Ricoeur was one of the most original philosophers of the late twentieth century, but he was also a remarkable interpreter of Husserl's work. In these nine essays Ricoeur concentrates on Husserl's philosophy of consciousness rather than his work in logic, the result being an explanation of his own work along with that of Husserl. Starting with an introduction to the phenomenological movement, Ricoeur works through the major themes and schools, including descriptive and transcendental phenomenology, and explains the development of reflection and major concepts of material nature, animate nature and spirit in Idea I and Idea II. Ricoeur then analyzes the "cogito" meditation and Husserl's treatment of synthesis as the fundamental form of consciousness in Cartesian Meditations I-V, then analyzes Husserl's sense of history and his relation to the work of Kant, closing with treatments of existential phenomenology as well as methods and tasks of a phenomenology of the will. Annotation ©2008 Book News, Inc., Portland, OR (booknews.com)