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Witold Płotka

Cardinal Stefan Wyszynski University in Warsaw, Faculty of Christian Philosophy, Faculty Member

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Witold Płotka, Dr. habil., is Associate Professor at the Institute of Philosophy at the Cardinal Stefan Wyszynski University in Warsaw, Poland. He was a visiting researcher at the Husserl-Archive of the University of Cologne. He is the winner of “The 2011 CARP Directors’ Memorial Prize in Honour of José Huertas-Jourda.” He is member of the Husserl Circle, former Secretary of the Polish Phenomenological Association, and President of the Central and East European Society for Phenomenology (CEESP). He published two books, numerous articles, and edited several volumes. His works were published, e.g., by “Human Studies,” “Phenomenology and the Cognitive Sciences,” or “Journal of the British Society for Phenomenology.” Recently he published (edited together with Patrick Eldridge) Early Phenomenology in Central and Eastern Europe: Main Figures, Ideas, and Problems (Springer, 2020).
Address: Institute of Philosophy
Cardinal Stefan Wyszynski University in Warsaw
Wóycickiego St. 1/3, building 23
PL-01-938 Warsaw

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Piotr Stanislaw Mazur

Jesuit University Ignatianum in Kraków

agnieszka lekka-kowalik

Elżbieta Ciżewska

University of Warsaw

Ryszard Zajaczkowski

Ferdinand Tablan

Seattle University

Krzysztof Stachewicz

UAM Poznań

Prof. Robert A . Montaña, Ph.D.

University of Santo Tomas, Phils

Rev Fergal Cummins

Pontifical University, Saint Patrick's College, Maynooth, Co. Kildare, Ireland

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Papers by Witold Płotka

Phenomenology, Community, Participation: A Critical Analysis of Wojtyła’s Early Theory of Solidarity

Filosofija. Sociologija, 2019

This article critically examines Wojtyła’s early theory of solidarity in order to explore main co... more This article critically examines Wojtyła’s early theory of solidarity in order to explore main concepts, methods and problems of his phenomenology of solidary actions. By Wojtyła’s ‘early theory’ of solidarity is to be understood his theory formulated in The Acting Person and in the studies connected to the book, published mainly in the 1970’s. The author argues that in his theory Wojtyła describes the first-person account of the experience of solidarity, by exploring how solidarity as a social phenomenon is experienced. In a word, the aim of the article consists in the analysis of Wojtyła’s phenomenology of solidarity. To held this analysis, first, the author explores Wojtyła’s methodology, i.e. Thomism, his understanding of phenomenology, and of experience. In this regard, the author asks which methodological attitude is adequate for describing solidarity. Second, Wojtyła’s social ontology is reconstructed. His theory is labelled as adverbial social ontology since it accounts for ...

A Critical Analysis of Blaustein’s Polemic Against Husserl’s Method

Husserl Studies

The aim of the article is to define and investigate an interpretative framework for the philosoph... more The aim of the article is to define and investigate an interpretative framework for the philosophy of Leopold Blaustein, a student of Twardowski in Lwów (Lvov, Lviv) and Husserl in Freiburg im Breisgau. The author defends the thesis that it is justified to refer to Blaustein’s philosophy not as phenomenology sensu stricto, but as a phenomenologically-oriented descriptive psychology related but not equivalent to the project expounded by Husserl in the first edition of Logische Untersuchungen as well as in his project of phenomenological psychology (as formulated in 1925). The article traces Blaustein’s critique of Husserl’s phenomenological methods, putting it in the historical context of the discussion with Ingarden. Next, the author juxtaposes Blaustein’s understanding of psychology with Husserl’s project of 1925, which makes it possible to identify not only the differences between the two projects, but also their similarities. The article also raises questions about the scope of d...

A Commentary on Pokropski's Functionalist Reading of Husserlian Phenomenology

Frontiers in Psychology

Mosty nad przepaścią? W odpowiedzi Michałowi Piekarskiemu

Studia Philosophiae Christianae

Artykuł jest dyskusją z wybranymi elementami interpretacji pracy Witolda Płotki pt. Studia z feno... more Artykuł jest dyskusją z wybranymi elementami interpretacji pracy Witolda Płotki pt. Studia z fenomenologii poznania. Transcendentalna filozofia Edmunda Husserla a problem wiedzy, którą sformułował Michał Piekarski. W artykule pyta się o relację metody fenomenologicznej do szeroko pojętego postępowania analitycznego, wskazując na podobieństwa i różnice pomiędzy oboma podejściami. Ponadto autor przybliża rozumienie języka przez Husserla, zwłaszcza w kontekście analizy noematu.

An Outline of a Phenomenology of Solidarity: Beyond the Bridge Problem

Filosofija. Sociologija

The aim of the article is to present main elements, problems and preliminary solutions connected ... more The aim of the article is to present main elements, problems and preliminary solutions connected to a phenomenology of solidarity. The article is divided into three parts. In the first part, the author defines the bridge problem as an attempt to bind subjective and intersubjective levels of constitution, and he shows that neither Ingarden nor Tischner can solve the problem. In the second part, the author presents the act of solidarization as a complex act which binds cognitive, volitional and affective dimensions. Finally, the author sketches an alternative approach to a phenomenology of solidarity that leads beyond the bridge problem, namely, Husserl’s theory of constitution of groups in joint action.

Husserl’s Moderate Rationalism and the Question of Evidence

HORIZON / Fenomenologicheskie issledovanija/ STUDIEN ZUR PHÄNOMENOLOGIE / STUDIES IN PHENOMENOLOGY / ÉTUDES PHÉNOMÉNOLOGIQUES

Th is article is an attempt to present Husserl's phenomenology as a moderate form of rationalism.... more Th is article is an attempt to present Husserl's phenomenology as a moderate form of rationalism. By 'moderate rationalism' is understood, fi rst, a theory that does not exclude the problem of irrationality, and that comprehends the rational as a correlate of the irrational. Second, it is a theory that performs its analyses by adopting the thesis that evidence can be achieved at many levels and grades. Here perfect evidence can also appear as imperfect. Yet this imperfect evidence (as an equivalent to unreason) can be a subject of evidential inquiry (as an equivalent to reason). Th e argument is that moderate rationalism is connected with the transcendental character of phenomenology and leads to the perennial reconsideration of the question of evidence (Evidenz). A basic claim is that irrationality is to be understood in terms of possible vague levels and grades of evidence. By developing 'moderate rationalism' thus understood, one is interested in understanding reason, that is, in the question of the essence of reason in its correlation with unreason. Here, moderate rationalism is directly interested not in rational arguments, but in 'elucidation' of reason. It is argued that phenomenology of reason also investigates 'irrational evidence,' for example, background evidence, evidence with respect to others, as well as all forms of fallible evidence. Th erefore, the main question of moderate rationalism is Husserl's question of evidence.

Twardowski, Ingarden, and Blaustein on Creative Imagination

Social Imaginaries

The article is a critical elaboration of two phenomenological theories of imagination formulated ... more The article is a critical elaboration of two phenomenological theories of imagination formulated by Ingarden and Blaustein in their discussion with Twardowski. Ingarden, as well as Blaustein were students of both Twardowski and Husserl, however, they defined imagination in two different contexts: whereas for Ingarden a proper way of analysis of imagination is ontology, for Blaustein imagination is the object of descriptive psychology, connected mainly with an aesthetic experience. As a result, the question of creativity of imagination is described in two different, but intertwined ways. For Ingarden, creative imagination is understood as a noematical structure which generates the imagined object as a purely intentional object. Ingarden’s description expresses the ontological status of the imagined object as ontologically dependent on the act of imagining, and on the content of the imagined object. In his review of Ingarden’s Das literarische Kunstwerk, Blaustein was clear that one h...

A Controversy Over the Existence of Fictional Objects: Husserl and Ingarden on Imagination and Fiction

Journal of the British Society for Phenomenology

Le motif cartésien dans la phénoménologie polonaise (1895-2015) : Transformations, polémiques, perspectives

Les Études philosophiques

From psychology to phenomenology (and back again): A controversy over the method in the school of Twardowski

Phenomenology and the Cognitive Sciences

This paper seeks to define the main trends, arguments and problems regarding the question of meth... more This paper seeks to define the main trends, arguments and problems regarding the question of method formulated by Twardowski and his students. In this regard, the aim of the paper is twofold. First, I situate Brentano's project of descriptive psychology within the context of disputes in the school of Twardowski concerning the method of both psychology and phenomenology, arguing that descriptive-psychological analysis was dominant in this respect. Second, the study explores the notion of eidetic phenomenology, as founded on a methodological procedure, which supposed to guarantee infallibility of its descriptions. To show this, I first reconstruct Brentano's concept of descriptive psychology, its object, its method and aims. Second, I track the changes and reinterpretations provided by Twardowski in his view of descriptivepsychological analysis. Third, I explore Witwicki's and Bandrowski's-both early students of Twardowski-discussions of the descriptive approach. I try to show that the former accepted psychologism, while the latter overcame it by means of logical analysis. Fourth, I suggest that the only student of Twardowski who renounced the Brentanian method was Ingarden, who developed eidetic phenomenology. Finally, I present Blaustein's-one of the last students of Twardowski-reappraisal of descriptive psychology and his critique of Ingarden's method. This controversy over the method of descriptive psychology reveals how one can situate Twardowski's legacy within early phenomenology in Poland.

Approaching the Variety of Lived Experiences: On the Psychological Motives in Leopold Blaustein's Method

Gestalt Theory, 2020

The article explores psychological motives in Leopold Blaustein’s philosophy. Blaustein was educa... more The article explores psychological motives in Leopold Blaustein’s philosophy. Blaustein was educated in Lvov, Freiburg im Breisgau and Berlin. In his original explorations, he attempted to connect a phenomenological perspective with descriptive psychology. As trained by Twardowski, he took over some motives of understanding the method of philosophy (psychology), its objectives and aims. The author situates Blaustein also in a dialogue with Stumpf and next to the context of Dilthey’s humanistic psychology is examined. Finally, the article explores the influences of Gestalt psychology on Blaustein. The ultimate thesis of the article is that Blaustein’s method can be grasped as a
phenomenologically oriented descriptive psychology.

U źródeł krytyki teorii poznania w szkole frankfurckiej

Filo Sofija, 2011

Rozwój myśli fi lozofi cznej jest możliwy nie tylko dzięki refl eksji indywidualnych fi lozofów, ... more Rozwój myśli fi lozofi cznej jest możliwy nie tylko dzięki refl eksji indywidualnych fi lozofów, ale przede wszystkim poprzez dyskusję i ciągłą konfrontację własnych ustaleń z perspektywą teoretyczną innych myślicieli. W przeciwnym wypadku fi lozofi a nie byłaby niczym innym jak tylko zbiorem doktrynalnych poglądów, na którym swoje piętno odciska negujący wszelką dyskusję dogmatyzm. Dlatego również w ramach historii fi lozofi i uwagę można skierować ku ideom, a nawet całym nurtom fi lozofi cznym, których rola polegała na podawaniu w wątpliwość dotychczas powszechnie i bezrefl eksyjnie przyjmowanych teorii, co w konsekwencji prowadziło do sformułowania nowych, heurystycznie bogatszych hipotez oraz innowacyjnych sposobów stawiania i rozwiązywania problemów. W tym kontekście trudno nie wspomnieć Davida Hume'a sceptycznych analiz teorii przyczynowości i ich wpływu na Immanuela Kanta koncepcję transcendentalizmu. W Prolegomenach królewiecki fi lozof z całą stanowczością podkreśla, że "napomnienie Davida Hume'a było właśnie tym pierwszym sygnałem, który przed wielu laty przerwał moją drzemkę dogmatyczną i na dał całkowicie inny kierunek moim badaniom w dzie dzinie fi lozofi i spekulatywnej" 1 . Niektórzy fi lozofowie, a zatem także budowane przez nich koncepcje fi lozofi czne, wyprowadzają myślenie fi lozofi czne z wygodnego samozadowolenia, charakteryzującego dogmatyzm i skłaniają do weryfi kacji utartych tez, przez co prowadzą do obserwacji, że w fi lozofi i można zaobserwować rozwój. 1 I. Kant, Prolegomena do wszelkiej przyszłej metafi zyki, która będzie mogła wystąpić jako nauka, przekład B. Bornsteina, na nowo opracowała J. Suchorzewska, Wydawnictwo Naukowe PWN, Warszawa 1993, s. 10.

Is Authentic Being a Virtue?

Existenzphilosophie und Ethik, 2013

Knowledge and the Lifeworld: Phenomenological-Transcendental Investigations

The Cosmos and the Creative Imagination, 2016

The Reason of the Crisis. Husserl’s Re-Examination of the Concept of Rationality

Phenomenology/Ontopoiesis Retrieving Geo-cosmic Horizons of Antiquity, 2011

Husserlian Phenomenology as Questioning: An Essay on the Transcendental Theory of the Question

Studia Phaenomenologica, 2012

The article presents the transcendental reduction as a type of questioning, and by so doing formu... more The article presents the transcendental reduction as a type of questioning, and by so doing formulates the problem of the structure and motivation of reduction. Transcendental questioning is presented as a permanent formulation and reformulation of questions, which, it is argued, make it possible to overcome the naïveté of the natural attitude. However, the phenomenologist does not overcome naïveté in the sense of excluding it; instead, he is conscious of it. It is argued that one should understand transcendental questioning as a practical activity that makes the phenomenologist responsible for knowledge by leading toward the essence, which seems to be “unquestionable.”

The Riddle of Reason: In Search of Husserl’s Concept of Rationality

Husserl's phenomenology was shaped by his understanding of human reason. From the Logical Investi... more

Therapeutic Potential of Transcendental Inquiry in the Husserlian Philosophy

Coactivity: Philosophy, Communication/Santalka: …, Jan 1, 2011

The main purpose of the article is to reconstruct a therapeutic potential of phenomenology, in pa... more The main purpose of the article is to reconstruct a therapeutic potential of phenomenology, in particular, within Edmund Husserl's and Eugen Fink's program of transcendental inquiry about time. However, the project of objective claims of phenomenology, which is presented in the Logical Investigations seems to exclude all therapeutic approach. Rather, the program postulates the striving for abstract "truths in themselves, " also it ignores the surrounding world, as well as intersubjectivity, and finally leads to the solitary life of a phenomenologist. How then is the therapeutic potential of phenomenology possible? The case of questioning plays the crucial role in the context of objective science. According to Husserl, each science which does not allow to ask "the most burning questions" is naïve, and therefore it limits the therapeutic potential. While focusing on propositions, objective phenomenology excludes all questions, indeed. In contrast to such a view, transcendental phenomenology allows to ask over and over again, and by doing so, it introduces the world, as well as intersubjectivity as horizons of phenomenological inquiry. Concluding, Husserl's collaboration with Fink presents such a communal effort into questioning about time. Therefore, "therapeutic potential" of phenomenology means precisely the methodological movement of the possibility for communal formulation of transcendental investigation.

Between Language and Communication: A Husserlian Approach

lingua.amu.edu.pl

Granice rozumu w fenomenologii Edmunda Husserla

Aktywność oraz możliwości poznawcze człowieka wydają się otwierać podmiot na świat. To właśnie dz... more Aktywność oraz możliwości poznawcze człowieka wydają się otwierać podmiot na świat. To właśnie dzięki rozumowi, ujętemu jako władza poznawcza, można mówić o samym otwarciu na świat, jakkolwiek można go samego rozumieć. Fenomenologia Edmunda Husserla zdaje się wyrastać z przekonania, że badanie problematyki rozumu może prowadzić do zrozumienia kondycji człowieka jako animal rationale, które jest otwarte na świat. Dodatkowo, o ile w zaproponowanej perspektywie rozum poznający ma umożliwiać, czyli konstytuować związek człowieka ze światem, o tyle teoretyczna funkcja rozumu byłaby wyróżnionym obszarem badań, a rozważania nad rozumnością teoretyczną poprzedzałyby inne badania. Ostatecznie w granicach rozumu teoretycznego zawierałaby się problematyka dotycząca rozumu praktycznego. Celem niniejszego artykułu jest zarysowanie napięcia pomiędzy różnymi obszarami realizowania się rozumności, a w szczególności granicy pomiędzy rozumem praktycznym i teoretycznym oraz etyką i logiką.

Phenomenology, Community, Participation: A Critical Analysis of Wojtyła’s Early Theory of Solidarity

Filosofija. Sociologija, 2019

This article critically examines Wojtyła’s early theory of solidarity in order to explore main co... more This article critically examines Wojtyła’s early theory of solidarity in order to explore main concepts, methods and problems of his phenomenology of solidary actions. By Wojtyła’s ‘early theory’ of solidarity is to be understood his theory formulated in The Acting Person and in the studies connected to the book, published mainly in the 1970’s. The author argues that in his theory Wojtyła describes the first-person account of the experience of solidarity, by exploring how solidarity as a social phenomenon is experienced. In a word, the aim of the article consists in the analysis of Wojtyła’s phenomenology of solidarity. To held this analysis, first, the author explores Wojtyła’s methodology, i.e. Thomism, his understanding of phenomenology, and of experience. In this regard, the author asks which methodological attitude is adequate for describing solidarity. Second, Wojtyła’s social ontology is reconstructed. His theory is labelled as adverbial social ontology since it accounts for ...

A Critical Analysis of Blaustein’s Polemic Against Husserl’s Method

Husserl Studies

The aim of the article is to define and investigate an interpretative framework for the philosoph... more The aim of the article is to define and investigate an interpretative framework for the philosophy of Leopold Blaustein, a student of Twardowski in Lwów (Lvov, Lviv) and Husserl in Freiburg im Breisgau. The author defends the thesis that it is justified to refer to Blaustein’s philosophy not as phenomenology sensu stricto, but as a phenomenologically-oriented descriptive psychology related but not equivalent to the project expounded by Husserl in the first edition of Logische Untersuchungen as well as in his project of phenomenological psychology (as formulated in 1925). The article traces Blaustein’s critique of Husserl’s phenomenological methods, putting it in the historical context of the discussion with Ingarden. Next, the author juxtaposes Blaustein’s understanding of psychology with Husserl’s project of 1925, which makes it possible to identify not only the differences between the two projects, but also their similarities. The article also raises questions about the scope of d...

A Commentary on Pokropski's Functionalist Reading of Husserlian Phenomenology

Frontiers in Psychology

Mosty nad przepaścią? W odpowiedzi Michałowi Piekarskiemu

Studia Philosophiae Christianae

Artykuł jest dyskusją z wybranymi elementami interpretacji pracy Witolda Płotki pt. Studia z feno... more Artykuł jest dyskusją z wybranymi elementami interpretacji pracy Witolda Płotki pt. Studia z fenomenologii poznania. Transcendentalna filozofia Edmunda Husserla a problem wiedzy, którą sformułował Michał Piekarski. W artykule pyta się o relację metody fenomenologicznej do szeroko pojętego postępowania analitycznego, wskazując na podobieństwa i różnice pomiędzy oboma podejściami. Ponadto autor przybliża rozumienie języka przez Husserla, zwłaszcza w kontekście analizy noematu.

An Outline of a Phenomenology of Solidarity: Beyond the Bridge Problem

Filosofija. Sociologija

The aim of the article is to present main elements, problems and preliminary solutions connected ... more The aim of the article is to present main elements, problems and preliminary solutions connected to a phenomenology of solidarity. The article is divided into three parts. In the first part, the author defines the bridge problem as an attempt to bind subjective and intersubjective levels of constitution, and he shows that neither Ingarden nor Tischner can solve the problem. In the second part, the author presents the act of solidarization as a complex act which binds cognitive, volitional and affective dimensions. Finally, the author sketches an alternative approach to a phenomenology of solidarity that leads beyond the bridge problem, namely, Husserl’s theory of constitution of groups in joint action.

Husserl’s Moderate Rationalism and the Question of Evidence

HORIZON / Fenomenologicheskie issledovanija/ STUDIEN ZUR PHÄNOMENOLOGIE / STUDIES IN PHENOMENOLOGY / ÉTUDES PHÉNOMÉNOLOGIQUES

Th is article is an attempt to present Husserl's phenomenology as a moderate form of rationalism.... more Th is article is an attempt to present Husserl's phenomenology as a moderate form of rationalism. By 'moderate rationalism' is understood, fi rst, a theory that does not exclude the problem of irrationality, and that comprehends the rational as a correlate of the irrational. Second, it is a theory that performs its analyses by adopting the thesis that evidence can be achieved at many levels and grades. Here perfect evidence can also appear as imperfect. Yet this imperfect evidence (as an equivalent to unreason) can be a subject of evidential inquiry (as an equivalent to reason). Th e argument is that moderate rationalism is connected with the transcendental character of phenomenology and leads to the perennial reconsideration of the question of evidence (Evidenz). A basic claim is that irrationality is to be understood in terms of possible vague levels and grades of evidence. By developing 'moderate rationalism' thus understood, one is interested in understanding reason, that is, in the question of the essence of reason in its correlation with unreason. Here, moderate rationalism is directly interested not in rational arguments, but in 'elucidation' of reason. It is argued that phenomenology of reason also investigates 'irrational evidence,' for example, background evidence, evidence with respect to others, as well as all forms of fallible evidence. Th erefore, the main question of moderate rationalism is Husserl's question of evidence.

Twardowski, Ingarden, and Blaustein on Creative Imagination

Social Imaginaries

The article is a critical elaboration of two phenomenological theories of imagination formulated ... more The article is a critical elaboration of two phenomenological theories of imagination formulated by Ingarden and Blaustein in their discussion with Twardowski. Ingarden, as well as Blaustein were students of both Twardowski and Husserl, however, they defined imagination in two different contexts: whereas for Ingarden a proper way of analysis of imagination is ontology, for Blaustein imagination is the object of descriptive psychology, connected mainly with an aesthetic experience. As a result, the question of creativity of imagination is described in two different, but intertwined ways. For Ingarden, creative imagination is understood as a noematical structure which generates the imagined object as a purely intentional object. Ingarden’s description expresses the ontological status of the imagined object as ontologically dependent on the act of imagining, and on the content of the imagined object. In his review of Ingarden’s Das literarische Kunstwerk, Blaustein was clear that one h...

A Controversy Over the Existence of Fictional Objects: Husserl and Ingarden on Imagination and Fiction

Journal of the British Society for Phenomenology

Le motif cartésien dans la phénoménologie polonaise (1895-2015) : Transformations, polémiques, perspectives

Les Études philosophiques

From psychology to phenomenology (and back again): A controversy over the method in the school of Twardowski

Phenomenology and the Cognitive Sciences

This paper seeks to define the main trends, arguments and problems regarding the question of meth... more This paper seeks to define the main trends, arguments and problems regarding the question of method formulated by Twardowski and his students. In this regard, the aim of the paper is twofold. First, I situate Brentano's project of descriptive psychology within the context of disputes in the school of Twardowski concerning the method of both psychology and phenomenology, arguing that descriptive-psychological analysis was dominant in this respect. Second, the study explores the notion of eidetic phenomenology, as founded on a methodological procedure, which supposed to guarantee infallibility of its descriptions. To show this, I first reconstruct Brentano's concept of descriptive psychology, its object, its method and aims. Second, I track the changes and reinterpretations provided by Twardowski in his view of descriptivepsychological analysis. Third, I explore Witwicki's and Bandrowski's-both early students of Twardowski-discussions of the descriptive approach. I try to show that the former accepted psychologism, while the latter overcame it by means of logical analysis. Fourth, I suggest that the only student of Twardowski who renounced the Brentanian method was Ingarden, who developed eidetic phenomenology. Finally, I present Blaustein's-one of the last students of Twardowski-reappraisal of descriptive psychology and his critique of Ingarden's method. This controversy over the method of descriptive psychology reveals how one can situate Twardowski's legacy within early phenomenology in Poland.

Approaching the Variety of Lived Experiences: On the Psychological Motives in Leopold Blaustein's Method

Gestalt Theory, 2020

The article explores psychological motives in Leopold Blaustein’s philosophy. Blaustein was educa... more The article explores psychological motives in Leopold Blaustein’s philosophy. Blaustein was educated in Lvov, Freiburg im Breisgau and Berlin. In his original explorations, he attempted to connect a phenomenological perspective with descriptive psychology. As trained by Twardowski, he took over some motives of understanding the method of philosophy (psychology), its objectives and aims. The author situates Blaustein also in a dialogue with Stumpf and next to the context of Dilthey’s humanistic psychology is examined. Finally, the article explores the influences of Gestalt psychology on Blaustein. The ultimate thesis of the article is that Blaustein’s method can be grasped as a
phenomenologically oriented descriptive psychology.

U źródeł krytyki teorii poznania w szkole frankfurckiej

Filo Sofija, 2011

Rozwój myśli fi lozofi cznej jest możliwy nie tylko dzięki refl eksji indywidualnych fi lozofów, ... more Rozwój myśli fi lozofi cznej jest możliwy nie tylko dzięki refl eksji indywidualnych fi lozofów, ale przede wszystkim poprzez dyskusję i ciągłą konfrontację własnych ustaleń z perspektywą teoretyczną innych myślicieli. W przeciwnym wypadku fi lozofi a nie byłaby niczym innym jak tylko zbiorem doktrynalnych poglądów, na którym swoje piętno odciska negujący wszelką dyskusję dogmatyzm. Dlatego również w ramach historii fi lozofi i uwagę można skierować ku ideom, a nawet całym nurtom fi lozofi cznym, których rola polegała na podawaniu w wątpliwość dotychczas powszechnie i bezrefl eksyjnie przyjmowanych teorii, co w konsekwencji prowadziło do sformułowania nowych, heurystycznie bogatszych hipotez oraz innowacyjnych sposobów stawiania i rozwiązywania problemów. W tym kontekście trudno nie wspomnieć Davida Hume'a sceptycznych analiz teorii przyczynowości i ich wpływu na Immanuela Kanta koncepcję transcendentalizmu. W Prolegomenach królewiecki fi lozof z całą stanowczością podkreśla, że "napomnienie Davida Hume'a było właśnie tym pierwszym sygnałem, który przed wielu laty przerwał moją drzemkę dogmatyczną i na dał całkowicie inny kierunek moim badaniom w dzie dzinie fi lozofi i spekulatywnej" 1 . Niektórzy fi lozofowie, a zatem także budowane przez nich koncepcje fi lozofi czne, wyprowadzają myślenie fi lozofi czne z wygodnego samozadowolenia, charakteryzującego dogmatyzm i skłaniają do weryfi kacji utartych tez, przez co prowadzą do obserwacji, że w fi lozofi i można zaobserwować rozwój. 1 I. Kant, Prolegomena do wszelkiej przyszłej metafi zyki, która będzie mogła wystąpić jako nauka, przekład B. Bornsteina, na nowo opracowała J. Suchorzewska, Wydawnictwo Naukowe PWN, Warszawa 1993, s. 10.

Is Authentic Being a Virtue?

Existenzphilosophie und Ethik, 2013

Knowledge and the Lifeworld: Phenomenological-Transcendental Investigations

The Cosmos and the Creative Imagination, 2016

The Reason of the Crisis. Husserl’s Re-Examination of the Concept of Rationality

Phenomenology/Ontopoiesis Retrieving Geo-cosmic Horizons of Antiquity, 2011

Husserlian Phenomenology as Questioning: An Essay on the Transcendental Theory of the Question

Studia Phaenomenologica, 2012

The article presents the transcendental reduction as a type of questioning, and by so doing formu... more The article presents the transcendental reduction as a type of questioning, and by so doing formulates the problem of the structure and motivation of reduction. Transcendental questioning is presented as a permanent formulation and reformulation of questions, which, it is argued, make it possible to overcome the naïveté of the natural attitude. However, the phenomenologist does not overcome naïveté in the sense of excluding it; instead, he is conscious of it. It is argued that one should understand transcendental questioning as a practical activity that makes the phenomenologist responsible for knowledge by leading toward the essence, which seems to be “unquestionable.”

The Riddle of Reason: In Search of Husserl’s Concept of Rationality

Husserl's phenomenology was shaped by his understanding of human reason. From the Logical Investi... more

Therapeutic Potential of Transcendental Inquiry in the Husserlian Philosophy

Coactivity: Philosophy, Communication/Santalka: …, Jan 1, 2011

The main purpose of the article is to reconstruct a therapeutic potential of phenomenology, in pa... more The main purpose of the article is to reconstruct a therapeutic potential of phenomenology, in particular, within Edmund Husserl's and Eugen Fink's program of transcendental inquiry about time. However, the project of objective claims of phenomenology, which is presented in the Logical Investigations seems to exclude all therapeutic approach. Rather, the program postulates the striving for abstract "truths in themselves, " also it ignores the surrounding world, as well as intersubjectivity, and finally leads to the solitary life of a phenomenologist. How then is the therapeutic potential of phenomenology possible? The case of questioning plays the crucial role in the context of objective science. According to Husserl, each science which does not allow to ask "the most burning questions" is naïve, and therefore it limits the therapeutic potential. While focusing on propositions, objective phenomenology excludes all questions, indeed. In contrast to such a view, transcendental phenomenology allows to ask over and over again, and by doing so, it introduces the world, as well as intersubjectivity as horizons of phenomenological inquiry. Concluding, Husserl's collaboration with Fink presents such a communal effort into questioning about time. Therefore, "therapeutic potential" of phenomenology means precisely the methodological movement of the possibility for communal formulation of transcendental investigation.

Between Language and Communication: A Husserlian Approach

lingua.amu.edu.pl

Granice rozumu w fenomenologii Edmunda Husserla

Aktywność oraz możliwości poznawcze człowieka wydają się otwierać podmiot na świat. To właśnie dz... more Aktywność oraz możliwości poznawcze człowieka wydają się otwierać podmiot na świat. To właśnie dzięki rozumowi, ujętemu jako władza poznawcza, można mówić o samym otwarciu na świat, jakkolwiek można go samego rozumieć. Fenomenologia Edmunda Husserla zdaje się wyrastać z przekonania, że badanie problematyki rozumu może prowadzić do zrozumienia kondycji człowieka jako animal rationale, które jest otwarte na świat. Dodatkowo, o ile w zaproponowanej perspektywie rozum poznający ma umożliwiać, czyli konstytuować związek człowieka ze światem, o tyle teoretyczna funkcja rozumu byłaby wyróżnionym obszarem badań, a rozważania nad rozumnością teoretyczną poprzedzałyby inne badania. Ostatecznie w granicach rozumu teoretycznego zawierałaby się problematyka dotycząca rozumu praktycznego. Celem niniejszego artykułu jest zarysowanie napięcia pomiędzy różnymi obszarami realizowania się rozumności, a w szczególności granicy pomiędzy rozumem praktycznym i teoretycznym oraz etyką i logiką.

WORKSHOP - Brentano and Early Phenomenology - PROGRAM

Program of the Online Workshop on "The Brentanian Legacy in Early Phenomenology? On Sources of th... more

WORKSHOP - Brentano and Early Phenomenology

Poster of the Online Workshop on "The Brentanian Legacy in Early Phenomenology? On Sources of the... more

Early Phenomenology in Poland in the Context of the Phenomenological Movement

Poster for the International Workshop on "Early Phenomenology in Poland in the Context of the Phe... more

Phenomenology of Emotions 2018 Kaunas

The conference schedule for the 4th Conference on Traditions and Perspectives on “Phenomenology o... more

No SP 2018 PROGRAMME

by Witold Płotka and Jacek Koltan

Programme of the NoSP 2018 Canference on "Phenomenology of Solidarity: Community, Practice and Po... more Programme of the NoSP 2018 Canference on "Phenomenology of Solidarity: Community, Practice and Politics" to be held on April 19-21, 2018 in Gdansk, Poland. The conference is organized by University of Gdansk and European Solidarity Centre in a cooperation with the Institute of Philosophy and Sociology of the Polish Academy of Sciences, Polish Phenomenological Association and Polish Academy of Sciences

CFP: Phenomenology and Practice: The 2nd Conference on Traditions and Perspectives of the Phenomenological Movement in Central and Eastern Europe

University of Gdansk In cooperation with the Polish Phenomenological Association Announces a Firs... more University of Gdansk
In cooperation with the Polish Phenomenological Association
Announces a First Call for Papers
for the International Conference on the Topic:
Phenomenology and Practice
The 2nd Conference on Traditions and Perspectives
of the Phenomenological Movement in
Central and Eastern Europe
8–10 September, 2016
Gdansk, Poland
Confirmed invited speakers include:
Natalia Artemenko (St. Petersburg State University)
Michael Gubser (James Madison University)
Dalius Jonkus (Vytautas Magnus University)
Carlos Lobo (Collège International de Philosophie)
Please send paper proposals
BY THE DEADLINE OF APRIL 15, 2016

Call for Papers for an International Conference on the Topic: A Topography of Heresies or the Road to Renewal? The Many Faces of Contemporary Phenomenology

CFP for the International Conference on the Phenomenological Movement

CFP: Horizons Beyond Borders. Traditions and Perspectives of the Phenomenological Movement in Central and Eastern Europe

by Peter Andras Varga and Witold Płotka

The Institute of Philosophy of the Research Centre for the Humanities of the Hungarian Academy of... more The Institute of Philosophy of the Research Centre for the Humanities of the Hungarian Academy of Sciences announces a First Call for Papers for an International Conference on the Topic:

Horizons Beyond Borders

Traditions and Perspectives of the

Phenomenological Movement in

Central and Eastern Europe

17–19 June, 2015

Budapest, Hungary

Confirmed invited speakers include:

Michael Gubser (James Madison University)

George Heffernan (Merrimack College)

Marci Shore (Yale University)

Nicolas de Warren (KU Leuven)

Please send paper proposals

BY THE DEADLINE OF MARCH 1, 2015

See below for more information

Scientific Advisory Board:

Ivan Blecha (Palacký University, Olomouc), Cristian Ciocan (Institute for Philosophy “Alexandru Dragomir”, Bucharest), Ion Copoeru (Babeş-Bolyai University, Cluj-Napoca), Andrzej Gniazdowski (Polish Academy of Sciences), Balázs M. Mezei (Pazmany Peter Catholic University, Hungary), Karel Novotný (Academy of the Sciences of the Czech Republic), Csaba Olay (ELTE University, Budapest), Wojciech Starzyński (Polish Academy of Sciences), Jaroslava Vydrová (Slovak Academy of Sciences), Michal Zvarík (Trnava University)

Director of the Host Institution: Ferenc Hörcher

Chair of the Organizing Committee: Peter Andras Varga (Hungarian Academy of Sciences)

Secretary of the Organizing Committee: Witold Płotka (University of Gdańsk)

Conference Description

The main idea of the conference Horizons Beyond Borders: Traditions and Perspectives of the Phenomenological Movement in Central and Eastern Europe is to explore the place of phenomenology in contemporary philosophy in Central and Eastern Europe. It has long been understood that the circumstances of the Phenomenological Movement in this part of the world were dramatically defined by the politics of the times. The generally hostile conditions for doing philosophy affected phenomenology specifically, in so far as it was officially regarded as an idealistic, bourgeois, and regressive philosophy. As a result, many philosophers in the phenomenological tradition, including some direct students of Edmund Husserl, were accused of “idealism”, labeled as “enemies of materialism”, and prohibited from teaching. Despite these adversarial circumstances, however, many phenomenologists presented interesting and important interpretations of philosophical issues. Some did phenomenology while bracketing political commitments, whereas others were strongly engaged in political activities. One need only recall such leading figures as, for example, Alexandru Dragomir, Eugen Enyvvári, Václav Havel, Roman Ingarden, Karel Kosík, Krzysztof Michalski, Constantin Noica, Jan Patočka, Wilhelm Szilasi, Józef Tischner, Karol Wojtyła, and many others. The full potential of their phenomenology, both its hopeful promise and its tragic history, constitutes a rich heritage that continues to define our contemporary philosophical horizons.

Although many philosophers of that time were completely isolated, phenomenology in Central and Eastern Europe has developed in a steady dialog beyond national borders and ideological boundaries. Our ambition is to determine the contemporary status of this increasingly trans-regional Phenomenological Movement, both in the light of its legacy and above and beyond it. Our questions include but are not limited to the following: Are there any common features of phenomenological approaches in the countries of Central and Eastern Europe? What can we say about the leitmotifs of this phenomenology? How can we understand the relationship between phenomenology and Marxism? Are there any influences of Marxism on phenomenology or vice versa? What, if any, was the function of phenomenology with respect to resistance movements to Communist regimes? How can we define the current trends in phenomenology in Central and Eastern Europe and its possible paths of development in the future? What is the original contribution of the phenomenology of this part of Europe to major contemporary philosophical issues? In addressing these and related concerns, we also propose to raise the question of the future of the Phenomenological Movement in Central and Eastern Europe. The ultimate aim of the conference is to present scholars with a first-time opportunity to discuss the wide and rich range of phenomenological ideas that have been discovered in Central and Eastern Europe.

Planned Sessions

Roots: The historical roots of Central and Eastern European phenomenology and its philosophical predecessors are well known. For example, Bolzano was born in Prague, Bohemia; Twardowski studied with Brentano in Vienna; and even Husserl was born in Prostejov (Prossnitz), Moravia. But is it possible to relate the emergence and development of early phenomenology to the specific philosophical and political conditions of Central and Eastern Europe in the 19th century?
Figures: Central and Eastern European philosophers participated in the prewar and interwar stages of the Phenomenological Movement. Here presentations on lesser known figures and comparative investigations of their works are especially welcome.
Beyond Borders: Are there any general characteristics of phenomenology as it has been practiced in Central and Eastern Europe, and has there been any specific influence of that phenomenology on the philosophical and political development of its host countries?
Beyond Politics: How has phenomenology been understood in the political contexts of Central and Eastern Europe? Is it possible to ground politics phenomenologically? Or is it rather the case that politics cannot be the object of phenomenological inquiry? How can we define the relationship between phenomenology and Marxism? Are we justified in speaking of a “dialog” between phenomenology and Marxism in Central and Eastern Europe?
Beyond Particularism: Did phenomenology collaborate with other currents of philosophy in Central and Eastern Europe? Here we are also looking for contributions that analyze the contemporary situation of phenomenology in Central and Eastern European countries.
New Phenomenology: This section is devoted to original research on any aspect of phenomenology and its history by scholars with academic affiliation in Central and Eastern Europe.
László Tengelyi Commemorative Session: The saddening sudden death of the Hungarian born phenomenologist László Tengelyi (1954–2014) has deprived Central and Eastern European Phenomenology of one of its best-known and most capable representatives. For this session we are soliciting contributions on Tengelyi’s oeuvre and his impact on contemporary phenomenology.
Krzysztof Michalski Commemorative Session: Krzysztof Michalski (1948-2013) was a Polish phenomenologist, the co-founder and rector of the Institute for Human Sciences (IWM) in Vienna that promotes intellectual exchange among scholars from different fields, societies and cultures. For this session we are expecting contributions on Michalski’s philosophy and phenomenology, as well as his organizational work and influences on present-day phenomenological movement.
Further information

The conference will take place in the historical castle district in a Baroque style mansion.

We welcome proposals in English (main language), German, and French.
Proposals will be evaluated in a process of blind peer-review.

Contributions are welcome from both junior (pre-doc, post-doc) and senior scholars from every part of the world. The only geographically constrained section is the “New Phenomenology” session, which aims to present new research on any phenomenological topic by scholars with academic affiliation in Central and Eastern Europe.

Please submit an abstract of up to 2000 characters, including references, which is to be prepared for anonymous review, together with a separate affiliation sheet containing your contact address and academic affiliations (including all geographically relevant ones) to both witoldplotka_AT_gmail.com and peter.andras.varga_AT_gmail.com Please also indicate the proposed session assignment(s) of your contribution.

The deadline for submissions is March 1, 2015.

Registration fee is 50 € (reductions are planned).

The time limits for speakers are: 20 minutes for presentation + 10 minutes for discussion.

Early Phenomenology in Central and Eastern Europe: Main Figures, Ideas, and Problems

by Witold Płotka, Patrick Eldridge, and Viorel Cernica

Early Phenomenology in Central and Eastern Europe: Main Figures, Ideas, and Problems, 2020

This book presents the origins of Central and Eastern European phenomenology. It features chapter... more This book presents the origins of Central and Eastern European phenomenology. It features chapters that explore the movement's development, its most important thinkers, and its theoretical and historical context. This collection examines such topics as the realism-idealism controversy, the status of descriptive psychology, the question of the phenomenological method, and the problem of the world.

The chapters span the first decades of the development of phenomenology in Czechoslovakia, Poland, Romania, Russia, and Yugoslavia before World War II. The contributors track the Brentanian heritage of the development. They show how this tradition inspired influential thinkers like Celms, Špet, Ingarden, Frank, Twardowski, Patočka, and others. The book also puts forward original investigations. Moreover it elaborates new accounts of the foundations of phenomenology. While the volume begins with the Brentanian heritage, it situates phenomenology in a dialogue with other important schools of thought of that time, including the Prague School and Lvov-Warsaw School of Logic.

This collection highlights thinkers whose writings have had only a limited reception outside their home countries due to political and historical circumstances. It will help readers gain a better understanding of how the phenomenological movement developed beyond its start in Germany. Readers will also come to see how the phenomenological method resonated in different countries and led to new philosophical developments in ontology, epistemology, psychology, philosophy of culture, and philosophy of religion.

Fenomenologia jako filozofia mniejsza. Rozważania wokół sporów o metodę Husserla

The book is an attempt to consider phenomenology as a method in the context of selected disputes ... more The book is an attempt to consider phenomenology as a method in the context of selected disputes of its understanding. Questions that I offer to ask are: how to understand a phenomenological method? What motivates a philosopher to use the method? How to understand concrete steps of this method? How, if at all, one can define its limits? What is its subject matter, and its purpose? Is it justified to speak of one, or rather many methods of phenomenology? If many, are different forms united? To put it bluntly, what is the essence of the method? All these questions define a framework for reflections presented in the book. Therefore, one can understand this work as a study rather in “phenomenology of phenomenology”, i.e., a subdiscipline of phenomenology which concerns the question of a method, its subject matter, structure, aims, and presuppositions, than as a systematic analysis of a given phenomenon. It can be also classified as a study in meta-phenomenology. In any case, its main purpose is a presentation and a discussion of different understandings of Husserl’s method, also with regard to his students and commentators. I do not want to reconstruct in detail different so-called ways which lead to phenomenology. This problem was considered by other scholars. An ultimate aim of the book is a presentation of Husserl’s method as a specific philosophical way of thinking and analysis. I try to show that this method serves to describe systematically of what is given. My main thesis is that this critical though rigorous aspect of Husserl’s method expresses its understanding as a minor philosophy.

Studia z fenomenologii poznania Transcendentalna filozofia Edmunda Husserla a problem wiedzy

Dokument zawiera spis treści książki autorstwa Witolda Płotki pt. "Studia z fenomenologii poznani... more

Wprowadzenie do fenomenologii. Interpretacje, zastosowania, problemy

Praca zbiorowa pod red. W. Płotki, Wydawnictwo IFiS PAN, Warszawa 2014, 548 s. + 509 s., ISBN: 97... more

Husserlowskie badania nad teorią sądu

Husserlowskie badania nad teorią sądu Współczesna recepcja filozofii fenomenologicznej Edmunda Hu... more Husserlowskie badania nad teorią sądu Współczesna recepcja filozofii fenomenologicznej Edmunda Husserla systematycznie i od kilku dekad przekracza pierwsze, jednostronne interpretacje projektu niemieckiego filozofa. Wydany przez wydawnictwo Springer w 2009 roku XL tom serii Husserliana, zatytułowany Untersuchungen zur Urteilstheorie. Texte aus dem Nachlass (1893-1918) 1 , stanowi kolejną sposobność do weryfikacji utartych twierdzeń. W tym miejscu konieczny wydaje się krótki komentarz. Jeszcze za Ŝycia autora Badań logicznych wydawało się, Ŝe jedynymi tematami fenomenologii, ukształtowanymi przez początkową dyskusję z psychologizmem, są: istotnościowa analiza świadomości, problem konstytucji obiektywności i innego podmiotu oraz kwestia idealizmu, ściśle związana z teorią redukcji. W tym kontekście wydany w 1934 roku Kryzys zdawał się przedstawiać swoiste pęknięcie, poniewaŜ praca ta nawiązywała nie tyle do wcześniejszych dyskusji o charakterze metodologicznym, ile przedstawiała refleksję nad "sytuacją duchową" Zachodu. Praca o Kryzysie, podobnie jak wcześniejsze Idee I, musiała i doprowadziła do spolaryzowania ruchu fenomenologicznego. W konsekwencji niektórzy fenomenologowie bronili stanowiska, Ŝe filozofię Husserla moŜna ująć jako ciąg niezwiązanych ze sobą faz, a następnie negowali, jak uwaŜali, "niewłaściwe" fazy, jednocześnie wyróŜniając inną, "prawdziwą" fenomenologię.

PHENOMENOLOGY OF SOLIDARITY: COMMUNITY, PRACTICE AND POLITICS; 16th ANNUAL CONFERENCE OF THE NORDIC SOCITY FOR PHENOMENOLOGY

by Jacek Koltan and Witold Płotka

We hereby invite abstracts for papers in phenomenology and related areas of philosophy, such as c... more We hereby invite abstracts for papers in phenomenology and related areas of philosophy, such as critical theory, feminist philosophy, and the post-Kantian tradition widely conceived. We welcome proposals for individual papers from senior researchers as well as from graduate students. Proposals for joint panels on current topics or recently published books will also be considered. All proposals will be evaluated by the society board through a blind-review process. The proposals should be prepared for blind review and prepared in the following manner: A) Proposals for individual papers should consist of two separate documents containing the following: 1) The title and the abstract (maximum 300 words) of your presentation. The abstract should include: topic/field, original contribution, general outline. 2) A separate cover letter including the following information: title of presentation; name, affiliation and contact information. B) Proposals for joint panels (one individual sends the proposal on behalf of all the participants) should consist of two separate documents containing the following: 1) The title and a short description of the topic of the panel; and an abstract from each of the participants (maximum 300 words each); 2) a separate cover letter including the following information: the title of the panel; names and affiliations of all the participants; contact information of the individual in charge of the panel.