Patocka's phenomenology as first philosophy and strict science

The work tackles the question of whether, and in what sense, Patocka's phenomenology is first philosophy and strict science. It does this by considering the problem of the relationship of phenomenology, as a doctrine about appearing, to epistemology and to ontology After an analysis of the conception of phenomenology which Patocka works with in his dissertation and habilitation on the natural world, the study moves on to Patocka's late thinking, especially to the conception of an "asubjective phenomenology". The interpretation distinguishes various phenomenological approaches which are intertwined in the project of asubjective phenomenology, and it points to their weak points. Finally it identifies an acceptable conception of phenomenology in that which is presented in Patocka's lecture cycle Telo, spolecenstvi, jazyk, svet (Body, Community, Language, World).