Edmund Husserl's Transcendental Phenomenology and Epistemological Reconstruction of Contemporary Islam

Abstract

The development of modern science, which is dominated by the positivistic paradigm, has given birth to epistemological problems in the form of a tendency to objectivism that separates knowledge from human conscious experience. This problem also affects the development of contemporary Islamic science which still faces a dichotomy between a revelation-based normative approach and an empirical-historical approach. This study aims to analyze the phenomenology of Edmund Husserl as an epistemological critique of the objectivism of modern science as well as explain its relevance in the epistemological reconstruction of contemporary Islamic science. The research uses a library research method with a philosophical-scientific approach through philosophical-interpretive analysis of Husserl's main works and relevant supporting literature. The results of the study show that Husserl's phenomenology through the concepts of intentionality, epoché, phenomenological reduction, noesis–noema, and Lebenswelt offers a constructive critique of the objectivism of modern science by placing human conscious experience as the basis for the formation of the meaning of knowledge. This perspective has relevance in the development of the epistemology of Islamic science because it opens up a dialogue space between revelation, rationality, and human experience without eliminating the normative position of Islamic teachings. The reconstruction of epistemology through phenomenology allows the development of Islamic science that is more reflective, integrative, humanist, and responsive to contemporary socio-religious dynamics.