Husserlian Productive Phantasie: A Progression?

Abstract In contradistinction to the prevailing view that Husserl’s phantasy is reproductive (RP), I demonstrate that productive phantasy (PP) can be discerned in Husserliana XXIII (Hua XXIII). PP, I argue, is not confined to reproducing intentional acts and re-presenting intentional objects. Rather, it operates beyond these limits. More precisely, PP (a) creates and intends fictional objects, (b) opens the possibility of conceiving phantasy as bearing intersubjective and cultural dimensions, (c) modifies what is given in perception and carries one into the worlds of play and fiction, and (d) supplies what is otherwise lacking in a historical account. In this light, Hua XXIII presents four distinct forms of PP: reine Phantasie (pure phantasy), Bildbewusstsein (image consciousness), perzeptive Phantasie (perceptual phantasy), and historical phantasy. I further maintain that these forms can be understood as a progression, that is, a development of phantasy from (1) a purely subjective intentional act inaccessible to others, to (2) an act that carries an intersubjective element and implies cultural dimension, and finally to (3) an act that explicitly manifests intersubjective and cultural dimensions. Implicit in these functions is a potential contribution to the shaping and reshaping of symbols and narratives, historical and otherwise, across time. This potential opens a way of conceiving phantasy as more than the reproduction of intentional acts and re-presentation of intentional objects.