現象学(げんしょうがく)

Compound of 現象(げんしょう) ('phenomenon') and 学(がく) ('study; discipline'). The pattern X学(がく) produces names of academic fields: 哲学(てつがく) ('philosophy'), 心理学(しんりがく) ('psychology'), 社会学(しゃかいがく) ('sociology'), 言語学(げんごがく) ('linguistics').

Usage

• Treated as a noun; does not take する.
• Common verbs: を学(まな)ぶ ('to study'), を専攻(せんこう)する ('to major in'), を研究(けんきゅう)する ('to research').
• Often narrowed by a modifier: 現代(げんだい)現象学(げんしょうがく) ('contemporary phenomenology'), 宗教(しゅうきょう)現象学(げんしょうがく) ('phenomenology of religion').
• A practitioner is called a 現象学者(げんしょうがくしゃ) ('phenomenologist').

Common collocations

• 現象学(げんしょうがく)を学(まな)ぶ: to study phenomenology
• 現象学(げんしょうがく)を専攻(せんこう)する: to major in phenomenology
• 現象学(げんしょうがく)の立場(たちば): the phenomenological standpoint
• 現象学(げんしょうがく)の方法(ほうほう): the phenomenological method
• 現象学(げんしょうがく)の創始者(そうししゃ): the founder of phenomenology

Related words

• 現象(げんしょう): phenomenon — the core noun.
• 哲学(てつがく): philosophy — the broader discipline.
• 実存主義(じっそんしゅぎ): existentialism — a closely related twentieth-century movement influenced by phenomenology.
• 解釈学(かいしゃくがく): hermeneutics — another method in the same philosophical tradition.

Cultural note

Japanese philosophy in the twentieth century engaged deeply with phenomenology, especially through the Kyoto School (京都学派(きょうとがくは)). As a result, 現象学(げんしょうがく) is a standard term in humanities curricula, and translations of Husserl and Heidegger are widely read in Japanese.