THE TEMPORALITY OF HISTORY IN EDMUND HUSSERL’S PHENOMENOLOGY: TOWARDS A CLARIFICATION OF THE ROLE OF REINSTITUTION

Abstract

In the context of the generative phenomenology introduced by Edmund Husserl, it is considered that the historic nature of a traditionalized community can be traced in the movement of establishment, sedimentation, reestablishment and transformation of an original meaning. The main goal of this paper is to study the role the reestablishment [Nachstiftung] plays within the “structural a priori of history” and to elucidate where that necessity lies in concerning the constitution of a community. In order to clarify the fundamental characteristics of the reestablishment, I attempt to draw a parallel between reestablishment and recollection as a moment of the egologic temporality. As a conclusion, it will be shown that a reactivation that amounts to a mere comprehension does not ensure the continuity of a tradition. Only the passive adoption and the theleological accomplishment given for the reestablishment guarantee the durability of a traditionalized community.