Abstract
Self-responsibility and self-critique have been themes in philosophy since Plato ’s Socrates endorsed the demand to ‘know thyself’ [γvωθι σαυτοv]. In the modern philosophical tradition, self-critical reason, a reason that gives the law to itself, has been at the very centre of the practice of both epistemology and ethics . In the twentieth century, the European phenomenological philosophers Edmund Husserl and Jan Patočka brought new clarity and a sense of urgency to the critical thinking surrounding the need for responsibility . Using Husserl ’s and Patočka ’s thinking as the starting point for a critical reflection, this volume proposes different approaches to reflect upon the increasing formalisation of all aspects of our lives, which is particularly relevant for the present age.
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Notes
- 1.
From now on abbreviated to Crisis.
- 2.
From now on abbreviated to Philosophy of Arithmetic.
- 3.
See also Gurwitsch 1974.
- 4.
- 5.
In January 1977, Charta 77 was released. It was a call to the Government of the Czechoslovak Socialist Republic, which had recently signed the Helsinki Agreement, to uphold its commitment to the Helsinki Agreement, which stipulated the basic human rights of the citizens of the State. Patočka was one of the first three signatories of Charta 77 and he actively involved himself with its promotion. He died from a brain haemorrhage after prolonged interrogation by the secret police. See Kohák 1989; Blecha 1997: 193.
- 6.
Erika Abrams’ translation of Patočka ’s The Natural World as a Philosophical Problem is forthcoming (Patočka unpublished). In this volume, all references are to this translation.
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Učník, L., Williams, A., Chvatík, I. (2015). The Phenomenological Critique of Formalism: Responsibility and the Life-World. In: Učník, Ľ., Chvatík, I., Williams, A. (eds) The Phenomenological Critique of Mathematisation and the Question of Responsibility. Contributions To Phenomenology, vol 76. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-09828-9_1
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