The crisis of the modern age, as described by Husserl, runs wide and deep. In the first place, it is a crisis of science, manifest in both the natural and human sciences, but most evident in the "humanities." Husserl traces this failure of scientific rationality back to the science of rationality, namely to philosophy, which has as its fundamental task the formation of a solid foundation for all scientific, rational endeavour. As "European" culture for Husserl is a culture rooted in scientifIc rationality, the insecurity and inability of philosophy to provide such a foundation leads to insecurity and the breakdown of the rational enterprise called "Europe."