This book provides a concise and comprehensive introduction to the concept of phenomenology, perhaps the most important and influential movement in twentieth century philosophy.

It explains the development of the phenomenological method in the works of four thinkers: Edmund Husserl, Martin Heidegger, Jean-Paul Sartre, and Maurice Merleau-Ponty. It also addresses the criticisms directed at phenomenology by Emmanuel Levinas and Jacques Derrida, and the ways in which phenomenology has continued to flourish in spite of such critique, in the work of Michel Henry and Jean-Luc Marion.

The text includes many helpful features such as key definitions, sample essay and exam questions, an extensive bibliography, and suggested readings for each topic covered, making the book an ideal companion to any course in phenomenology and phenomenological thinkers. The book presupposes no prior knowledge on the part of the reader, making it suitable for those encountering phenomenology for the first time, but it also provides an original interpretation that will be of lasting value to postgraduates and scholars.