to the close attention he pays both to the development of the phenomenological method and to the models proposed by phenomenologists in their theorizing about their subject matter. The book will be invaluable for all scholars interested in the subject."(E. Thomas Lawson, Journal of Religion)
"Thomas Ryba...offers a detailed and sophisticated treatment of the many forms of philosophical phenomenology and their relation (or lack of) to the phenomenology of religion." (Russell T. McCutcheon, Review of Religious Research)
"...all of us in the fields of history, literary criticism, philosophy of religion and phenomenology proper have much to learn from the scope of Ryba's work and the excellence of his innovative scholarship." (Kathleen M. Haney, Religion)