Continental Philosophies

Continental philosophies are the schools of modern philosophical thought which developed on the continent of Europe, primarily France and Germany. Analytic philosophy, often associated with “deconstruction” and linear approaches, is associated with the United Kingdom and the United States. The two major approaches to philosophy diverged with the rise of phenomenology, founded in Germany by Edmund Husserl. Phenomenology attempts to describe the structures of consciousness in the constitution of reality.

Continental schools of philosophy tend to move beyond the natural sciences. Modern continental thinkers moved into metaphysical studies and theories of experience. Phenomenology led to the existentialism of Jean-Paul Sartre and Martin Heidegger. Other continental thinkers were influenced by linguistics and the post-structuralism of Derrida. Continental philosophy is central to the very issues of language, communication, meaning, and reference which currently dominate analytic philosophy, ironically.