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HORIZON 5 (i) 2016 : III. Discussions : W. Plotka : 299-304
ФЕНОМЕНОЛОГИЧЕСКИЕ ИССЛЕДОВАНИЯ • STUDIES IN PHENOMENOLOGY • STUDIEN ZUR PHÄNOMENOLOGIE • ÉTUDES PHÉNOMÉNOLOGIQUES
III. ДИСКУССИИ
REPORT ON THE INTERNATIONAL CONFERENCE «HORIZONS BEYOND BORDERS. TRADITIONS AND PERSPECTIVES OF THE PHENOMENOLOGICAL MOVEMENT IN CENTRAL AND EASTERN EUROPE» (JUNE 17-19, 2015, BUDAPEST, HUNGARY)
WITOLD PLOTKA
PhD in Philosophy, Assistant Professor at the Institute of Philosophy, Sociology and Journalism, University of Gdansk, 80-309 Gdansk, Poland.
E-mail: [email protected]
The report presents an overview of the International Conference on «Horizons Beyond Borders. Traditions and Perspectives of the Phenomenological Movement in Central and Eastern Europe» that held on June 17-19, 2015 at the Institute of Philosophy of the Research Centre for the Humanities of the Hungarian Academy of Sciences in Budapest, Hungary. The report sketches the mina idea of the event, and points out organizational background of the meeting. Moreover, the report summarizes the main theses of key lectures given by the guests, and it shows the structure of the conference schedule.
Key words: History of the phenomenological movement, phenomenology in Central and Eastern Europe, politics, practical involvement, Michalski, Tengelyi.
© WITOLD HORIZON 5
PLOTKA, 2016 (1) 2016
ОБЗОР МЕЖДУНАРОДНОЙ КОНФЕРЕНЦИИ «ГОРИЗОНТЫ БЕЗ ГРАНИЦ. ТРАДИЦИИ И ПЕРСПЕКТИВЫ ФЕНОМЕНОЛОГИЧЕСКОГО ДВИЖЕНИЯ В ЦЕНТРАЛЬНОЙ И ВОСТОЧНОЙ ЕВРОПЕ» (17-19 ИЮНЯ 2015 Г, БУДАПЕШТ, ВЕНГРИЯ)
ВИТОЛЬД ПЛОТКА
PhD, доцент Института философии, социологии и журналистики, Гданьский университет, 80309 Гданьск, Польша.
E-mail: [email protected]
Сообщение представляет собой обзор международной конференции «Горизонты без границ. Традиции и перспективы феноменологического движения в центральной и восточной Европе», которая состоялась 17-19 июня 2015 года в Институте философии Центра гуманитарных исследований Венгерской академии наук, в Венгрии. Сообщение содержит набросок центральной идеи данного события, и подчеркивает организационный фон встречи. Более того, сообщение подытоживает основные тезисы ключевых лекций, прочитанных гостями, что повторяет структуру расписания конференции.
Ключевые слова: История феноменологического движения, феноменология в Центральной и Восточной Европе, политика, практическое участие, Михальски, Тенгели.
In June 17-19, 2015 the Institute of Philosophy of the Research Centre for the Humanities of the Hungarian Academy of Sciences (Magyar Tudomanyos Akademia, MTA) in Budapest (Hungary) organized the International Conference on «Horizons Beyond Borders. Traditions and Perspectives of the Phenomenological Movement in Central and Eastern Europe». The conference was supported by the National Cultural Fund of Hungary (NKA). At the very beginning, it is worth noting that the Director of the Host Institution was Ferenc Horcher, the Chair of the Organizing Committee was Peter Andras Varga (Hungarian Academy of Sciences), and the Secretary—Witold Plotka (University of Gdansk).
The main ideas of the conference «Horizons Beyond Borders» were not only to elaborate a rich, though complex history of the phenomenological movement in Central and Eastern Europe, but also to explore the role that phenomenology plays in contemporary philosophy in this part of the world. The organizers emphasized that it has long been understood that the circumstances of the phenomenological movement in
Central and Eastern Europe 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 Enyvvari, Vaclav Havel, Roman Ingarden, Karel Kosik, Krzysztof Michalski, Constantin Noica, Jan Patocka, Wilhelm Szilasi, Jozef Tischner, Karol Wojtyla, 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 even contemporary philosophical horizons. With this regard, the main aim of the conference was 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.
The ideas and aims of the conference have met a good response of a strong group of researchers. The final program consisted of 64 lectures by scholars from 16 countries. It has to be stressed, however, that a good quality of presented talks was guaranteed by a process of blind peer-review completed by the Members of the Scientific Advisory Board including: Ivan Blecha (Palacky University, Olomouc), Cristian Ciocan (Institute for Philosophy «Alexandru Dragomir,» Bucharest), Ion Copoeru (Babe§-Bolyai University, Cluj-Napoca), Andrzej Gniazdowski (Polish Academy of Sciences, Warsaw), Balazs M. Mezei (Pazmany Peter Catholic University, Budapest), Karel Novotny (Institute of Philosophy, Academy of the Sciences of the Czech Republic, Prague), Csaba Olay (ELTE University, Budapest), Wojciech Starzynski (Polish Academy of Sciences, Warsaw), Jaroslava Vydrova (Slovak Academy of Sciences, Bratislava), and Michal Zvarik (Trnava University, Trnava).
The conference was open by a lecture given by Ferenc Horcher (Hungarian Academy of Sciences / Catholic University of Hungary) who lectured on Beyond Censure in Politics and Philosophy: The Memorable Years of the Eighties in Central Europe. The
paper concerned the question of relationships between phenomenology and politics in Poland, Czechoslovakia, and Hungary in the 1980s'. Just after the lecture, Nicolas de Warren (KU Leuven, Belgium) presented a first plenary lecture: Unbearable Lightness of Eternity. The lecture was presented in the plenary «In Memoriam Krzysztof Michalski» and it concerned mainly the last book of Michalski—The Flame of Eternity: An Interpretation of Nietzsche's Thought. The topic was the meaning of eternity, also in the context of Patocka's philosophy. During the first day of the conference Marci Shore (Yale University, New Haven, USA) presented a second key lecture during the plenary «In Memoriam Krzysztof Michalski». Her paper was entitled Either/Or: An Antidote to Hegel. The paper explored the problem of the connection between Being and thought. As it was argued, Michalski, just as Patocka, saw in phenomenology possibility to bridge the gap between the two elements.
The second day of the conference was open by the plenary lecture given by Michael Gubser (James Madison University, USA). In his talk Gubser discussed the relationship between phenomenology and politics in the work of Dietrich von Hildebrand and Aurel Kolnai. He argued that a study of both philosophers can show that by reference to phenomenology, they were able to use this philosophy in their political activity. Moreover, both regarded ideology as an element that determines human spirit.
The third, last day of the conference was open by the plenary lecture of George Heffernan (Merrimack College, North Andover, USA). His talk concerned Heidegger's Critique of Husserl in His «Black Notebooks». The lecture was a critical analysis of Peter Trawny's book Heidegger and the Myth of the Jewish World Conspiracy, where Trawny claims that in his Black Notebooks Heidegger is guilty of «historical-ontological anti-Semitism». In Heffernen's view, Trawny's thesis must be enlarged, since Heidegger's charge of ontologism is directed also against Plato and Aristotle. This, however, seems to suggest that his discussion with ontologism can be regarded also outside his cultural anti-Semitism.
Further Invited Speakers were (in an alphabetical order): Jakub Capek (Faculty of Arts, Charles University in Prague, Czech Republic), Istvan M. Feher (Eotvos Lorand University, Budapest, Hungary), Maija Kule (University of Latvia / Latvian Academy of Sciences, Riga, Latvia), Ivan Landa (Institute of Philosophy of the Czech Academy of Sciences, Prague, Czech Republic), Balazs M. Mezei (Pazmany Peter Catholic University,
Budapest, Hungary), Victor Molchanov (Russian State University for the Humanities, Moscow, Russia), Csaba Olay (Eötvös Lorand University, Budapest, Hungary), Robin D. Rollinger (Institute of Philosophy of the Czech Academy of Sciences, Prague, Czech Republic), Inga Römer (Bergische Universität Wuppertal, Germany), Wojciech Starzynski (Polish Academy of Sciences, Warsaw), Adam Takacs (Eötvös Lorand University, Budapest, Hungary), Petr Urban (Institute of Philosophy of the Czech Academy of Sciences, Prague, Czech Republic), and Mihaly Vajda (Hungarian Academy of Sciences, Budapest, Hungary).
The conference schedule was divided into 14 (mostly parallel) thematic sessions: two «Laszlo Tengelyi Memorial Sessions» that presented contributions on Tengelyi's oeuvre and his impact on contemporary phenomenology, «Beyond Borders» that displayed broader perspective on the phenomenological movement by noticing interrelationships between countries, two «Beyond Politics» sessions that tried to define a complex relationship between phenomenologists and political issues, «Figures» that aimed at description of main philosophers that determined the phenomenological movement in Central and Eastern Europe, «Figures: Roots» that concerned the main figures of early phenomenology in Central and Eastern Europe, «Figures: Ingarden and his Heritage» dedicated exclusively to Ingarden's philosophy, and to continuations of his thought, two «Figures: Longitudinal Analyses» sessions that explored topics specific to related countries from Central and Eastern Europe, two «Figures: Religion» sessions that investigated phenomenological theories with regard to the question of religion and theology, and, last but not least, two «New Phenomenology from CEE» sessions that gathered talks, which presented original contributions of contemporary thinkers from Central and Eastern Europe to contemporary phenomenology.
Though the conference schedule concerned a large part of a rich heritage of the phenomenological movement in Central and Eastern Europe, it may not be an exaggeration to say that there are still many topics to be explored. In this context, one can comprehend the «Horizons Beyond Borders» conference as an important, though first step towards a deeper understanding of contribution of Central and Eastern European philosophers to phenomenology. In any case, the conference was, as it seems, an excellent occasion to consolidate many groups of phenomenologists, and it enabled presentations of many well-known, but also forgotten phenomenological theories. As it is well known,
Husserl understood the crisis of philosophy also with regard to the conferences where — he claimed — philosophers met, but not philosophies. I think that the «Horizons Beyond Borders» has allowed to meet philosophies themselves. With this regard, one can expect a continuation of the ideas that were instantiated by the «Horizons Beyond Borders» conference.
