The Spell of the Sensuous is rooted in phenomenology, a branch of philosophy primarily developed by Edmund Husserl in the early 20th century. Phenomenology focuses on detailed examination of the structures of experience and consciousness from a first-person perspective. It diverges from other philosophical traditions by prioritizing direct experience as the source of knowledge, exploring how things appear in one’s experience without the overlay of interpretations, theories, or assumptions outside that experience. The distinctiveness of phenomenology, as David Abram emphasizes in The Spell of the Sensuous, arises from its focus on direct experience as the primary source of knowledge. By valuing how things appear in one’s immediate experience, phenomenology seeks to grasp the essence of experiences before any conceptual categorization or scientific analysis is applied. This contrasts with other philosophical approaches that emphasize the role of reason and logic, the empirical observation of external objects, or the analysis of language and concepts.

Rationalism, for instance, prioritizes reason and logical deduction, as exemplified by the Descartes method of introspective doubting to find truths. In contrast, phenomenology focuses on the preconceptual essence of experience, seeking understanding through the phenomena of consciousness itself rather than abstract reasoning.