Open research questions in Phenomenology and Existential Philosophy
358 gap statements mined from Phenomenology and Existential Philosophy papers in our 7.9M-paper local library, which holds 6,685 papers on the topic — drawn mostly from each paper's own stated research gap, future-work, challenge and limitation notes, and its abstract. The ones listed below are a selection still marked open; each names the study that raised it, with a DOI link where the paper has one.
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What the literature leaves open
The gap in current research is a comprehensive analysis of Husserl's concept of Stellungnahme and its relation to human life. The paper identifies a need for a deeper understanding of Husserl's philosophy and the concept of Stellungnahme.
The paper identifies a gap in understanding the grounds of conversation and how it is experienced by individuals. It highlights the need to recognize the historical contingency of our present experience and the ways in which our subjectivity is shaped by our relations with others. The author notes that the experience of losing one's voice is not uncommon, but the complete loss of voice is rare.
The gap is the lack of a clear understanding of the relationship between phenomenology and the human sciences. The paper identifies the need to reconsider the metaphor of parallel action and to demonstrate the fundamental homogeneity between the two disciplines.
There is a need for clearer conceptual boundaries for empathy. The paper argues that prior theories of empathy, such as simulation and associative conceptual frameworks, are insufficient.
The paper identifies a gap in the understanding of Heidegger's technology essay and its relation to human know-how and ethical judgement.
This highlights the ambivalence in reality maintenance and the tension between familiarity and strangeness in our social and cultural lives—an area Schutz has not fully explored.
Future research could explore the implications of the institution of nature for various fields, including philosophy, biology, and psychology. Future research could also develop the concept of the institution of nature further.
The concept of an institution of nature is not fully developed in Merleau-Ponty's work. There is a need for a framework that integrates evolutionary and phenomenological perspectives.
Future research could further explore the relationship between recognition, know-how, and decision-making. The concept of intentionality and absence could be applied to various fields such as psychology, cognitive science, and philosophy. Further research could investigate the implications of the paper's findings for our understanding of human cognition and action.
The traditional view of recognition as mere identification of an object is incomplete. The relationship between recognition, know-how, and decision-making is not fully understood. The paper identifies a gap in the literature regarding the role of intentionality and absence in shaping human cognition and action.
The paper identifies a gap in the existing literature by proposing a novel reading of Being and Time as a philosophical Bildungsroman. The author argues that this reading complements other hermeneutic approaches and brings Heidegger into dialogue with the German Bildungsroman tradition.
The gap is the need for a deeper understanding of the complex relationships between the body, technology, and power. The gap is the lack of integration of the perspectives of Ihde and Foucault.
It highlights the need for a deeper understanding of the concept of person and formation from a phenomenological perspective.
Further research could explore the implications of the paper's findings for educational practices. It could also investigate the relationship between formation, evil, violence, and passivity in different contexts.
La formación frente al mal: violencia y pasividad como límites. Lectura fenomenológica del mal radical, la banalidad del mal y la doble pasividad en la experiencia formativa · 2026 · DOIIt highlights the need for a phenomenological approach to this topic.
La formación frente al mal: violencia y pasividad como límites. Lectura fenomenológica del mal radical, la banalidad del mal y la doble pasividad en la experiencia formativa · 2026 · DOIIt aims to address this gap by examining the relevance of these notions for a theory of formation.
The paper suggests that future research should continue to explore the concept of neuroqueer theory and its relation to animalidad. It recommends further investigation into the potential of queersomatic practices for challenging dominant norms.
The body's ambiguous position in contemporary life is a gap that needs to be addressed. The increasing overshadowing of the body's experience by the digital sphere is a gap that needs to be explored.
Foucault's Aesthetics of Existence and Shusterman's Somaesthetics ed. by Valentina Antoniol and Stefano Marino (review) · 2026 · DOIFuture research could explore the implications of Althusser's conceptualization of theoretical practice for understanding knowledge production. It could also examine the relation between theoretical practice and other theoretical frameworks.
The paper identifies a gap in traditional theories of knowledge, which suggest that knowledge is related to a 'thinking consciousness'. It also identifies a gap in understanding theoretical practice as a material production process.
The paper highlights the need to explore the shift from a catoptric to a haptic model of perception.
The paper argues that existing accounts of collective intentionality have not adequately engaged with questions of selfhood and social cognition.
The paper identifies a gap in the contemporary architecture design process, which overlooks the importance of embodiment and lived-space. It highlights the limitations of digital tools and simulations in capturing the essence of architectural space.
The paper identifies a gap in the understanding of the concept of plasticity in relation to time and its dialectical relationship. The analysis of Malabou's doctoral thesis fills this gap by providing new insights into the status of form without transcendence.
The paper identifies a gap in the understanding of the experiences in virtual reality games. The paper identifies a gap in the understanding of the impact of virtual reality games on the gamer's experience.
Most-cited papers in Phenomenology and Existential Philosophy
- Toward a Psychology of Human Agency · Perspectives on Psychological Science · 2006 · 2,343 citations
- Freedom of the Will and the Concept of a Person · The Journal of Philosophy · 1971 · 2,031 citations
- Situated Actions and Vocabularies of Motive · American Sociological Review · 1940 · 1,693 citations
- Living well: a self-determination theory perspective on eudaimonia · Journal of Happiness Studies · 2006 · 1,203 citations
- A phenomenological hermeneutical method for researching lived experience · Scandinavian Journal of Caring Sciences · 2004 · 1,196 citations
- A Phenomenological Research Design Illustrated · International Journal of Qualitative Methods · 2004 · 1,042 citations
- Hermeneutic Phenomenology and Phenomenology: A Comparison of Historical and Methodological Considerations · International Journal of Qualitative Methods · 2003 · 995 citations
- Ontological Politics. A Word and Some Questions · The Sociological Review · 1999 · 972 citations
- Eudaimonia and Its Distinction from Hedonia: Developing a Classification and Terminology for Understanding Conceptual and Operational Definitions · Journal of Happiness Studies · 2013 · 924 citations
- The self-concept revisited: Or a theory of a theory. · American Psychologist · 1973 · 798 citations
Most recent work
- The Embodied Approach in Philosophical Therapy: A Perspective from Phenomenology · Philosophia · 2026
- Embodying the narrative self, narrating the embodied self · Phenomenology and the Cognitive Sciences · 2026
- Habit, sedimentation, tradition: the hidden influence of history in shaping our lives: a Husserlian account · Continental Philosophy Review · 2026
- The Faceless Interface: Digital Empathy, Care, and the Other within the Logic of the Metasimulacrum · International Journal of Philosophical Studies · 2026
- “No Excuses”: Existentialism, the Philosophy of Responsibility, and Leisure · Leisure Sciences · 2026
- Meaning, speaking, writing: Textuality in phenomenological research · Qualitative Research · 2026
- Phantasia et imagination · Eikasía Revista de Filosofía · 2026
- On Being and Knowing: A Response to Thomas Ogden’s “Ontological” Model · The Psychoanalytic Quarterly · 2026
- Change, temporal qualification, fragmentation · Synthese · 2026
- Embodied agency and the blindspot of medical science · Phenomenology and the Cognitive Sciences · 2026
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