Phenomenology studies conscious experience as experienced from the subjective or first person point of view. This field of philosophy is then to be distinguished from, and related to, the other main fields of philosophy: ontology (the study of being or what is), epistemology (the study of knowledge), logic (the study of valid reasoning), ethics (the study of right and wrong action), etc.
I have read somewhere maybe it was Chalmers on phenomenological realism. Conscious experience can relay knowledge about reality in a different way to the study of physical stuff. Its treated like a real phenomena, as real as objective reality that can reveal a deeper reality going on.
We often dismiss our experiences or don't recognise them but some are at least real. Its about mind states and understanding the difference between imaginings and what rationalising beliefs and experiences as justified in the moment. As something that reveals a deeper or different kind of knowledge about reality.
The thought experiment of colorblind Mary is one example. Mary knew everything objectively about sight, brain connections and the color spectrum but had never experienced colors. One day Mary woke up and for the first time experienced the color red of an apple on the table. Mary had gained new knowledge about reality that all her knowledge of the objective world could not tell her. Her experience was real.
We have many experiences like this that seem very real yet not material which reveal a deeper reality. Though I think we often take it for or don't recognised most of what we are actually experiencing. But this deeper knowledge seems to be transcendent and not bounded by the physical world and can be shared.
I will have to find the article as it goes into detailed arguements about the realism of phenomenal experiences. Here is one I found with a quick search. Chalmers is good at seperating the states of mind and the difference between unreal imaginings and phenomenal experiences.
The Content and Epistemology of Phenomenal Belief
I have heard of the Narrative idea being like a phenomena where words and language can create reality. Words are like symbols and codes that we can use to put in peoples minds a certain reality. I know Postmodernist love narratives as they believe that there is no objective reality and that its self referential. That is words and feelings create reality or your reality and these realities are the only true reality even trumping the objective world.
In fact the idea is that science itself is a tool of narrative in that its a social construction, a western construction designed to dictate the world. So Postmodernist push the self referential narrative to counter the oppressive western science narrative. Everything comes down to social constructions which are created by narratives. Thats why we see so many arguements nowadays about words, word meanings and that even the wrong words can get you into trouble.
So I have been wondering about a specifically Christian Phenomenology. What authors might be representatives?
I like Jordan Peterson on this even though I am not sure he is a Christian himself. But he relates the gospels through psychology and cites the classical influencers like Jung, Nietzsche, Dostoevsky ect on human thought. The importance of consciousness and the imfluence of Postmodernism narratives.
Then he relates all this back to the bible as basically all literature seeks to find truth and the ultimate truth that all literature have stemmed from is the bible which is not only truth but the precondition for truth..
I found another on consciousness and how phenomenal experiences are realted through ancient sories which we told each other and represnts our conscious experiences of the world.
