Page "Sociology of knowledge" Paragraph 11

The leading proponent of Phenomenological Sociology was Alfred Schutz.

Schutz sought to provide a critical philosophical foundation for Max Weber's interpretive sociology through the use of phenomenological methods derived from the transcendental phenomenological investigations of Edmund Husserl.

Husserl's work was directed at establishing the formal structures of intentional consciousness.

Schutz's work was directed at establishing the formal structures of the Life-world ( Schutz: 1980 ).

Husserl's work was conducted as a transcendental phenomenology of consciousness.

Schutz's work was conducted as a mundane phenomenology of the Life-world ( Natanson: 1974 ).

The difference in their research projects lies at the level of analysis, the objects taken as topics of study, and the type of phenomenological reduction that is employed for the purposes of analysis.