Idea of Purity in Transcendental Tradition of West-European Philosophical Thought

Abstract

The article deals with analysis of meaning and revealing of main characteristics of concept of purity in transcendental discourse of philosophical thought. Relation between concepts of purity and emptiness is discussed regarding “form–content” opposition, which undergoes essential reconsideration within the transcendental tradition’s framework, as present article intends to show. The paper specificates the question of function of idea and notion of purity in three cardinal transcendental projects: these by Kant, Husserl and Derrida. Within each of them purity defines the fundamental areas of philosophical problematic, that is of reason, consciousness and language respectively. The role, which the notion of purity as a fundamentally predicative concept (and as a synonym of the concept of transcendental) plays in realization of paradigmatic shift is shown. Such a shift is depended on antisubstantialistic attitude of transcendental thinking, causing a certain changing of emphasis in philosophical questioning from “What” of dogmatic metaphysic to “How” of critical transcendentalism. Main treatment modes of purity in transcendental discourse are designated, that is eidetic purity, purity of singularity, structure purity and intentional purity.