Husserlův Platón

Abstract

Unlike Martin Heidegger, who was always critical of Plato’s role in the history of philosophy, and Jan Patočka, who was more charitable but still had serious misgivings about Plato, Edmund Husserl saw Plato truly positively. However, his view resulted from the fact that he had simplified Plato’s theory substantially and adapted it to his own view of philosophy. According to Husserl, Plato was an inspirational figure as a founder of philosophical ‘theory of science’, and because he sought abstract knowledge of the Forms, he could serve as a useful contrast to the one-sided philosophy of modern empiricism. This paper attempts to present Husserl’s position in a greater detail and assess it.