Phenomenology of Man’s Humanity According to Jean-Yves Lacoste

Abstract

Jean-Yves Lacoste is one of the contemporary French thinkers still little known in Poland. This article presents briefly his scholarly biography and his works, as well as his main philosophical project of phenomenology of man’s humanity (l’humanité de l’homme), which he himself calls phenomenology of liturgy. The paper examines the philosophical origins of Lacoste’s thought. The article will pick up on some important questions, which arise from the analysis of Lacoste’s ideas. Why should we be asking about man in general (questio de homine), rather than about being? Why phenomenology of liturgy should be at the same time phenomenology of man’s humanity (l’humanité de l’homme)? Why should it be placed in the very center of the debate on man (disputatio de homine)? How does this project correspond to transcendental analysis of being provided by Heidegger? Finally, we will analyse the discussion amongst contemporary philosophers increasingly interested in Lacoste’s thought.