Phenomenology in action: Dont judge a book by its cover

By: Ramon Villanueva III

Before I start with my story, let us first make all things clear about phenomenology. What is
phenomenology? Phenomenology is the study of structures of consciousness as experienced from the
first-person point of view. It is the study of human experience and of the ways things present themselves
to us in and through such experience. The central structure of an experience is its intentionality, its being
directed toward something, as it is an experience of or about some object. Phenomenology is very
important for us to see the real meaning of the things around us. To see what things really are we need to
seek guidance to Phenomenology by using the phenomenological method. This method has some steps
that we need to follow. The first step is Epoche. In this step is where we perform the term called as
Bracketing. This is where we have to suspend first our natural attitude consists of our biases and prejudgments about the object to see its true color. It is like viewing the world from a total new perspective.
The second step is the Phenomenological Eidetic Reduction. This is where things can be seen as they
really are, independent of any prejudice, reducing the experience to its essence. Here, we isolate the
essence of the object by setting aside the contingent factors and our experiences about the object. And the
third and final step of the phenomenological method is the Phenomenological Transcendental Reduction.
Here, we reduce the object to the object of our consciousness. For example, instead of paying attention
simply to eating, playing, or drinking in general, I now pay attention to my eating, my playing, and my
drinking. This is where you now view the object based on your experience of it. Enough with the lecture
and now let the story begin.
I know most of the people are aware of the crimes in the urban area, especially in Manila. So its not new
for us to be paranoid with the people around us. We dont know when crime will strike and whom will it
victimize. It can be you, your family, your friends or any people around you. So we cant avoid judging
the people around us, especially the suspicious one. This story of mine happened on May 2013 during my
vacation and getting prepared to become a college student. That vacation, the only thing in my mind is to
enjoy the remaining days before I open the door to college. My brother and I always go to a computer
shop along Loyola near Recto to play League of Legends and after playing we always have a food trip in
a Burger stand near the shop. One day, a very normal and typical day. Maybe its around 5 oclock in the
afternoon. Many people are walking in the streets. We went to the burger stand like what we always do
after playing. Celebrating our victory, my brother treated me with the biggest burger in the menu. While
were waiting for our order to come, there was a group of men who circled around us. One guy is carrying
a steel pipe and the other two have a lit cigar on their hands. Their looks are very intimidating, tattoos all
over their arms, unclean clothing, and typical looks that you will see in a mugshot in a police station.
They were acting so suspicious. In my situation, I cant avoid judging their looks and the way they act,
especially I heard a lot of things about the place. Crime is very common there. But before I jump to
conclusion I must investigate first like a detective, seeking for evidences and hunting for the real suspect.
I must first suspend my natural attitude consists of my biases and pre-judgments about the place and the
looks of the people around us. What if they are just workers in a vulcanizing/car shop having a break from
a tiring job? What if they are older? What if they are group of women? What if they are just in an unstable
economic status? What if they just have their tattoos for fashion? This is where eidetic reduction kicks in.
There were so many what ifs in my mind that need answers. But no matter what this answers are, it will
not matter because the essence is that they are human beings just like me. While Im thinking what to do
we heard a scream near the burger stand. There was a robber victimizing an old man. The group of men
near us stood up, in shock, I prepared myself for a beatdown, thinking that they are allies of the robber,
because Im the type of man that will not give up without a fight. The group of men ran into the
commotion, a question suddenly kicks in my mind will they gank on the helpless old man? But I was
wrong. They attacked the robber that I thought to be their ally. The robber was caught and the life of the

old man was saved. Here, I changed my perspective about the looks of people, based on my own
experience. I know that its not wrong to believe what people said about the place and the interpretations
of the looks and acts of people around us but we should not immediately judged people based on their
looks and the way they act. A detective can only capture the suspect if he has strong evidences about the
case. In this experience of mine, I have proven that the saying dont judge a book by its cover is
literally true by the aid of phenomenology.