Seeing and Not Believing: Imagination, Phantasy, and ‘As If’ Consciousness in Husserl’s Phenomenology

Abstract

Abstract This article aims to explore the relationship between neutralization and “as if” consciousness in Husserl’s phenomenology, in particular, from its convergence in intuitions concerning phantasy. Starting from a critique of a line of interpretation that, in its attempt to approach phenomenologically to an “aesthetic consciousness”, homologates the neutrality modification with the Epoché, the article seeks to expose the methodological function that the modalization of belief fulfills in the project of Ideas I, as well as highlighting the growing importance that phantasy and the “as if” consciousness will acquire in the subsequent development of Husserl’s phenomenology.