胡塞爾的想象學說包含兩個部分，公開表述的想象學說和未明確冠以想象之名的隱秘的想象學說，前者指對作為意向行為的想象意識的研究，包括圖像理論和代現理論，後者指對康德先驗想象的繼續推進，也即發生現象學中對先驗邏輯的回溯性追問和重新奠基的嘗試，包括內時間意識理論和被動綜合理論。正是由於公開想象學說所遭遇的困難和矛盾，迫使他深入到絕對構造意識中去闡明先驗想象的運作，而對惰性材料的批判驅動了整個發展歷程，並且正是由於上述批判沒有完全徹底，使得他沒有把想象置於存在論地位，後一步在海德格《康德書》中第一次實現。

Husserl’s doctrines of imagination contain two parts: one is the overt doctrine of imagination, which discusses the consciousness of imagination (as Noesis) and includes the image theory and the representation theory of constitution; the other is covert doctrine of imagination, which carries forward Kant’s transcendental imagination by genetic phenomenology, that is, retrospectively traces transcendental logic and establishes a new foundation for it, it includes the theory of internal time-consciousness and the theory of passive synthesis. Just because the difficulties and dilemmas that the overt doctrine of imagination met with, Husserl was pressed to explicate the operation of transcendental imagination in absolute conscious of constitution. Besides, this development process was pushed forward by the critique on inertia material and just for the reason that Husserl cannot finish this critique, he did not recognize the ontology of imagination, while Heidegger accomplished it first in Kant and the Problem of Metaphysics.