What makes phenomena such as birth, death, creation or fate specifically “limit phenomena” within Husserl’s phenomenology is not simply their difficulty, but also that they seem to threaten phenomenology as a transcendentalist project. As a transcendentalist project, phenomenology tries to overcome contingency by seeking the apodictic and necessary, leading Husserl to focus on normal, optimal, typical phenomena. It is at the margins that phenomenology is threatened by collapsing back into contingency. In my paper, I propose the concept of “rupture” as that which best expresses the limit-character of limit phenomena. The rupture in the normal course of experience calls for re-configuration that introduces novelty. I suggest that a systematic investigation into phenomenology of rupture may help phenomenology to address the problem of novelty.

The study deals with the possibilities of using the topoanalytical method applied to cultural images of urban spaces. As a guiding example, the phenomenon of a specific space, such as the cul-de-sac, is highlighted here. The author shows how the metaphor of the cul-de-sac as a description of a dead-end situation developed. It was historically imagined in three modes: as a dark and narrow alley (with an emphasis on the play of light, darkness, groping around and uncertain steps), as a space of wandering and being-lost, and finally as an image of impassability, of stopping and thus of a situation without a way out. Beyond the metaphorical and symbolic use of this image, attitudes to the place of the cul-de-sac in urban infrastructure have also changed: from its elimination in urban planning to its invocation as a positive value.

In this article I offer a historical analysis of Kierkegaard’s early, unpublished theatrical work, The Conflict between the Old and the New Soap-Cellars. In this comedy, it is possible to trace a number of expressions that ridicule the philosophical view of Martensen, which in turn is associated with Hegelianism and speculative thought. However, I wish to argue that, if one pays close attention to some passages in Kierkegaard’s early journals in the 1830s, specifically the so-called journal of Gilleleje, one notes that he actually seems to agree with Martensen on several points. In my view, this would show that, despite Kierkegaard’s hostility towards Martensen in the Soap-Cellars, he was actually sympathetic to some of the latter’s ideas. This analysis would help us to better understand the philosophical position of young Kierkegaard, who, as it turns out, had a more favorable opinion of speculative thinking than is often thought.

Based on the contents of the correspondence and an analysis of Der Gedanke and the Tractatus , and a comparison of the two, particularly in terms of the question What is fact? and What is the world?, we have attempted to provide a justification for the hypothesis that Frege’s essay Der Gedanke was conceived as a rival project to Wittgenstein’s nascent Tractatus. Our hypothesis explains Wittgenstein’s long-lasting animosity towards the contents of this particular treatise even decades after Frege’s death. We consider the key difference between the two projects to be the question of the explication of the concepts of fact and world. For Frege, the external world of sense-perceptible things (the World 1) is only the ground for objective facts, which are true thoughts that are composed exclusively of abstract entities. Wittgenstein, on the other hand, says that the world itself is the totality of facts which are special complexes.

The paper asks whether Euclid of Megara is a typical Socratic who examines the good life or a Megarian who combines Socratic ethics with the Eleatic doctrine. The first part is dedicated to an analysis of reports by Diogenes Laertius, Aristocles, and Cicero that identify Euclid as the founder of the Megarian line. The analyses result in an ambiguous assessment of Euclid as an Eleatic Socratic, which seems to have originated in the Hellenistic doxographies. The second part returns to the theme of Megarian school and shows that within the Megarian movement we should consider several lines, and only the latest line of Dialecticians could be called a school. The last part reviews the extant testimonies for Euclid. It shows that, with few exceptions, Euclid is portrayed in ancient accounts as a Socratic with an interest in ethical problems. The only direct fragment cited by Stobaeus does not suggest any connection with Eleatic doctrine.

book review

Book review

This paper explores the concept of resilience as much more than a personal capacity to overcome adversity. Using reflections from ontology, ethics and epistemology, this paper offers philosophical contextualisation of resilience thinking and the corresponding paradigm shift. It shows that individual resilience depends on a person’s ability to navigate their way to the resources they need for well-being while making multisystemic resources available in ways that are meaningful. Paradoxically, resilience is a consequence of how these multiple systems interact to support positive development and the feedback loops and trade-offs necessary to ensure that a single system’s success does not compromise the resilience of other systems. Five patterns of resilience are discussed, each a viable solution to coping with stress.

Německá filosofie a literatura kolem roku 1800 mimo jiné tematizuje dějiny. Předložená studie si klade za cíl systematicky vypracovat dějinnou strukturu, tak jak ji podává Heinrich von Kleist ve své povídce O loutkovým divadle(1810). Jelikož se Kleistova povídka pohybuje na rozhraní literatury a filosofie, je třeba doplnit Kleistovu pozici o koncepty dobové filosofie. Právě tím, že interpretujeme Kleistovu povídku pomocí filosofie německého idealismu, získáme jasnější představu struktury dějin, tak jak ji představuje Kleistův text. Cílem studie je popsat dějinnou strukturu a tím poukázat na společný prvek myšlení německého idealismu a romantické literatury. Výsledek interpretace představí model odpadnutí od původní jednoty (indiference), vznik diference a zpětný pohyb k původní jednotě. Tím, že jsme Kleistovu povídku zařadili do perspektivy německého idealismu, jsme získali silný nástroj pro pochopení tohoto procesu. Proces odpadnutí a vzniku diference je procesem získání sebevědomí. Postupný návrat k původnímu východisku v kruhovém pohybu interpretujeme jako naplňování diference v poznání celé skutečnosti. Tím, že je subjekt a objekt poznání totožný, zaniká mezi nimi diference a je znovuzavedena původní jednota. Popsáním struktury dějin tak, jak ji podává Kleist ve své povídce, se ukazuje argumentační a systematická blízkost Kleistova textu a německého idealismu.