Why does phenomenology include relations and values as objects of study?

Phenomenology includes relations and values as objects of study because it maintains an unconditional respect for the positive data of experience, which it does not restrict solely to the range of sense experience.1

While some philosophical movements limit their focus to sensory data, phenomenology admits nonsensory, or "categorial," data—such as relations and values—on equal terms, provided they present themselves intuitively. This approach is rooted in the phenomenological commitment to describing phenomena as they are given in consciousness, without imposing external conceptual presuppositions.12

By analyzing these phenomena through the lens of intentionality—the directedness of consciousness toward an object—phenomenologists seek to discover the essential structures of both the acts of consciousness and the objective entities constituted within them. Consequently, phenomenology treats values and relations as essential components of the phenomena that consciousness encounters, allowing for a rigorous investigation into their nature and validity.3451