The topicality of husserlian phenomenology: Overcoming old commonplaces and opening new fields of research

In the frame of a new discovery of phenomenology, the present essay offers different arguments to overcome the classical interpretation of Husserl considering him a prototypical solipsist. First we refute Dreyfus' mentalistic misunderstanding of Husserlian phenomenology, and show that his philosophical program is beyond the traditional dichotomy between internalism and externalism. Second, it is our aim to point out some of the fundamental contributions made by Husserl's phenomenology to the cognitive sciences and analytical philosophy of mind, especially highlighting the importance attributed to passive synthesis in his genetic phenomenology.