Abstract

That of tradition is a so-called limit problem of Husserlian phenomenology. The text is based on an investigation of the existential and historical character of the formal ego, which implies its temporal and historical stratification and personal constitution. The ego is essentially situated in a spiritual context historically determined by a transmission of ideas and values that have a communitarian character. The fundamental point of this study is to affirm that, in Husserlian thought, tradition, being a transcendental prerequisite of the existential dimension of the formal ego, is consequently a constitutive moment of the human being. The study also brings to light the important concept of “Vergemeinschaftung” and provides an interpretation of the theme of the crisis of European mankind, which seems to correspond to an oblivion of its tradition.

Highlights

  • Publisher’s Note: MDPI stays neutral with regard to jurisdictional claims in published maps and institutional affiliations

  • This is a kind of phenomenological radicalism, absolutely necessary in order to understand the essential difference of phenomenology with respect to any form of metaphysics with an idealistic character

  • History is tradition: this means that the essential possibility of history lies in the constitution of an intersubjective temporality, in which we find that deeper, vital and intentional unity, which has equivalent characteristics with the inner consciousness of the time, for which Husserl speak of a synthesis that takes place as a sort of fusion (Verschmelzung

Read more

Summary

Explication of the Historical and Existential Sense of the Formal Ego

The topic of existence emerges in the Husserlian thought as an explication of the existential and historical meaning of the formal ego by means of a complete transcendental analytic of the subjective intentional pole This is a kind of phenomenological radicalism, absolutely necessary in order to understand the essential difference of phenomenology with respect to any form of metaphysics with an idealistic character. (1) Reduction of the pure ego, as an absolutely invariant formal structure, to my own being, so I discover myself not as a formal ego but as a personal one, in a mere temporal form In this way an overcoming is carried out of the initial position, only theoretically possible, of the a-temporal and a-historical egological ipseity.

Existential Genesis of the Ego
Transcendental Historicity of the Ego
Ego’s Limits
Traditional Character of the Inter-Subjective Nexus
Personal and Free Disposition of the Ego towards Tradition
The Spiritual Tradition of European Humanity
10. The Crisis of Europe as a Loss of Its Historical and Spiritual Tradition
11. The Issue of Alienation and the Ethical Commitment of Its Overcoming
12. Conclusions

Talk to us

Join us for a 30 min session where you can share your feedback and ask us any queries you have

Schedule a call

Disclaimer: All third-party content on this website/platform is and will remain the property of their respective owners and is provided on "as is" basis without any warranties, express or implied. Use of third-party content does not indicate any affiliation, sponsorship with or endorsement by them. Any references to third-party content is to identify the corresponding services and shall be considered fair use under The CopyrightLaw.