Odkrývání nebo utváření sebe sama? Pojetí lidské individuality v raném díle Edity Steinové

The present study focuses on the yet little mapped phenomenological concept of human individuality in the early work of Edith Stein (also known as Saint Teresa Benedicta of the Cross). The starting point for this research is the definition of a general concept of the human person. Stein finds in its structure an essential, so-called personal layer for individuality. In connection with this layer, she speaks of the individual core or personal structure that make a given person unique. This core is associated with, for example, character traits, responsiveness to values, but it is not identical with them. This opens up a field of further possible implications. Are there possible variations based on different surroundings? How is individuality realized? Where or in what does individuality manifest itself? Can it be recognized at all? These questions also lead us to the topic of one’s own authenticity, or the possibility of (un)developing oneself, one’s own potential and many others. From the beginning, the basic question of whether or not we can create or change what is individual in us, runs like a red thread through the article.