Core Concepts

Core Concepts of Reflexive Philosophy

In addition to the methodological foundations, reflexive philosophy develops a series of core concepts that pervade the entire system and are of central importance for understanding the specific approach of this philosophy.

Body — Soul — Spirit

The reflexive-philosophical transformation of the classical tripartition of the human being. Not three separate substances but three interpenetrating principles that together yield a differentiated anthropology with seven levels of consciousness.

Cognitive Functions

Four fundamental forms of cognition — perceiving, thinking, feeling, and intuiting — systematically derived from the four meaning elements: each function represents a specific way in which consciousness relates to reality.

Implicit & Explicit Reflection

The foundational distinction between concomitant (implicit) and subsequent (explicit) self-awareness. This distinction is the key to understanding how consciousness can relate to itself without falling into infinite regress.

Integration through Differentiation

The fundamental principle that true integration is only possible through clear differentiation. Undifferentiated unity is not integration but confusion; real unity arises through the clear distinction and subsequent linking of differentiated elements.

The Unconscious

A differentiated understanding of the unconscious that distinguishes three types: the pre-reflexive, the co-reflexive, and the trans-reflexive unconscious — and thus goes beyond Freud's undifferentiated concept.

These core concepts are not isolated from one another but form a network of reciprocal references that, together with the foundations, constitutes the structure of reflexive philosophy.