Emil Lask: On the Way to Phenomenology

This article examines key aspects of Emil Lask’s philosophy in order to clarify his position within early twentieth-century German philosophy. It focuses on two central elements: Lask’s transcendental hylomorphism and his theory of the material determination of form. The first is analysed as a distinctive reconfiguration of the relation between form and matter within a Neo-Kantian framework, while the second is shown to articulate an original account of how meaning is determined in relation to facticity. Through these analyses, the article reconstructs Lask’s attempt to ground objectivity beyond the sphere of subjective judgement and predicative synthesis, thereby extending the scope of transcendental philosophy toward pre-theoretical dimensions of meaning. Without identifying Lask straightforwardly with phenomenology, the article situates his work in close proximity to phenomenological concerns and highlights its relevance for understanding broader developments in phenomenology, hermeneutics, and ontological thought in the early twentieth century.