Adolf Reinach is not a Platonist

Kimberly Baltzer-Jaray

pp. 100-112

in: Symposium 13 (1), 2009.

Abstract

Contemporary scholars have generally labeled Adolf Reinach, a founding member of early phenomenology’s Göttingen Circle, a Platonist. Because Reinach conceives of states of affairs as neither real nor ideal, as involved with timeless essences and necessary logical laws, many have hastily concluded that states of affairs are Platonic entities. In this essay, I analyze Barry Smith’s argument that Reinach is a Platonist. Smith’s widely accepted argument often becomes utilized to show that Reinach and other phenomenologists, including Husserl, are Platonic Realists (or, simply, Platonists). A closer look at Reinach’s text indicates, however, that he is not committed to Platonic Realism.

Cited authors

Husserl Edmund

Reinach Adolf

Plato