Edith Stein lived an unconventional life. Born into a devout Jewish family, she drifted into atheism in her mid teens, took up the study of philosophy, studied with Edmund Husserl, the founder of phenomenology, became a pioneer in the women's movement in Germany, a military nurse in World War I, converted from atheism to Catholic Christianity, became a Carmelite nun, was murdered at Auschwitz-Birkenau in 1942, and canonized by Pope John Paul II.
To the Reader viiAcknowledgments xiWhy Take an Interest in Edith Stein as a Philosopher? 1Stein and Reinach 9Logical Investigations: A New Starting-Point in Philosophy 19The Background History: From Hume to the Neo-Kantians 29Logical Investigations: What Do We Learn from Experience? 39Reinach's Philosophical Work 511913-1915: Stein's Education 631915-1916: From Nursing to a Doctorate 71Stein on Our Knowledge of Other Minds 751916-1922: The Complexity of Stein's History 89The Political Dimension 931916-1919: Stein and Husserl 99Stein's Conception of Individual and Community 109What Kind of Story Is the Story So Far? 133Three Conversions 143Stein's Conversion 163Philosophy Deferred 177Index 187About the Author 195