The Origin of Geometry I

T HI! ,NTUI!ST THAT prol'C'IS us in this wort. makes it !leecuary \0

e"Pi" fin. of' all in ",fta:tio'!J which surely never oc:tu,nd to Galileo.
We must (0<;\1$ oor pzc not merely upon lhe ready-made, handed·
down gcomctry and upon the manner of being which its meanin, had in
his thinking; il was M different in hi. thinkin, from what il was in that
of .11 the I~tc inheritors of the older geometric wisdom , whenever they
were at work. either as pure geometers or as makina p11l(:tw;al applica-
tions of ,eometry. Rather. indeed above all. wo: mus t ai51') inquire back
into the original meanina of the ILandcd-<iown lIeometry. which con·
tinued to be: valid wilh Ihis very SatM mnni,..--<:onlinued and at the
same time was developed fu"her. remainin, """,I), " &tOmctry" in all
its new forms. Our considerations ...ill nKc_ily lead (0 the dtepest
problems ofmeanin,. probIe .... of science.nd of the history of5cienc:e
In I"nenol. and inde<!d in the end to proble m. of a un,vcl'$a1 h"tory in
Itnaa l: SO thal our problems and expositions concernina Galilean
geometry u.kc on an ucmplary si,nificaocc.
Lel it be noted in IOdvancc that , in the midst of our hi storil;al mediu.·
tions on modern philosophy. there appears here for the ftl'$t time with
Galileo, through the disclosure of the depth· proble ms of lhe muning-
ori,in of ,cometry and. fou nded on thi •. of the munina·oriain of his
new physjc,s. a clarifyina I;gM fo.- OUr whole undcn!lkina: namely , {the
idea on :seckina to carry out. in the form of historil;al meditations.
:self.unections about OIlr OWn pu""nt philo:sophical .ituation in the
hopc: that in this way we can finally take poUCuion 0( the meanina.
method. and helinni", of philosophy. the """ philo""phy to which our
life :seeks to be and ou ... t to be dc,·oted. For •• s w,lI become evident
llerc , at first in conn«lion with onc example, OIlr invcstiption • • u
his torical in . n unusuBl sense:. namely . in vin"" of. tht:matic direction
whil;h opens up depth·problems quite unkoown to ordinary history.
problems whil;h. (how(ver .1 in their own way. ~ undoubtedly histori-

' Th. "","uocnfll ..... "'nit ... i. t9)6_ "'. edil«t Md ""to .."'"(bc.,n",". "'''h the
,h int "....... "") by F. ..... Font .. ,It< RfioI<. iN ..... ,;....,1< M """OI",,1tI<. \lot. t. No. 1
(l9l9) ucole, !he ,,,)0 .. 0.. Un!",,", d<r OO<>lll<,nc 01, into"'tOtW hll'orioc"", Prob-
te .. ,·· It 0 _ " , in lI'em<t". od".,., of tll< CrlN ... , Be'.... 111 .. · p~ . *'-86. The ~'"
~.tqJlj>ItO . u •• " it "'.... ~, for ,,,, Iu,,,," in ,,,,, er;';'

cal problems. Where a con,i'tent pursuit of these depth-problem' lead,
can n~turally nOl yet be seen at t'" beginn ing.
The qu~'ti01l oflhe origin of geometry (unMr which title here, for t'"
$ake ofbrcvity, we include all discipline. that deal with 'hapes existing
mnth~matically in pure space_time) shall not be considered ... re as the
philolOgical.historical que,lion. i.~ .. as the ,ea!"(Oti for thi: tirsl geomet-
ers who actually uttered pure geometrical propo';tiOl\s . proofs.
theories , or for the particular propositions they di,covered. or the like
Rather than this. our intere,t shall be the inquiry back into the most
original SO'ns.e in which ]!eom~try """e arose. wa, present as the tradi-
tion of millennia, is still presenl for us, and is still being worked on in a
livel y forward development;' we inquire into that sense in which it
appeared in history for the first time-in which il had to appear. even
though we koow nothing of the first creators and a"" oot even a, king
aft~r thi:m. Starling from what we know. from our geometry. or rather
from lhe older handed-down form, (",ch as Euclidean geometry). there
is an inquiry back into the submerged original beginnilll!' of geometry
as they "",cessari ly must ha~e been in their "primally eSlablishing"
function . This ,..,gressive inqu iry unavoidably remains wilh in the
sphere of generalities. but. as we shall soon see, these are geoeralilies
which can be richl y e~plicated. with prescribed possibilitIes of arriving
al particular q uestIon, and self-evident claim' as answe~. The
geometry ""hich is ready -made. so to speak. from which lhe regressi"e
inquiry begins. is a Iradition. Our human exister.ce moves within in-
numerable traditions. The whole cultural world. in all its forms. exisls
through tradition. These form, have arisen as sllch not merely causally:
we also know already that tradil"'" is precisel y tradit""'. having arIsen
within our hum~n .pace through human activity , i.e., sp iritually. even
lhough we generally know nothing, or as good as oothi!l3. of the par·
ticular provenance and of Ihe spiritual source that brought it aboul.
And yet the,.., lies in this lack of koowledge. C\erywhcrc and essen-
tially. an implic it knowledge. which can thus also be made explicit. a
koowledge of unassailable self-ev idenc~. It begin' WIth superficial
commonplaces. such as: that everylhi!l3 Iradltional has arisen out of
human activity, that accord ingly past men and human civ ilizat ions
n isted. and arnoog Ihem their tirst invenlors. who shaped the new OUt
of material, at han d. whether raw or al ready spiritually shaped. From
lhe ,uperficial. however. one;s led into the depth' Tradition is open in
this general way to continued inqu iry ; and. if O<1e consistently mainlain ,
• So .ho for Golil,o.nO alill>< r-<rio<I' rotlo .. inl ,I>< R,,",~""'., <on, ,,,u.lly
",·o<k<d on tn, I,,,'y f"",·w d.'<iOl'",.nl.'o<I y<t .. ,I>< ,,"''' time . "><Ii"""
HO
n, 0'4" ~! G_<I<,
lhe di,..,ction of inquiry. an infinilY of q uest ions open. up. questioos
which lead to definile answers in accord wilh their sens~ . Tbeir form
of generality- indeed. a, one can ~e. of unconditioned general
validity- nalurally allows for application to individually delermined
particular cases. though il delermine s O<1ly that in the individ ual thal
can be grasped through subsumplion.
Lel us begin. then. in conneclion wilh geometry. with the most obvi·
ous commonplace, that we hav~ already expressed abov~ in order to
indicate the sense of OUr ,..,gce,';ve inquiry. We understand our
geomelry. available to u, through tradition (we have learned il. and so
have OUr teacher.;j, 10 be a total acquisition of spiritual accompli,h ·
menlS which grow. Ihrough Ihe continued work of new spir;tual acts
inlo new acquisitions. We know of ils handed·down . earli er forms. as
those from which it has ar isen: bul wilh ~very form the reference to an
earl ier one is repeated. Clearly. Ihen. goometry must have arisen oul of
aft'" acquisition, oot of firsl c,..,alive aClivities. We underSland it.
persisting manner of being: it is not only a mobile forward process from
one set of acquisit ions to allOt her but a continuou s synth~sis in which all
acquisitiO<1s maintain their validity. all make up a tOlality ,uch that. at
evel)' present ,Iage, t'" total acquisition is. so to speak. lhi: total pre·
mise for the acquisilions of the neW level. Geometry nece%arily has this
mobility and has a horizon of geometrical future in precisely Ihis style:
this is its meaning for every geomeler who has Ih~ consciousness (the
COOSlant impl ic il koowledgo) of ex isting with in a forward development
understood as the progress of knowledge be ing built inlO lhe horizon.
The same Ihing is true of every science. Also . ev~ry sci~nc~;s related to
an open chain of Ihe ,enerations of those who work for and with ooe
another. researchers either kllOwn or unknown to O<1e another who are
tbe accomplishing subjectivily of Ihe whol~ living science. Science. and
in panicular g<:ometry ...... ith Ihis ontic meaning. must have had a histor.
ical beginning; thi s meaning itself must have an origin in an ac-
complishment: firsl as a proj~cI and then in successful exec ution.
Obviously it is Ihe ,ame I>t:re as with every Olhtr invenlion. Every
spiritual accomplishment proceeding from it' first project to its exeCu·
t;on is p,..,senl for Ih~ first t;me in thi: self-evider.ce of actual success
B~t when We oote that matMmalics has Ihe manner ofbeilll! of a lively
forward movement from acq uisitions 3.\ premises 10 new acquisitioos.
in woose O<1tic meaning that of the p,..,mises is included (the process
conlinuing in this manner), then il is clear Ihat the /OMI meaning of
geometry (as a developed science, as in the Ca," of every seier.ce) could
beinl OOt have been present as a projecl and then as mobile fulfillmenl at the
beginning. A more primitive formation of meaning necessarily went
Ixfore " as a prelim,nary ~tl\le, undoub,edl y in <;uch a .... y ,ha' i,
appeared for ,he ~""Iime on ,M ""If-evidence or succuslul real i~a,ion.
SuI this way of e~rre"in, il i. iKtually overblo .... n. Self.ev,derw:e
mean. nolhing mon: thwn ,raspin, an enlity with Ihe con~iou5neS$ of
ilS oria:inal Mini-itself·lhere rSelb£I-d~ 1. Successful re~ltzalion of a
pro~' is. for the iI\:\lni JIlbject. self.eviderw:e: in Ihi , ilClf-evidence.
what has been realized is lhere, origiMiiln. as ilself.
Bul oow qUesllC'M ouisc This procus 0( projecli.., and succc.»fully
realiz,.., OCC:UB. an .... all. purely wi'hin !he~ubjtCf 0(1he 'nvenWr. and
thus the meamnl , _ presenl origilt(Jliler with it. wtIlIk content. lies
uclullvely. 0010 .peak. w'thon hIS menu.l .pace QuI acomellical UIS-
lenee is 00' psychic ui"ence ; il tIoes not ex,SI as aomc:th inl personal
.... lthin 1he personal sphere of consciousness: il IS the uislenee of what
is Objectively th~ for "everyone" (for actual and possible leomete~.
or lho", .... ho underSland ICl)melry). Indced . it has. from ill primal
ellabh.hment. an c~istence which is peculiarly supertemporal and
whj,;h-<J( this " 'e are certain-is acc..sible 10 all men. ~r" of all 10 the
aclual and possible: ma!hemalicians 0( all people •• all .,.s: and Ihis is
true mall ill patticularfonns. And all forml newly produced by ..me-
onc on 111<0 N.sis m p"',jven fonn~ ,mmedialely lake on the oame objec-
tivity 11l1s 's. we note. an ·· idear ' objeclivity. It is proper 10 a .. hole
class 0( spiritual prodUCI S m the culrural world. 10 which not only all
sc~ntifIC con slruction. and 11>0: sciences lhe:msclvu belonl bu l al50. for
example, the construclioos of fine lit ....ature.· Works of Ihis clau do
nol . hke tool. (hammers. phers) 0< like archilectural an d other such
products. have a n:~alab;hty in many like uemplars. The Pylhago·
rean theorem. [indeed ] aU ofaeomelry. ex;.'s only once. no maller how
often oreven in .... hatl .... uaae ,\ may be expn:...ed I1 illdenl~ally the
_ in tM "oriainaJ ia"'u... ·• of Euclid and in all ··lrans l.t"",,··; and
.... tthln each lan&uaae it is aaa,n the ~. no matter how man y tlmes;1
ha~ been .en!ibly uttcn:d. from the onginal upre~r.oon and wrillng-
down 10 the innumerable oral utterances 01 wnucnlnd Olher(\OCumcn-
l.lll111s. The .ensible ullerancu have ,p&liotemponol individuat;on
in IIIe world like 1111 corpoual occurrences. like everythina embodied
,n bodies as such; bul Ihis is nol lrue of the spirilual form it$Clf.
, fIo, ''''' - . , ",...,,.,,. 0( I.enou .. _ ,loa,
....... Iho. . .11. io, ~ b<\ooi. '0
,loo, "" ....
",... objo<: ..... b<,,. Ill. .. pm""" ...,
'~"'.n~ <all be "pR _ _ • and
.-oIojoa"'..,.. .,,-..r.. .c.-.o-. ",""
............. p<e<>Odr. <My "" ......
''''' .,."..,...... _ ... ftr ''''''' ,loo d,lt'_ _ ,110
Iho..-
.. w........... 1ho ........ "'.peo<h. no .... ,"'. ,n' _oh .. flo"'_
ar.- --.... ;.<1.. <_",
0( ''''' _k
......, u _ _ ,.... "' .... Ion...... <loa _ ......... ,11 . . . . " .. ~"y ..
ctw.,. " ,"'0 la , , , " . ' _ " . " " ' _ , oou"ibih.y.
whj,; h is called an ·· ideal obj«l·· r;J~"I. c..8~/U"j""ti('loktjt[ . In. cer-
I~'n .... y ideal objects do exist objeclively in !he world. bo.It il is onl y in
v,rtue 0( thue Iwo-Ievcled repel"ion s and ultimately in virtue of .ensi.
~IY embodying repelilions. For lanluasc ilself. in all ,,. parl~ulari7.a.
lions (words. sentencei, speeche.). is. a. Can easily be sc:en from the
arammatical point of view. lhoroughly made up of Ideal objecU: for
enmple.!he woro Uh.." occurs onlyonce in lhe German langll3&e: il i,
identical throuahoul ill innumertlble Ullcnonces by any ai"en per.on •.
But Ihe idealitics of ~melricaJ wonl.. 5CI1tencn, lheori.-
considered purely IllI IinauislIC struCtures-are not lhe: idc:aI,tics Ihal
make up " 'hal is upreSKd .-nd brooahllo validit Yas truth in lI«""etry ;
tl>o: laner IlK ideal geomelrj,;al ob)CCts, statu of affairs. elc. Wherever
oomethi", i. a.serted. onc can d,,'inIUish what is themal lC. that abo\lt
whj,;h it is said (ils meanin,). from lhe assertion. which it!.Clf. durinllhe
anerling. is neva and CH n never be lhematj,;. And what is lhemalic
here is pn:cisely ideal obj.eclS. and quite different One, from those corn.
ina under 11>0: concepI 0( lanlUlie. Our problem now concerns preci!>Cly
the ideal objects ...... ich arc !hemal~ in IIWml:try: how does aromelrical
idcahty (just like thal 0( all SClencel) proceed from its primary intrapcr.
.onal on";n. where it is • stru~ lure within !he con!.CIOUS space of the
ftr)! 'n~nlor's SOUl. to ,r. ldeal objKI, v"y? In ad vance Wc 11« thal "
occurs by means or lanlllaie. throuah which il receives. so 10 speak. ils
li",uisl~ Iivinl body tspr(lCloltib] . Bul how does linlu lS tic embodimenl
make ou t 0( the merely intrasubjective struclure lhe objtCflW' structure
wh~h, e.II .. as geometrica l concept or Slale of affairs. i, in f&et prc_""nt
as understandable by all and is va lid. alrudy in its Iinluistic e~prcssion
as JCometrieal speech. as JComelrical propo.ilion. for all !he IUlure in
its aeometrical .en~?
Naturally. we shall not .. inlo!he lcncral problem wh~h also arises
here 0( the on,;n of lanpl. in i\l ,deal uistcnce and ill uiSlcnc:e in
the real world around~d in utterance and documentation : bo.Il we must
lay a few word. here ILboullhe .. Iatlon between lan ....,.,. IS a function
0( man w,'hin human civ'hUIIon . and !he world as IIIe horizon of
hum.n ClIislence.
Living wakefully in the world we arc conslantly constioul of the
world. whether we pay atten lion to it or not. conSCIOUS or il u the
horizon or our life , as a horizon of " lhinIS" (n:al object.), of our ac tual
and possible ,ntere sts and .cliv"ICS. Always .tand'lli OUI lIIinSI lhe
world _honzon is the horizon of our fellow men . .... h~lhcr Ihere arc anyot
lhem "",senior not. Before evcn tni", nollee of it at all. we ar~
conIClOluoftheopcn horIZon o(our fellow men " 'ith ils lim,ted ""clcul
of our nc'ahbon. those koown 10 us. Wc are lhereby coconsciou. of the
me" 00 our nlemal hori..r.cn i" each case .. H(I(hcr,': ,n each ca ..... , .•
am C(M\l/;1OU1 of .hem a. "my" OIhers. U lholie ... "h whom I can en.er
inlo ac:tuaJ ~nd poIenlLal. imrnedlale and med,ale .elallOO! of emp;uhy:
[lhlS in~oI~esl a reciprocal "aeu,na alOllJ" w,lh olhcn: ami on .M
ba$i. of IM!Ie relallOOl I ~an deal .... i.h .hem. en.er ,nlO p:ittocular modes
of communny ... ilh them. and then know. in M h..b"ual way. of my
be,nll 50 relaled. Like me. every human be,na_nd th, •• s how he is
underslood by me and everyone else-hal hi, fellow men and. alway.
counti!\ll him~lf. d~j]j,-alion in general. in which he know s himself to
bc hina.
11 is precls.ely 10 Ihi. horizon of civiliulioo Ih~t comm~ langu~
belooa •. 0"" i. con~iou. of civiliz.ation from lhe Slnrt a. an !mmed,ale
and "",dlale linaui.tic community. Clearly it ,~only Ihroullh IMngu3j,le
and il$ f.r·reach,na; documenlallOOS. a. pOlloible commun,,"~lion •. Ihat
the hori~on ofcivihution can be an open and coolns one. as i. always
i. ror me-n. Whal ;. privilelcd in conscious""...s IM horir.oo of civili·
zation ."., t i IM lonaul$lic commu nilY ,. mature normal civilozation
(takina; .way lhe abnormal and the ""OI"kI of chlklrcn). In Ihis sense
CiVilization ;.. for .. very ..... n whoM: we.hori.J:"" " is. • communi.y of
lhos.e who can reciprocally npreu thems.el>el. norma11y. in a ful'y
unde~landable fashion: and wilh,n thi. commun"y everyone can talk
aboul whal i. within Ihe surroundinll world of hiS ci,·lliza lion.s objec·
lively exlMina. Everythlna has ils n;ome. or i~ namable in Ihe broade.1
sense. i.e .• linllUi.llCaUy expre.siblc. n.. o~ecll~c world i. from lhe
Slal1 Ihe world for all . Ihe ..... orld which "everyonc" ha. as world·
loori1.on. 11. objeclive being prewppo>.n mC". undft""ood as men "ilh
• comm"" lanauaae. LangullIe. for ito par!. as funclion;,nd exercised
capacily. is relatcd COITelativcly 10 Ihe world. lhe unive~ of objeCls
which is Iinaul.hcal1y npressiblc in in beln, and ilS belOlI·!!Uch. Thus
men as men. fcllow men. worid--the workl of",hoeh men. of ..... hieh .... c.
.I ..... ay' talk MOO can talk_nd, on Ihe OIher hand. laniu • . are ,no
wparably mterl ... lned: and one i!; always certain of 1110<" Inseparable
relational ullIIy. lhoush usually only impllc,tly. In tM manner of a
~zon. . case of n:collccllon. a prescn. (oaccompllShmenl "" one', O.. n pall of
This bema prewppOSCd. the prlmally cSlabhshlna geometer can ob-
voou.ly aI.o npre" hi. in lemal Slructure Bul lhe q""'llOO anses
iliain: How ckxs IM lallft", in ils "idealily:' lhereby hl:come obje~·
live? To be :lUre. IIOmelhina psychic ",hich can be underslood by olhers
[narlr,·"sttlrl>ar] and is communicable. as aomclhm, P"lychic belonai".g
10 .hi~ man, istt> ipso obje~livc. just as he him~clf. as concrele man. ts
experiellCuble and namable by everyone as a reallhin, in Ihe world of
'h,"I' in. cmflllll People Can "3"'" about sl",h Ih.nal. can make com-
mon vft",fillble.l»CfllOOS.""'M basis ofcommon e~penellC(:. cl~. Su.
ho":' does the InlraP"lychlCally conslllul«! slructure arrivc al an imer.
S"b~II~C be,n, of ,Is own as an Ideal object" hoch. as . ·aCO_tricat.··
" anythlnl! 001 • re,1 p"y~hie objec'. even lhou,h II has atlsm PS)"
choeal!y~ Lel us re.ftK'. The orillilla! belna·i ' self.lhere, in .he ,mmed,.
acy f/t1rt"uJulil J of lis fi ...1 produc hOfl. '.C .. in onalnal . 'self-evidencc ..
results In no persl<linG acquisition 31 all Ihl cOl>ld have O~C<:I,~e
CX!$Ieroce. V"id se lf'cvidence pass.es-lhouah In such 3 way tha. IM
aCllvny im mcdiately turns in.o the passiv ity oflhc nowingly fadlnS ~on.
ICI"'''nc" of "'hal·ha.·ju ..·"" .....·becn. finally th'l "rctcntion" disap.
pears. bUI Ihe ··d,... ppeared·· paSSing and being pall has 1101 become
noothlns for IM subje~1 ,n que<lion: i. can be reawake"l'd. To lhe 1"'~s.v.
'Iy of ",h., IS ., ~I"SI obscurely awaken«! and "'ha! perha"" e""'rF'
""h ,reater and area.er clarity lhere belonal lhe pOuible achv"y of a
recolle~ l tOfIln which the pa~1 upene""'''lll&lrMIIJ ,"I"cd throullh ,n
a quas.·new ~oo quasi·ltl!'"e way. Now If.he onpnally self.eviden.
ProdUCIIOn, as the pure fulfillmen. of .1. InlentlOn. I. whal IS renewed
Ire~oIleclcd). !hn'c necessarily oceu~. ICCOOl\fl<Iflyinllhe acti~e rccol.
Iec.ion ut what" r-JI. an actlv,'y of concurTCn' aclu.1 pnJduClion. and
~here. a,,~, lhereby, in orill',nal "coincldence:' the self.e~,dence of
,denuly: wh", ha, now becn realiUd ifl onl'nal fashion i, the 'amc a.
whal wa.s. previously self·e videnl. A Iso coc.lablj.hed i. 1110< capacily
for .rcpelll!on 81 .. ,11 wilh Ihe self-e vidence of the idenl l l~ (co ,n-c ;dence
of Idcntlt~) of thc ""'Clure throughoul Ihe ch.,n of repcl'ti-un~. Yel
even ",ilh I hi~, ..... c have still no. gone beyond Ihe subject Md his sub.
jec llve. evidem capacities: Ihal is. we ,'ill h~ve no . 'objecl,vily" lIiven .
It docs atl)C. ho ..... e'cr_;n a prel,minary ,[aac-m "ooerlt"ndablc fa,h.
IOn as soon as ~ lake in.o conliderallOO Ihe funcl,,,,, of empathy Ilnd
fellow mank,nd u • communi'y ut empathy and utlnnau"ll". In IM
C""'aCI ut rec'procal hnlulStoe undersland,na. Iht on,,,,.1 produclion
and the prodUCI of one subjecl can be tr,i>.,1y "ooer.lood by lhe Olher<
IfllhlS full undcr.taruhna of "'hal is produced by lhe other. as in .he
Iht prescnufied act'~lty nKessanly .akes place. 001 allllo< ~ame I,me
lhere " a1<o lhe self-evidenl coosciousncM of lhe idcfI"'y of the mental
slruclure m lhe produC liorIs or bolh lhe recClver ut the communication
and IM communicalor: and Ihi. OCcurs rcciproc"lIy. The: producllonS
un repn)ducc [heir likenesscs from person to pcr!l()Il, and in IIle Chain
of lhe understand in, of lhese repelition< ..... hal if .elf·evident lurn. up as
the snme in the tonSClOu,nU. of the otMr. In Ihe uni ly oflh. C.. mmu.
nlly of (:OIIIfI'OIno<:allon amOIIl seveno.l penon. the TCpea~dlY produced
Mru~t\loC bK0II'\C5 an objKt of oonsciousncloJ. IlOl as a hk~~!05. bulas
the one StruCtuTC common 10 all.
1'1_ we must nole Ihat the objcct;~;IY oftM ideal "ruCIUTC hu not
Y~I brcn fully con)1iluled throuah such actual u·anJierrinl of what h:",
bec:ft "';';nally producc<l ;n one to ott.en who onjllnally reproduce 11.
Whal is lackllli is the /KTSUtittg ~s"tmcr of lhe ··ideal objects'· e~en
dunn, periods in which the inventor IInd hi. fellow, arc no lonae r
wakefully I<J rdated or e~en are 00 longer Hli. c. Whal i.lacking IS lheir
conlinuing.lo-he even when no onc has (cQn5Ciously] realized them in
s.elf-ev!dct;Cc. . . . nolhinll; Ihal is, I'" onlic validily is dnlroyed Ihl'Ollgh lhe orillinal
The impOrtanl funclion of wrillen. doxumcnhng hngul~IIC e~pre$SIOn
;'Ihat il maku communicalion. pOssible Wllhoul immcdi.teormedtate
pet10IIal adoJre~s; il is. SO to speak. com lnun icallOll become ~lrtUal.
Throua/l Ih&. lhe communalizalion of man IS hflc4 to a new level.
W,"len "'Ins are. when considered from a purely corporeal pu;nt of
~lCw. ,tr1ulhlforwardly. scn:;ibly npcricrlCeablc; and il is always pOS-
'IIblc thal they be ;nlenubjcclively uperirnccablc In CQIII....".,. BUI as
IingulSIIC 511P'1~ lhey awaken. as do hneulitic IO\lIIds. IMIl' famIliar
.,/\caIlO"S. TM awakening i$ ... methin. paMlve. the a"".akmcd
silni/\callon is thus g"en passively. similarly 10 lhe way III whICh any
other aCI,vily which ha> ilUn k inlO ob",unly. once a ••oc"ali~ely
awakened. emerJCs al fir" passivcly ao a more or Ius clf:ar memory. In
lhe p"~si~ity In queslion here, liS in lhe ca~ of memory. whal is """.
sively awakcned elU'l be lran,formed back.· so IU speak . inlo IM COrte·
,pondin, aClivilY: Ihis is the capacity for re~ct ivation Ihat beion., orig·
lnally 10 evcry hum8n being a, a speakinll beinw. Accordingly, Ihen. lhe
wrilin,-down effecls a lran,formalion of lhe ori"naJ mode of being of
lhe mean;ng.'IJ\lCIU~. (c .... ] within the geometrical sp/IcTe of ... If·
evidence. of Ihf: [ICOmelrical .tructure which" pot ,nto wonIs. Jt be-
come~ 5C4imenltd. so 10 .peak. But the reader can mah il ~If..,vident
I&&'n. can react,vate the s.elf-evidcnce.t
1lotre 1$ a dlShnetlOll. lhen. between pa"';l~cly under"andln. lhe
np!'esP:>n and mak;1Ii It sclf-evident by reacllvallllJ ils meamng. But
lhere also niSI ~bilitl~ of a kind ofaeli ~lly. a Ih,nk'lIi in lermS of
- n.~;,. '.....f"""' .."'" of .. ~"" _ .. "",,~ • • be,". '" il ..... " " . - oft...
I..... 10 pu~, .. , ........... ,.
, Ru'." ... b\' "" ... M. 1I«<>SOrJ' et .,en roe'. 011, -",01, 11 • .., ,.il"",,' '''D ... "'"
"001 ..".001 ... <on <0lIl:'" "M. ""'" ... Qr <our .... I. the ,00o.J", QI ... hal i. "_",(>Od
..."Ioou, ."~ oe".dy o(~;. ""'" In 'h;' <_ he <omp><'l' Mm .. " punl, """,,...,y.ooI
1'0<:."'....,
thIngs Ihal hive bem lakm up merely recepllvely. pusively. which
deals WIth .....;t\calions only paSSIvely understood and taken OVer.
wllhoul any of the stlf-c~idcnce of oriaino.laclivlly. l'aS'llVlty in atncral
"I'" realm oflhilllS Ihat are bound logcther and melt InlO OM another
associallvely. where all meani"llthal arises IS PUI lo,tlher paMively.
Whal often hlppc'ns here i. thal a meanina anst. ""hich is apparenlly
pOssiblf: a~ a umW_i.t .• can apparenlly be made ~If·tvidence Ihroullh
a pO.sible reactivallort--whereas the alltmptlll actual reaclivalion Can
rellclivale only the individual members of lhe combinalion. while the
inltntion 10 unify Ihem inlo a whole. instead of being fultilled. cornu 10
consciousness of nullily.
11 is ealy to sce that eVen in [ordinary] human !lfe. and first of an In
every individual life from childhood up 10 malurily. lhe oriainally inlUI_
bve life which creales ils oriai"ally stlf·evidcnl struc lures Ihrough ac_
tivitlcs on I'" basis ofscns.e-e~pCricnc~ very qmekly and in inereas,oa:
measure falls vicbm to \he ,.,.tbie/ion ofllJ"6""~' Greater.,d ....."cr
~aments of Ihl$ lifc l:lJ!sc into a kInd of talkln • .,d reading thal is
dominaled purely by associalion ; and often enoulll. In respeet to the
~al id illes arrivcd al in Ihis way, ;1 " disappOlnled by s.ubseqUtnl
nperience.
Now one will &ay thal in the sphert Ihal InlereslS uS here-thal of
Icience, of Ihinkina direcled loward the altainmcnl of lrulh, and the
avoidance of fa lsehood-one ;s obviously ..... atly COIICerntd from 1he
start 10 P~I • ~top to Ihe free play of associative ConSI ructions. In view
of the unavoidable stdimenlalion of menial produCI. in lhe form of
persiSlina linauiSlic tlCquisilions, which Can be taken up "",in al firsl
merely p",sively and be taken Over by anyone cl~. s.uch con u",clions
remain" constanl <bnaer. Thi s danllcr is avoided if one not merely
<:On"'ncu oneself n pOst facto thal I'" pamc"tar construclion can be
reactivaled but assure. oncs.elf from the start. after lhe sclf~~idcnl
primal cSlabli!.hmenl. of its capacily 10 be reactivaled and endurln&ly
malnlained. Th" oxcu .... when onc has a view 10 lhe "nlvoxlty or lin.
auiSlic upreWon and 10 5CCUnna, by means of the ITII»I painstal...",
formallon oflhc relf:~anl ,",,00·.15, propositions, and complc~ClofprOpO­
.ilions, Ihe resullS which ~ 10 be univoxally cxpfuscd. This must be
done by the individual scicnti~t. and nol only by the Inventor but by
cvery scienllst .s " member of the scienli/\c «Immunily after he has
taken OVer from Ihe others w~at is to be taken over. Thi s belong •• tl>cn.
10 Ihe parliculars of the ""ienti/\c Inldilion wilh ln Ihe corrcSpOnding
communilY of Jtienti slS a. a eommunily of knowledae 11v lnll in lhe
unity of a common I'Csponsibilily. In accord wilh I'" e5.ICnce of science,
then. iu fun<;u·",~rie. m~lntaln the conSI"nl claim. lhe pcoonal eu·
(K in!\,. Ihal e'·cr~!h.n~ U",y pm into SClen llflC a,oertions ha, been , ,,,d
"OfICC and for ~II." Ihat I! ".Iiln(h fa'I:' for"vcr ident ically ~putab~
wllh self·e.idrnce and usable for f",'nc r lheorel ical or prnclio;:al
c:nd'>-"--Ol< ,~d"bIMbly ~acliulable .... ,th lhe IdentilY of ils aClual
meaning.·
H<>We.~. l"'O.....:"lft; Ihir.&' are importanl ~ Firsl: We !Ia\'e 001 yel
I.ken 1010 a.::ccunl III~ facl Ihal 5C~nhl\c thinkin& ~nillns new ~,ul" en
the basis of II\(>Oe al~ady allauK,d. Ihal lhe new one, <.t,.e U lhe
founda lion I'M still ulhe". elc._in tll<: unity of a prora8Rt i.e proee.. of
I,.~nsferred rrn::.nina.
In the finall~' ,mmcn51: rroliferallun of •• eienee I ike ~ornel ry. whal
~u beea,"", orlheclllm;nd the "",pacllY for ru.. livalion~ Whe n e vCl")'
~",=t.., \IIOfJI. UtI hl~ pari of 11", bulldinB. ,,'hal of lhe '-OC&IIOnaJ
,,,,lemJplion, .nd Ume OUI for re.,. ""hlCh cannot be O\Ierlooked herc:~
When he relurn< U) lhe actual contlnuallon of ... ork . must he firsl run
Ihrouidl Ihe whole Imrnen.e ChRin of aroondtngs back 10 the orillinal
1" em ;s'" ~nd acluAlly n:activale. Ihe whole Ihmg? .If so. a ..c lence hke
",,, modem ~eornetry W<>\IId <>bvlOusly I'IoJI be poSSIb le al all, And yet il
i, of the essence of lI>e n:sull. 0( each ,u'lIe not only Ihal lheir ideal
""'IC IJlC;tn,", in fKI co..... s 1.ler [than Ih~t of earlier .ewlll] bul thal .
WICe me~n,n, i. "round«! upon ..... anma. Ill<: earlier meam!lll ,wes
<ometh,nJ!; of il' HlilJily to Ill<: later one. Indeed becomu pan of il 10 a
;:crlaln e~tenL Thus no buildinll block "',Ih,n the mental structure IS
<.tlf.~uffic Len:, and notIe. It..n. ean be immedialelY n:aclivaled [by
il.eln.
T.,,, i~ c'recilllly true of SClcr.:es ",hlC~ . li ke geometry . ha oc Ihe"
I,""malic sptocn: In ideal product>. in ide&hlie< from .... hich mo« and
mo« w<:a1;Iies 1I higl'tcr Ie.el~ ~ pNduced. 11 is qui le different in the
OQ<allcd dC'«:"rll~e "cienccs. ",here lhe l heon:licallnte"' ~t. c .....ify·
inl and <Jc,cnbin •. remams wilhln the <pherc: 0( scnse·mIUlllOl'l. ",hich
f<)l" il n:prc,ent. ~If·evlde""e. Here. 1I le"l In ge"" ... I. every RC'"
r .... I"'''lion «In by Ihelf be "ca, ll<:d in" for <elf-evi dCflCe
H<>w, hv conlrast. i. a ,cier>Cc like ,eomelry possi ble? How , as a
_V'lema!':. cndle<Ily ,ro""In£ slratified ~truCIU~ of idulitlel. c a ... il
maintain il_ orilllOal meaningf"IIlCss Ihroup hins: reactivallb' lity if ilS
• ,., " .... afcvur... • • IIWI<r 01. r;". d,r«l_ ..r,ho .. ~~ .~~h ,t. .. _
... __ 1.~.....lr. _ ......110 <......" ca"""'1 for ,...,,, •• I>0Il. lIt..... afrca<-
li .....W;.r eo. be "'", "".11.,1) full\llod. U.." "" _ .... ""'~ tI"". r.....1>< 00It0
""" ,""'. , '" ... ;.~ .". to .'''1'''''' "'H""~"'I 01 ... h.. I" rcl."."y; ..... "'~ """,uy
.11<> "",,... ;, ... II_"'~I< ,od ~ dti • .., "'" Ulhm." ly . .,;,;.<",.•. _ut<ly ~""
-.,.".. ,..,,: "".dh .. , . ;"nn,,,,;dn
COInihve tl"nktng 11 $U PpoJCd 10 produce something ne .... Wll!>out being
~Ie I~ n:aellvate the pn: v""" Ineh of knowledge bac k 10 lhe ftrM'
E.en If Ih .. cou~ have ~uccee<lcd al a more primlli>e Ilaae r)f
lIe omelry. III ener,y .... ould ullimately h~" e been too mllch '".,nt in tll<:
dfort of procu"fIi .el f·evid~nce Ind ...·ould 001 have been available for
• hlJher produCtlV lty _
Here _ mu st talte IIlto conStdenotlOtl lhe ".,culiar . ·1oti:1CI1' · aclIVlly
.... hlCh 15 toed S4'«llically 10 lanIU"ll" . as ..~II a. to the Ideal cOlnll"e
~truCtllre. thal ."se specifically wnhln it. To any sentence "rutlure.
I~at elOerge wilh,n I mcn:ly paSSive UnderSlllnd 1nl there belor1,. cssen.
lIall~.~ .,'"" lI ar sorl of ~clivity be., descri bed by lhe .... ord "e xpl"" .
1100 . A. pasSlvt!y erneq;:;"lI sentcnce (e .. .. tn memory). or one he~rd
and p;oSSI~'ely understood . is at fi", merely ~ceived wllh a pas.ivc
ell<>""p;ortlCt~tlOtl . taken up as valid: and ;n ,,, ;. form It i, aln:ady OUr
mea",~. From Ih" we d,shnllulsI! the peculiar and Impoo1anl act "ity
of upllCatlna OUr meani .... Whcn:as tn ilS firsl form 11 was a
5Ira'Il~lrorwardly Valid meanina. laken up as unitary ~nd " ndif-
~erentlated-<:OOt~lely spealc:ina. a Ilraiahlforwardly valid declara.
live ..,ntence_ oow what in il..,lf il . alll'c and und ,fferenli .icd is
actively explicaled . CooSlder. for example . lhe w.y in which we und .....
sta~ . wt.c:~ "'pcflic'llI~ n:ad'!llllll<: newSpaper, and SImply reul.e
Ihe new, ; Il<:re there I. I pasSIve ta klllg-o ..... 0( 0011C "Ilidlly s..e h
Ihal '" hal " ~ad stralllht .... y be<:omu OUr opinIOn .
BUI " '" somelltln, special. as We "," vc saKi 10 ","ve lhe Inttfttlon 10
uplicate. 10 enll:l8e in the activlly wltlCh anicu'llle, whal hus been read
(or an intercsl;nll IICnlence from il) . ulraclina one by one. In IICparation
from .... hal has betft vlliucly. p..."ely ~celved as a unity. tht elc-
me ... ts of meaninll. Ihu , brlngi"i It.. 10la l .,Iid,'y 10 aclive perforl1lllnce
m • ""w .... ay on the b.asis 0( lhe Individual ..... hd,liu . ....'hat was a
paui,'c mcanln, ·panern ha, now become ~ cons trucled tl>mulh ac.
live productIOn .. ThIS actlvlly. Illtn. IS I pecu har sort 0( ..,If.e.idence;
lhe ,true lure .r.... n' OUt of " is I... tht; mode of ha.inll been oolllnally
produced. And In "K1ncclion wilh thIS self·e. ider.:;~ too IlIere IS
com muoalizalion . The explicaled judamenl becorrn::s ~n id~al <>bjecl
~Ipable 0( ~Inll paSllCd 00. It" Ihi , object uclu"ool¥ thal i$ meanl by
Ioa~ ~he~ tI speak, o(seme""u or j.tdgmcnu. And thu s lhedomain of
IOft~ 1$ un~.. ersal ly de"",aled: Ihis i. unlver$ally the spI\en: 0( beonllO
whICh Ioti:IC pena.ns insofar IS il 1$ the theory 0( the senle ..." [or
propolitions] In aenenl.
Through Ihi. u t,., ty. now , furlher IClIvi tles becom~ poss;ble--~If.
e~i~nt construclions of new jud&menl\ 011 the, basis of thoM: already
.alid nr us. This is the peculiar feature of 10pe.1 thin k'na and of ilO
purely 1000ical oetr-e~;d..,ces. All this remain. inlact e~en when judg·
menlS are Inmsformed inlo uSlJmpllOn,. where. mslead of our~lve$
•• ...,rlina or jud.iinl. we lhink ou ..el~5 inlo lhe position of ancrlina or
.iu<f&!na
Here we shall concentrale 011 the senlencn oflanauaae as they come
to u. paMi~cly aOO are merely received . In IlIi. connection it mu.t also
be noted 11Iar. srntence~ i've Ihcm~l .. u ,n tonstiousne .. as reproduc-
live Irnn.formnllons of an oriai nal meaninH ~roduced oul of an Helual.
oriainal activily: IlIal is. in themselves Ihey refer to .uch a SCnt$is. In
the . phe..., of lnaical r.clf_cvi~r>ee. deduction. or inference in form. of
consequen«:. plays a con.tant and es~nual role. On the other hand.
OI"IC must also take note of the con$lruc"ve actlvuies that openole w,lh
FOmelric:al idcahtlCii whicllllave been uphcued but not brou&lltto
onlinal self.evidence. (onlinal self-evidence must not be confuKd
w,lh the self-evidence of "uiom"'; (Of axiom. are in principle already
the resulls of oriSinal mC:Hning~Sl rUCtion and always have this be -
hil>d them.) . ..
Now wllat about the po..ibility of complele and aenu,ne reactlval"'"
,n full oricinalily. throu&h goina back to the primal self_evidences. in
the ca,., of geometry al>d the so--<2llcd . ·tkductive·· scicr>ees (so called.
although they by no mean. merely deduce)7 Here the fundarncntallaw.
w.lh uneond,tionally II"neral self-<:yilknce, .: if lhe premise. can ac-
luany be rea<:livaled back to the most oriainaJ Klf-evidence.then lheir
self_eYident con""<luenc:cs can be also. Accordingly il a~pears that.
beginning wilh Ihe primal Klf·evidence •• the onainal gtnuineness musl
propagate ii5Clr throuah lhe chain of Ioa~.l ,nf",:ence, no ~l1er ,he"'"
Ion, it i •. Ho",'cver, if we consider the obVIOUS fin,rulk 01 the md,y,dual
.I>d even the lIOCi.1 capacity to transform lhe loJical chaon. of cen-
tunes. truly in the unity of onc accomplishmenl. inlO oriainally ~nu ine
chains of ",If-evidence ...... e notice Ihal the !abo.. e I law conlain. within
it:;clf an idealization: namely. the removal of limits from our capac ity.
in a certain """'" ;15 infon;lization. 'llIe peculiHr sort of self-e~idence
belonging 10 sl"h idealizatiOlls will concern u.later.
lltcse are . lhen. lhe II"ncml e • .enlial insiaht. wllich elucidale the
whole metllodocallk .. eloprnent of lhe " deducl;ve" se;mc:CJ and with il
the manncf of be.", which is c...,nlUll to them.
TItcsc sciences arc not handed down ready-made in the form of doc-
umented ",ntc:ncu: Ihey involvc a lively. productively advantina for·
m~lion of mean,na, which always ha. the o:k\Cumenlw. as a sedimenl of
earlier production. at its disposal in that il deals with il\op;ally. Bul
OUt of ",nlences wllh Kd'n1Cnled sign,llc:atoon. iocical "dcalinll" can
p~u.ce only other senlences of IIIe same characl .... ThaI ~II new ac-
qU'Ju'ons expres~ an 8Cluallleomelricallnllh is cenain a priori under
lhe presupposition thal Ihe foundalion s of Ihe deductive WUCturc have
m,ly been ~uced and objectiJied ;n oriainalsclf-evidence. ;'e .. have
become un ,versally acccnible acquisitions. A cOnti .... ,ly from one per_
""" 10 another. from onc htnfc w atIoI.>Iher . mu.1 have b«n c.""ble of
~'"-I! carried OUt. h i. clear thal the melhod of producln8 nriJlOat
ideaht,es OUt of what i. prescientifically aiven in the cultural world must
hive been written down and fixed in ~rm t enlenee. prior 10 lhe exis.
lence of geometry: furlhermore. (he tapaci ty for tmnslalinl! 11Ie~
scnle.ncc~ from va~ue linauistic understandina into the clarilY of lhe
reacltval"'" of lhe .. self·evidenl meanina must have been . in ill OWn
way. banded down .... d ever capable of beina handed do ..... n .
. Onlras lon8asthi!! condilion wa. satisfied. oronly when the pouibil.
.Iy of liS ~ulfiJlme.nt wa~. ~ccUy secured for alll,me. could ,eGmetry
presc .... e 'u II"nU,ne . ona~nal me,,"inll a, a deductive scimee throuah-
out Ihe progreSSton of IoK"'al con.lructions. In olher words, only in Ih i.
ca~ COuld every lICOfIleler be capable of brinlling 10 mediale ""If.
ev~nce lhe ~anina borne by every Kn!ence. no! lI'ICt'Cly aJ il5
sed,menled. (Iot!..:al) senlence·meanina bul u its aclual me;lllint. liS
lru\h·mean'na· And $I) for all of aeomelry.
.The PI"OJTCSS or deduclion followl formaJ·loaicaJ ~If-evidence: bul
wn~.1 lhe a<:tually ~v.e l~pcd capacity for reac tiVB(ina lhe ori.;naJ
atl'V'lIe. contall",d w,lh'n 'I. fundamenlal CorK:epl •. i.e .. w'lhoullhe
"WhBt"" Bo:rl the "'how" of;ts prescientific m~!erial •• geomelry would
be a l/'id, hon empt y of meanina: and if .... e ourK lve s did OOl have Ihis
capacity , we cou13 never cVen know whether aeometry had or ever did
ha ..e a II"nU;ne meani",. me u..1 could really be "cashed in:'
Unforrunalely. however. this is OUr sitUltion . and 'bal of the .... holc
modem~.
The " pre,upposit""," menlioned above has in fact never been ful.
filled. Ho~ lhe liYi na I~i l ion of the meanina·formation of elemenlary
~orK:ePI ~ IS actually cMrrlCd on Can be sun in elementary geometrical
,nslruchO'" and 'U lextbooks: what we Ktually learn there is how 10
deal wilh rnuly-made concepll; and sentences in a riaorously metllod,;al
way. R~~ the eonr;epls sensibly intunable by mean. of drawn
fiaurc. " s-ubslttu ted fOf lhe actual prodlKtion of the primal ideal,tie,.
And I~ reil is done b~ IUcceJ5--l1Oi the success of aclUal insiahl
e.xtend,na beyond the iop:aJ melhod', own ICIf-evidence. but the prac_
t",al successes of applied I"omelry. il. immense, though 00\ under.
slood. practical uKfulne ... To th;s we mu" add somethina lh.t .... ill
become "i5ibk: furtl\e1" on ,n Ihe treal"....,1 0( hl1lDnca) m:lthemalic5.
namely. the d~n~n of a IIClCn,itic life ,hal is complelcLy I,ven OVer 10
Iojical activities. 'These da~~ lie ,n c~a~n proa;reu,ve ..a .. sfor·
mal,on. of mean,ng" 10 ""hiclllh,. !iOrl of sc,enl,tic trUlment dnves ..,.,e.
lIy uhibitini\lhe enen,i,1 pre.uppO~ili""" upon ",,~ic:h rests I~ hi,.
torocal po~bili'y of a F"uine trad,hon. true 10 ,ts ..,.",nl, of IIC,ence.
like jlCometry. we un undentand how such "",mo;:es can v'ta~ly
de •. elop throughout tM centuriel and Ilill not Ix ,enU'M. The ,n-
henUlnec 0( propOSItion I and 0( tto<: method 0( Ioa",ally "",,~.ruclLng
new propm'tionl and ide...t,tM'S can """tonue wi,houl ,n, ... ruphon from
one period '0 the M~t. ""h,1e the upacily for re""""II,", ,he pnmal
Ixll,n .. ,nll. i.e .• lhe SOtlrcn of meanin, for every,h'''a tha' eomes lal ....
has oot Ixen handed do""n ""'th i\. Wha. is lack,n, is ,h us prec'sely
whut had li ven and hll<l to ,ive meanin, 10 all propOSI.oon. and
theories. a meaninK uri,ina from the primal SQlJrces which ~an be made
self.evident !\pin and '&ain.
Of CQUrse . glllmmatically cohtn:nt propositoons ~nd COIICMlenation .
0( pIVpoo.;,ions. no man ... how they have arisen and have ac hieved
v.lidily.......even if it is throuah mere aslOCiation--have in all c,rcu ....
s,ancu their 0",," loaical meanml, •. e .• tM,r mean"" ,hat o;aQ be made
Klf.evident throuah upllca"on: thi. <;an then be odenuf\ed !\pm and
l1131n as the ""me propo$uoon, which is e,thtr Iopcally o;ohen:nt (W
lncoherml, ""hen: m the \aller ca"", il cannol be e~ecuted ,n ,he un,'y of
an aclual jud,lMnl. In propositoons wh,ch bel""','OjIClher ,n ..,.,e do-
main and in 11>0 deducIive systems th~1 can boe made OUI of them we
have a realm of ideal idenl"'U: and for these Ihere ex'SI uSlly under-
Sl.nd.ble po$Sibilities of la5\inll tnuJitionalization. Bu, propoSitions.
like Olher cullural structures, appear on Ihe scene in the fonn of tradi.
tion; they c!;um. 110,0 speak. 10 be sedimenlallo"5 0( a truth·meanin!!
thal CIIn be made ori&inally self-c:vidml: "here.s .1 IS by no mea ..S
n«usary lhat they IlItluallyl ha~e SllCh a mean ..... ". in ,he Cll-SC. 0(
as,ocial,vdy derived ralsiticat'ons. Thus tM ..... hole pnl'vcn dc:duc"ve
scocnce. the 10Utl systcm of propositionS 'n the unily of their valid, toel.
is ~ntonly aclaim which Can bejustified all an upre"'on of the alleged
mllh-meanillJl only Ihrou&h the actual capac,ty for reactivation.
Through Ihis state 0( affair. ""~ can ~nderstand the decper reason for
lhe dc:mand .... hich has spread IhrouJhOOt the modern period and ha.
finally been genenoJly accepted. for a so-called ··eptstemolop::al
• -."...._ ....... _
l'1-ooo ,,.. _ _ ..... - . _ _ .. '0 lIIt...-...
oflop:ol_lhod. t.oo lh<y ........ _ ,_Md runltor
0<1_
of ...... _ , _ .......
OIl'''' Md ,noth . , _ of III , _ 1«>mCC>.
IVOUnd,n.·· of the SClC1'lCe •. lhough clamy has M'er bee-n IIth,eved
aboo, what tl>o mUCh-admired sclCfICes an actllally I""k,n,.·
As for funher details on the uproot ins 0( an orisiMlly ,enume tradi.
"on. '.e., one which involved oni,nal self-evidence at ils actual firs!
beginn,n,. onc Can pOint 10 possible and easi If und<:' Slandllble re~sons.
In the first 00<01 ooopeno.lion of the be,innong scorneltrt., lhe need was
understandably I""kin, for an exac, h,nll 0( descripllOns of the presci.
m"rlC pnmal matena! and 0( the ...... y. ,n .... h"'h. on rel'loon to this
material. JCOm<:lrital KlcahtlCS arose '''IeltM'r ..·ilh lhe firSI "lUioma-
lie:"" propoSitions. Further. lhe IopcaJ Superstruclures did 110( yet rise
~ hllh that one CQUId not relurn a&lIon and aaamlo lhe oriil'nal mean_
'"': 0.. the 01tM'r hand. the powbil"y of lhe praclical applicaloon of 11>0
demed la~. "",;ch w.. aclually obvious on oonnetllO.. w.lh lhe oriSi-
nal developmen,,: underslandably led quickly. in tbe realm of "","x's. to
a hab'lually pracl"'ed method of usi", mathematics. if need be. to brina
about useful !h,n,s. This melhod could nalurally be handed do ...... even
without the abi~ity for oriainal self-evidence. Thus mathematic ••
emptted 0( mean' .... could gen ...... Uy propaaale i\5tlf. constantly beini
added 10 Iocically. as cou ld lhe Int:lhodic:S of technlCll' appllCllloon on
the CHIIer. sid~. Tloc ulnoord,narily far·reachina prac,,,,al uKflllne.s. be.
nme of lIself a m¥w mcM;ve for 11>0 advancemenl and IPPrecoaloon of
these sciences. Thus al50 11 is undenlandable tha, lhe 1051 oni,nal
lrulh·mean,1I.II made iliClf felt to liWe. indeed . Ihal the need for the
~.pond'ng regressive inquiry had 10 be reawake ... d. More Ihan
this: the true sense of SUch an inqu,ry had to be di5(overed .
Our results based on principle a ll' of a generality thal utend, over all
lhe so-caJled deductive 5(,ences and even indicates si milar problems
and invUliptions for all 5(lencU. For all of them ha~c lhe mobilily of
Kd'llM:nted 'nodl1""'> th" .re worted upon. again and apin. by an
KtIV"y of produc, ... new SlIUC'ure.s 0( m<:ani ... and handml them
do .... n . E~ISI'IIJI in this ..... y. they utend mdun .... y Ihrou,b I,me , sincc
,,!l new acqUtSlloon. are in tum ,.d,mented an.d become work,n, male-
r .. ts. E~e'Y"'"I>ore the problems. the cll..fyini ''''·"Upl ....... lhe in.
SO&h11 0( princip~ ate ~"Ioriatl. We slllnd wilhin lhe hori~on 0( human
c~vilitatlOfl. ~ one in.whie~ weourselves.now live. We are constantly.
~'talJy c~$CK>US.o( th,s honzon. Mnd spec,fically B.$' lemporal horizon
.mplled m OUr I,ven p",5Cnt horizon. Th the one Itum an civili1.ltion
thell' clln"Cspond. essmtially lhe one cultural world a~ lhe surroundina
lift·worId with its lpeculiar] manner of boeina: this world, (or every
 historICa! period and eiv,lIzatiOfl. has its partICular ~catUl'~S and. is p~.
eiselr the tradition. We "and. Ihen. with,n the h"toncal honzoo:o on
which every\!nni is hi~torical. ,even liIou,h we may koow VCI)' Ionle
about ,I,n a defln'le way. BUll! has il5 ~$Sentlal $tructure thal can be
revealed Ihrotlih melhodical inqu,ry. Thi. onquWy prescriboos all the
pouible speciahud qllt§llOns. Ihus in'l~in,. for the. sci~S. lhe in·
qu,ries back ,nlO or",n which ao: peculiar 10 them ,n v,"ue of IhelT
historical manner of be,ni. Ilere " 'e ao: led t-ck to lhe pnmal matcnal.
of the Il~t fonnation 0( mean,n,. the pnmal premise •. SO to speak.
which lie in the prescoentifIC cultural world Of , .... De. this cultnral
world has on lum ,IS own questlOfls of on"n. which 1.1 IiBt remain
unnked.
Natumlly. problems of thiS partic:ulat SOI'1 ,mmediately awaken the
tolal problem or the universal historic,ty of the ,"""lalive manner. of
beilli of human'ty and the culrural world and Ihe a pnon S~J\lCIUU
contained in thi. historicilY. Still. '1""'111OfI5 like thal of lhe clarification
of the ori"n of ~metry have a clc>!.ed characler .... ch that """ need
oot inqu,re beyond those pres<:ientific maleflals.. ..
Further cIarilicalio", will be made in connection w,th two ob,t« I'OfI'
whic:h ~ familiar to OIlr own philo!lOphical.hi.torical .ituat;on.
In the first place. what sorl 0( stran", obstinacy i. Ihis. seeking 10
take the questioo of the origin of ,eometry back to some und ..,over·
able 111a\e. of lleometry. so mcooe not even known 10 legend? Gwm~try
is available 10 U. ,n it, proposit;on •• its Iheories. Ofcoune we mu.1 and
we can anSwer for this logocal ediftce to the last detail in term. of
self.evidence. Here . 10 be sure. We arrive at first axiom s. and from
them we proceed to the original self·evidcnce which the fundament~!
concepts make possible. Whal i, this. if not the ·· theory of know\cd~.
in this case speci flC~lIy the theory of ,eometr;':al know1cd~? No one
woukl think at tracinl the epistemoloiical problem bac~ to such a
~upposcd Thales. 'Ilt" is '1uite superfluous. Th~ pre.enlly ~vailable
concepts IUId propos,I;ons themselvC$ contain their own ~:,mng . .first
as noJIself-evident opinion. bul nevet1l1elc", as true propOSlhO'" Wllh a
meant bUl s\llI hidden tJ\lth which we can obviously bring 10 light by
rendering lhe propositions themselves Klf·evident.
Our answer il as follow$. Certainly the hlSlOrio;al Nc~ward reference
ha. nol occurnd to anyone; certain ly theory of knowled&c hu never
been scen as I peculiarly hislClR;al Ulsk. Bul this is precisely whal wc
ob,ICCt 10 in the past. Thee rubn, dolma or the ocpanoOOn in pri~i~
I betw«n epiSlu.w:>!osical ~Iucidation and h;'torical. ~en "",:",m,st,"".
psycholopc:al explanation. between epiSlem~ and ~IIC
is fundamentally m,stal<en. unkss one inadm'S$lbly hm'lli. on the usual
way. the concepls of "hi!.lory." "hinori<;al explanalion." and
on"".
"genesis." Or ralher. what i, n.,ndlllTlentally mislaken i.lhe limitation
through which pr«iscly the deepe<l Mnd moSI ilenuine problem. of
hislory are concealed. If one thinks over OU r exposition. (which are of
COUrse .till rouah and .... ill lalcr of necenily lead u. into new depth ·
dimensions). whal they make obvious is preCisel y that what Wc
know-namely. that the presentl y ~n.1I1 cullural confillUration " geom-
elry" is a l!1Idit ion a nd " ",11 boo,,,, handed down-i. not kno ... l.
edr:e tonccmill3 an e~tcrnal causalily whil;h elfeels the S\!cccs.oon of
hisloril;al confiauralions, as if ,t were knowled", ba..ed on inductIOn.
the prc:supposilion of w!lil;h would amuvnt 10 an absurdity~; "'Iher.
to underslalld lWmetry or any ""en cull/,JraI facl i. to be coos<:iou! of
ilS hi.toric:ity. albeit "implici tly. " 1N,. OOw(ver. is nol an empty
claim: for quile ICnerally il " true for every facl liven under the head.
ina of "culture." whether il is a matter-of the IowlicSl culture ofneccs-
:lilies or the hipst culture (sci~nce. stale. churl:h. economic orpni.
ulion. etc.). ' kal every straiahtforward underslandina of it as an
upai~ntial facl involves the "coconscious ness" that it i. something
conslrueled Ihrooah human "':Iivity. No mllller how hidden. no malter
how merely "implicitly" coimplicd thi, meanl", i•. there bdonH' 10 it
the self-ev,dent po!;Sibilit~ of e~plocation. of "m ak,ng it e~pl;cil" and
clarifying it. Every e~plicat;on and every lranloilion from ma killi
cx~licillO makina self·evident (even perhaps in c aSCS where one stop'
much 100 soon) "' nolhin, other IhKn historical disclo ... re: in itself,
e~"'nliall~, il is iOOmClhin, historical. and a. suc h it booars. with essential
nece.,ity. the hori~on of its history within It"'l f. This is of course also
10 say that lhe whole of the cultural prc:sent. ,mderstood as a totalil~.
"implies" the whole of the cultuml past In an undetermined bul S!"'C'
lurally determined senerality. To PUt il more preci"'I~. il implie. a
continuity of p;olll which imply onc another . each in itself being a pa.t
eu ltu",1 pre",nt. And this whole conhnully is a ultiry of u....dit;onaliza.
tion up to the present, which is our present as (a process of]
tradiuonal izilli ,tself in How;ll3·static vII,lity. Thi ' IS. a$ has been said,
an undetcnnined aenC1'1llity. bul it has in principle a .t",cture which can
be mm:h more widely ~~plic.ted by proceed in, from these indicalions.
a slructure which also srounds. "imph«." the possibililies fOl' every
search for and determination or concre te. factoal slates of affaIrs.
Mak'll3 ~metry self-evident. then. "'hetMr one is clear about this
or noI:. is the discloStJre of its hislOricaJ If'IdillOfl. But this knowledge. if
il is mt to remain emply talk or Undifferentiated Ileneral,ty. require. the
""'Ihodic.al production . proc«dina from lhe Pre$1lt and carried oot as
re..,llTCh in the prc_r. of d,lferenlialed serr-evidenc~, of the type dis·
covered above fin several fragmentary investipl;on. of what belonJ5
to such knowledge superftciall y. as it were). Carried out syslematlCally.
luch $Otlf.evidcnc:cs rc.ult in nolhi", othH and "",h,n& lest Ih"'" the
unwv ....1 • priori of h,slory ",'ith all it. h"hly abtlndanl componenl
ekments_
We can also &ay row thal hl~tory is from the sta.r\ roth,nll other than
lhe vil.l.l movemenl of the cocxi~lence and tbe interweav,nl or onllinal
format""" and ~d,menlalions of mean,n,.
Any thIn, that is shown 10 ,be 8 historical fac:l. either in the presenl
throuJlo experience or by a h"lor,an as a f.cl ,n Ihe past, ~ccssar'IY
has il. inntr sl,url"'t 0/ "'taning: but espec,ally the mollvallonal ont.e r.
conne>: lions eslablishW about it in terms of everyday "ml<:rstandlng
have deep. further and funher·["<'aching imphcalion~ whICh mUlt be
Intet"T'Opted. d,sclosed, All Imerely] factual h,story rem,aons ,ncorn'
p["<'hensible be<!MU<C. a1 .... ys merely d",wlnl ns conclu,SKlCIS na,vely
and SI'1l""tforwardly rrom faclS, il never makes thematIC iI>c lI""eral
&fOUnd of mean,nl upon whICh all such conclu$IOOS ["<,,,I. ha~ never
,nveSloa 3ted lite ,mmen~ struCtural a pO<Jr' which i. proper 10 11. Only
the dis<elosure or the essentially Fneral .. ruo;ture' Iy,nl ,n our prc~1
and then in every pII" c. future histonul pruenl al such. and. m
total,ly. only lbe di!.closure of the eonc["<'le. hlSloneal """, ,n whICh we
live. ,n which OIlr 10tal humanilY love. in respect to n',IOtal.csscn,,--!IY
......",1 slruCturc-only thi' disclosure can make, poIsabk h.. II>rlCal ,no
quiry [/I"'~l "'hoch is lruly undcntand,ng . ,n"lIhtl\ol .•,nd, ,n ~he
(tCnuine I.n~ s<eicnlific, Thi. is, the concrete. h,slonea~ a pnun whICh
encompasses everythIng thal exlSts a. hl>\<>roul becumonll a~d hav,ng'
become or .. ists in ito es,"nli al beinll a. tmilion ~nd handonll-dow~.
WhMt h~. been ."id was related 10 the 10tMI form "hi5lonc,,\ p["<',"OI ,n
~~",l," hi~loricallime geoerall¥, But the paniculBr .coo ~ur-J\i?nS of
culture, which find their pla~e within it, robereot h'~lonul. be,og ~
IAd,t"'" aod u vitally hand in, them~l,e1 down. Ioav. ""th,n IhlS
lotallly onl¥ relltively .elf.~ulfic,en' be,nl on tnid",onaI'ty. only lhe
be,n, of nonsclf.sulficicnl component~. CorrcIalt.. cly. now. ac~ounl
would have to be taken of the su~ec" of h,"on~"y. the persons "'00
creale colll.",1 format;OI>$, funcIKln"" in 10llll,lY: creallve personal
Clvilolatoon,t
In respect 10 aeometry one "'.... nize •• ""w that we h.ve po,nled OUt
the hiddenrw:" 0( its filndamenuol coao;epts.. ",hieh have become inK·
.;essible. and have made lhem undcrSlandablc as SOJch .. firsl baSIC
ooth ...,.lhlt only till' cons<eiou.ly .. t task of[doscoverinll the h,SlOn.
cal Of'II,n 0( aeometry (w,thin the tow JI...ol<:m of tbe a priori 0( his-
torICity in acne",l) can provide lite method for .,1COmelry ",hieh .. true
to its oroain. and at the -",me lime is to be understood in " unIVersal.
histoncal w'"y: and the same is true for alJ .dences. for ph,losophy, In
principle. Ihen. a history of philosophy. a hi<tory of tlte panicular >'C;'
encu in the ~t¥le uflhc u,ual ractual hi,lory, can aClually render nnth.
i", of the" ,ubject maller comprehensihle , For a ,onuioe history of
philosophy, a .. nu;ne " .. Iory of the partieu lar K~nces. i. nolhins nther
than lite traci", of lite h'Slorical meaninl·struCture. liven ;n lhe pre·
sent, or their ~lf·evidenccs. alon& the documenled chlln 0( hiSloncal
back·",ferencu inlo tlte hodden d,mension of I"" pnmaJ .. Ir~vi<knce.
... h~h underlie them.' E .... n lhe .... ry problem hcn c:an be ..... de under.
standable only IhlOUaII recourse to lite historICal a priori as lite univer·
ul $OIlll:e or all conceivable problems of understand".,. 1loc probl<:m
of "nuirw: hlStoneal explanation C<>mc. 100etlter. in iI>c Clle' of the
K~nces, W,lh ··ep,.lemoloJjcar· ground'"l or cLarifleal"", .
Wc mUSt upe(l yet a second and >'cry w.".ht¥ object""" From tlte
hi'loric"m which prevlils extensively in differenl forml [today) r ex·
peCI lilll<: reCeptiy,ty for a depth·inquiry wheh IOC. beyond the usual
fac tual hi,tOry, as docslhe one outlined in this work, npeciaJl¥ SInce.
as the uprcuion " . priori"' indicates, illay' claim to a .trictly uncon·
d;tioncd and truly apOdiclic setf·evidence ulcndina beyond all h i~lori.
eal fa~lic,tiOl. One woll object: what nai'vel':. 10 seek 10 di splay. and to
claim to hIovc displayed. a hi.toricaJ 8 priori. a n absolute. supertem.
poral valid'ty. after....., Ioave obto.ined such .""ndanl tUllmony for lite
relativilY of eyerythinll historical. 0( all hi"uocally devdoped world·
~pell'cptions.. rillll back to doosc 0( iI>c " pnmot,ve" tribe •. Every
people. Iarae or 5ItIall. has ,\& worid in which. (or Ihal people. every·
thinlfits wdll~thH ... hctlter in mylh>l;al'maaoca1 or ,n European.
rauonallemlJ, and in "'hiclt everything can be uplaoned perfeclly.
E.-cry peopk hiS its " IOIIC" and. acoordinaly , If lh ts lope 's upllCaled
'" prop05iuons. "ilS" a priori .
Howc>er. Jel us consider the mcthodolo,y of eSlablll;h,nll h,st~ar
ido"".
• 8u, ......, 00<""., primal .. Il"_ •• r", 'k< ...."".... <leltlml"",, b)' III od ...
,at«l _ "'. _ . or ..,h per.",\I "''''' n.'" q"""'""', ....... h"''''~'' .....
po><
w'" .. ,"".. """'''nonl on
, ...... q ...';"'" """..-.Inl the ,n_ ""pth ... i.,....... o.
."... oath,,"""'i'y in ·h"''''''''..
'k< ><>cl .. wOltd
f.cIS In acnera.l. Ihus ;ndudin, 111&1 oK the f..::1S suPPOrllnl lhc: ""jet-
10011 at>d let US do UI15 in reprd 10 what SIKh IMlhodololY prnu~
~J, Ooc:s nDI the und"rulnll, 0( • human,$IOC lCoence of "!Iow ,\
really .....1·· ~OIIIII'n .. pre$Uppo$uion lake" for ann1ed •• valldlty-
cl never obK",,,d """e, m.ad<: thematic. ,of ...Inctly una,..1Iable
~n 0() self.cv;deno;c: without which hi~al inq."ry WOU.1d ~ ,.
mun,nllless enterpriw? All ,!",,$lionin, ~nd demonSu:"I,nl who:;h '.'~
the ",ual 1oCfI5e 11,)101";';"1 presupposes h,story iGt'$l"hocht~J IS 1~ UnI-
Ycn~1 h\lriwn of questioning. 1101 explicitly. but s,,1I as a """:,zon of
imphcil ceT\,,,my. which. in spite of all vague bac kjlrouod",ndcl_cr-
mlnacy. " the prc,uPJI05ilion of all dctfl'mlnab,iilY. or of all.nlenlloo
,<> ijeCk .nd 10 c'I~b1 .. h determined facts.
WhBl ;, hhloricaliy primary in ,[self is our pR",nt. Wc always al-
ready know of QUI' ,,"'salt world and that wc li." in i1. alv.:ays sur-
rounded by an O!)Cflly tndless horizon of unknown ac:tuaht~s. Th,s
kno .... "". as hOrlZon-certainly. is not IIOfIYlhl1l& learned. nol knowledF
whICh was 01"1« .clual and has merely SlInk back 10 become put of !he
backlfOUnd: IhI: hoIi~on·g:n.amly h.ad to be already Hac III ordCf to ~
capable of beln, laid OUI thell'lluically: il 's already pfCSlIpposed ,n
OI"<kr lhal wt: tan seck 10 know what we do nol k~. All not·knowmG
concerns Ihe unknown world ..... hich yet nlSlS In IIdV.rlCe for us ....
world. as lhe IIonzon of all questions of the prcsent and Ihus also all
qllCslions which an: ,pecifocally hisl"",,al. These ..,.., Ihe q"C$I~S
which concern men. as toose who acl and crealc;n Ihl:lr communallud
coul~tencc in the world and lransform Ihe l·tlnSl8nt cu llUral face .of the
world. Do we not know further-wc hue .already ~ad OCC"'IIon to
speak of Ihis-thal this historical preKnl has It, hlsloncal pa'" ~hl~d
11. Ih"l it has devdoped oul of them. IlIat hislOrical palt i•• conunu.'ly
of paslS whICh p~d from onc another. each. as a pasl preie1\t. beIng
a tBd,tlon producinllradllion OUI cL Itsel" Do .... c not know th~t t~
pn:<,ent and !he whole or hi.loocaltime implied ,n 11 IS Ih~1 or a hls~·
ally coherent and unifinl Clvmuuon. oohl:N=nl Ihl"Otlih 1t5lcroerahvc
bond and constanl communahulion in cult, ... un, what . has ~Irtady
b«n cultivated befOll'. whf:thc:r '" coopc-nollvC worl: 00:.'" r«lpr~
Interlction. elc.? Does all thi:!! not announcc I unlvenal .k.""""nl or
lhe horiI:on. an implicit knowing thal un be made explICIt syslemal·
ically in lIS c.~I ..1 slructure~ Is not the re",lltnllrClI probkm here
lhe horizon 10wIOnI which all questionS lend. and Ihus lhe Il007.011 whICh
. -d '," .'1
IS P"'su",__ oflhem~. Acoorulnlly . We need nol . firsl
.. enler 11110
. .
some kind ofer ilical d;"cus"on of the fncls set out by h,storIC,sm; " 1$
eooush t hat C".~ the claim of lheir factuah-.c's prcs~pp""es Ih( hlSlorl -
cal M pri{)ri if \~;s claim is to have a mean illS.
Bul a doubl al"ioc$ all the same. The horiZOfI-i:XPOIJtlOll to which we
recurud must not bot: do""II in vagu(. supcrfic",J lalk; 11 mull it5C1f
arrive al its own sort of ""ientific dj",,;pliroe. The senlences in which il is
up"'SN:d must be fi~~ ami capable of bein. nutdc ... If-evi(knt apin
and .... in. Tltrou&h what melhod do " ... obltUn a unIversal and also
fi xcd • priori of lhe historical world whi:h is a lways oriainalJy Icnuine?
Whenever Wc consider il. we find our",lves wilh the self.evident a-
pacily 10 renecl_lo turn to the horizon and 10 penetrlte;1 in an up<>-
sitOf)' way. BUI Wc also have. and kno .... that we have. Ihe capacily of
complete freedom 10 transform. in Ihou,,"1 and phantasy. our human
h,storical uislClICc and what is there upo!iCd as its life· .... orld. And
prcet",ly in this IIClivily of fr« variation. and in n.mnlnl throush lhe
conceivable pOs"bihties for the life-world. there ari!Cs. with apodictic
self·evidence. an «5eI\tia!ly IC'ncral Kt of elements JOlnl throulh all
tIM: variants; and of Ih;" "'... can convinee ourselves w;lh truly apodiclic
caulnly . ~by ....e have ~moved ev~ bond 10 the factuaHy valid
historical world ... d have rqarded Ihis world itself IlI\(1"elyl as on.c of
lhe conceptual poWbilitics. This f",edom. and lhe tlire<.:lion or OUr pzc
upon lhe apodlCllClUy invariant. re ... lt5 In !he latter apin and ..ain--
Wllh lhe scll"-cv;dcnce of being Able 10 repeat lhe invananl SIlUClure al
will-as whal" identical. whal can be made ... I(-evident &ririNllit~. at
any ume. can be fixed in univocal lanaullJC as lhe eS~e conSlantly
Implied in the t\o .... ina. v;tal horizon.
Throuah this method. JOin& beyond the fOnllal generahties We e~hib·
;ted earlier. wc Can also make lhemalic Ihat apOdicttt: [as~ll of the
p",,,cicntii'te .... orld that Ihe orisinal founder of leOmetry had al his
disposal. that which must have "''''ed as the m~tCfial for his
idealization •.
~metry and the ""ienee. most clo",ly relatcd to It hive to do with
space-time and tIM: shapes. fi"' .... s. also "'apes o(molion. alteralions of
defonnauon. elc .• Ihat arc poosible wilbin space· lomc . parttt:uLarly as
measurable maaniludcs. It is now dear that even if wc kno .... almosl
noth; ... aboul the lIistoncal surroundinl ""orld 0( the finl ..... meters.
IlIis muth is Certll;" III an invananl. eMmltal $Iruclure: thal is was a
world of "lhln~" (ineludinl!he human bcinp Ihem",l vcl a$ subjcclS
of this world); lhat all thi .... necessarily had 10 ha..., _ bodily
charactcr-.lthouah nol aU Ihinp could be m ..... bodlts. SInce the
necessarily coc~lstin& human bcines are nollhlnkable as mere bodies
and . like even tile cullural objects .... hich bekm& .... ith them slruclurally.
a", nol exhau~tetl in corporeal being. What I1 al$O Clear. and can be
st:cur~ at least in its e.<;<ntial nucleus thl"Olli/t careful R priori explica.
lion. is thal tJ-.cst: pUre bodico h~d spat;otemporal shape s Md "'male.
ri.r· 1,1,<#",,·""1 qIlaht>fc. (coIar. ",.nnlh. w~.,hI. hardre!ll. ett _I ~Ialed bal(S for a MW IIOr1 of -
"ruclloos grow. pt"iXIS 001 of which SImilarly named new con-
to t~.n Further. it i. clear that on the life of pnoctoc;al needs certain
particularilations of shape stood OUt and that a t(chnic .. l pruis al ways It is e vident in advallCe tha! ,h,. ne ~.or
producl . . . w - , ... COO>lrutttOfl "',(1 be a
Ialmed all' the production of particular prefer.ed ohapes and U", ,m' I".,n, OUt o(an ,deahzml . spiritual act onc of" .• h •
provement 0( them accord,n, to "rtain di.ecttOfls 0( .radualnc.. '.... w hoch hu ,to matenals in lhe d . • puTt t ,n .
f.clual humanlly and human SUITO C;.lInaICd ,lIcneral pr(givcns of th IS
Fi ..." to b( li"3led OUt from the th,ng·.hape. are wtfaces--mcrc or jcc15" out 0( lhem. un '''I wor d and creales "idul 01>-
len ··smooth.·· It>OfC or lu. perfect surfaces: ed~ s. men or Ius roush
or fat.ly "evm": in Other ",ords. more or Ius p"~ hnu. a".tu. more Now thc problem wookl be 10 dlKO" th
.,.. len p(lfect pOInts: thnI . •,n. amon.
th( hncl. for nample.
CS$OI:nhal to hOSlO U
necessanly 101",
er.
a~le ::::~la:d~S~~:=~~ <;'"~:,:~;:jnll
mush n:OOUnc
which
10 what IS

.tnu,ht hnes an: especIAlly pn:ferred . and among the su,faces the even
surfaces: for uample. for practieal purp<l$(S board. limiled by even g-corn.etry III pc.w.tin'trulh_mcan,.... com,n, of
.surfaces_ "n.,..,' lires. and points are pn:ferud. where.>$ tOlally or 11 .. ofpu1oc;uJar impOrUl b -
follow'lII inStaln: a ni f ,~ now ~o. rlnl 'ntO focus and establ"h lhe
partially cur.-ed .... rf."' are undes,rable for many k,nds 0( pn.ctical throuahoul all cOlICei:a~le e apOchc toc;ally aencral content. in"ariMnl
interests. Thus the produ"ioo of even surfaces and Iheir perfeclion vanatlOn. of lhe spa tlOlemporal her 0(
(polishingl alway. plaYl its role in praxis. So alilO ,n cues when: jusl shltpes is laken inlo aCOOUnt in the idcal~.,tOn ,~_.p e
lion 101( ,..hieh can ~ d can an """at coostruc·
d istrib<llion IS intend(d Here t.hc rou&h Ulimate 0( mapiwdes is """en.'- -i un trSlood for all f"ture lime and by all com;n,
In.Mformed inlo!he mea",",menl of """n.tudes by count,ng lhe equal .-.. lOOS", men and thus ~ ,ap;lble of~'
part~. (Here. tQ<!. proceedin.g from the factual. an CSliCnlial form be· ::ri::X:::~ w,: the identical intel"l'l,bjective me~~~n:~~~sdc=~.:i~
comes retQlninble throu.h a method or variluion.) Meuurin, belongs ncond . ~l gt"ometry for all spmtuMI .uruclt>re, "'hieh are 10 be
to e'ery cult"n:. vary"', only a«OnIing to SlIaU from pom,"~ to "h • ""'" _yand":Mnlllyc,opableofbe,n,hande<ldo ...n
I ,n ,n,lOCt,v'l,ofasc ' t 'SI to ,ntroduce
' .
W.,,'-
h'at>er pedeCIoOO$. We can always pn: .... ppOliC oome mea .... ron. tech- , " ,en someth ing ··Iime·botlnd ·· 'K
in
n'que. whether of a lower or hiat>er Iype. in the euenlial forward hIS th,nk'ng. '.e .. somelhin, bound 10 ... hat;s merely faclua l at>o I h
development of culture. [as well Isl the IfUWth 01 wch a technIque. pre~n t or someth'rIi
construction Id I"k
valid r. h' 11
or 'm as a merely factual lradition. his
'.

Ihu. also .ncllKlin/i: the art of ckSljpl for buikhn,s. of ",rveyon, fields. woo ,e",.~ ha"c. merely I,me·bound onlit mean,n .
path"'''YJ. ctC,:' such a tcchnoque is .. lways a)n:aoly thc1'C. already thIS meamn, woukl be understandable ooly by 1110 a·
lhe s~me m(rely factual pn:s.upposiliuns of unde .. : n :, who s hared
n
abundantly developed and prcai~cn to the philosopher who d id not yel
I1 IS a general c . .
know geometry hut who should be conceivable .... ,IS inventor . As a W,lh.. . onvoc;t~ that geometry. ""'.,h all its truths.;' "ahd
philosopher proceed, ... from the I"'IClocal. finne surround,ng world (of ncondnlOrted &ene.-aloly for all men. aUI,mes all pt(Ipt(. Md not
the room. Ihe cny. lhe land!ICape , elC .• and temporally lhe world of men:ly for ,all ""torieally . .faclual onc.. bu, ,_ ~ . ,',ooc(<va"
' , e,ones
' The
period~al (lCcurrencu: day. month. elc.1 ~ the thwn:lical world ·view pn:SUppOSltlOnS
Iored bee of pnllC'ple for Ih .. convic,- h
~_ . ~, aV( never Men eo·
.
and worid·kroowled~. he has the finitely known and unk""""Tl s~. ::.. /WK '''''T have never b(en Kriously made a problem. SuI n

~h":~~~~"': ~~~:''::ilt::'~~V~~:~:i~~~~k~:~~~~~~;::~! ~~:

and times III ftn,le elements ,,·,thm lhe horitoo of an open infinny lJut
wllh Ihis he doe. OOt ye t have lI"omctril:al splice. mathemallcal lime.
ant! whatever el~ is to become a novel spITitual pro<.luCI out of these ,nvanam or abSOlute a priori. .-
fln,te clemenls which KtVe as material: and wilh hos manifold finite Only [throulh It..: disclo"'n: of th,. a
SC,(lICe e~lendm, be ood a l l . · . .
prior,r
can there ~
an. /'HlOn
shapes.n their sp;u;e·time he does not yel ha\'( gCQmetncal shap(s. tilt round ,n Y . hlStorK:.al flOCtocn~s. all ",,\Orieal r..".
phoronomie shapes; Ihi. shape •• asl formation. developed. oot of praxis , , worlds. peoples. t,me •. Ctv,hzations: only in Ihis way Cln I
and lhou&ht 0( in term. of IFI'dual1 perfection. clearly SCfv( only a. SCICnc:~ as a~t~f7UI "nitaJ appear, Only on this fundatrlflll os baWd the
oecure cap;lc'ty of 'nqu,,,OJ back from lhe lempora·1 de
eVodellC( 0( a S(ICIICC 10 "_ . , " . ro y plcted self-
· B,.-\· . ....,...to. . . '''' pnma 51: ·eV,dellCe<.
"., ~ ••• ,.....011 '0 ,.. ""'1''''' ......,. 01; ,~~ ........". . . I'''. ,ft ,he er ocol . ".
...... u •. 1 _ _ . . . . ._at'..."....d ~ ,"Oft ,. . . . . . . " ..._D c.., I .....,.. ,.,........ ';0.,
 Do we not stand here bcfcn the ,reat and profound problem·hori~
of n::a ..on. the same rcllOll that functions in e~ery man. the ani".,,'
raliona/f. no matter 110", primitive he is?
This OS oot the place to J"I«IC'u.te IntO t ' - depths themselvu.
In any a.e. wc can now reOOlni~e from all thIS thal historJ;:lSIn.
which wishes to clarify the histoneal or cpistemolo&kal essence of
mathematics from the standpoint of the mqical cin;um,taroces or other
Coda
manners of appen;eption of a time·bound civll'Zlltion. is mistaken in
prll'ICiplc. For romantic spiril5 the mythlCal·magical elcmenl5 of the
historical and prehi"olical aspects of mathematics may be parllcularly
attractive. but to cling to this merely historically faclual aspect of
mathemalics is precisely 10 lose onc~lf to a son ofromanticism and to
overlook the acnuine problem, the "'temal.h"toricai problem, the CpIS'
tcmoloH;c;.1 problcm Also. onc's H"'-c ob~iou.ly cannot then I)ccome
free to recOln'~ Iha\ faclleilies <J e~ft'y type, includin,lhoSll' involved
in the Ihi,ton:;ost] objcctlOll. ha.e • root in the essential SlNelure of
what is Hennlllly human. throuaf\ ""'ich a telcoloilCal rcaSoOn I\I nnl lli
throughout all historicity 8nl1O\I ncu itself. With this i. revealed a ,.et of
problems in its own naht relaled to the lotallty of hiMOI')' and 10 the full
meanin, .... hlCh ulllm~tely p"n '1115 unily.
Ir the \I,\lal factual ~tudy of history in ICncral, and in particular the
history which in most reccnttimcs has achlcved true universal nle"·
.ion over an humanity, OS to havc any meanln, at an. such. meani n 8
can only be ,rounded upon ""'al we am here call inl(Tnai history. and
as such upOO the fOUndatIOnS of lhe " "i vcrsal historical a prim , Such a
mCan ing nccusarily leads further to the ind icated hiJ,hcst que!11on of a
untversa.lteleo1o&Y of rea!lOfl,
If, after thesc expollllons, .... hich have inum",ated ~cry go:ncnl and
many.,ided problem·hofizons, wc lay down the folk"'iinN as somelhing
completely secured, namely. thjl thc human surroundin8 wo.-Id is the
~ lIJd~y.ne! always. _ne! thllS 1150 in r<:spccllO "h.. is ...,/(Vl/lttO
pnmal est_bhshment and iaslilll ua(lI"on, then wc can ~w In .."eral
~tepS, only in nn uplomtory way, ;n connection wilh our own ~ur·
rounding "'orld. ",hal should be: con!lidcred in more dCllIiI for the prob-
km <J CM it!calinnl pr;"",] c$llIbhshment of the mcani ng-.lructurc
"JCOmetry. '