Die Korrespondenz zwischen Hans Blumenberg und Jacob Taubes dokumentiert das inhaltsreiche und nicht ganz spannungsfreie Verhältnis zweier Intellektueller, wie sie unterschiedlicher nicht sein könnten: Auf der einen Seite Hans Blumenberg, der eines der eindrucksvollsten Gesamtwerke deutschsprachiger Philosophie des 20. Jahrhunderts geschaffen hat; auf der anderen Seite der Religionsphilosoph Jacob Taubes, der es wie kein Zweiter verstand, Intellektuelle unterschiedlichster Fachrichtungen miteinander ins Gespräch zu bringen. Der Briefwechsel setzt 1961 ein, als Taubes die Vertretung des Lehrstuhls für Judaistik am neu (...) gegründeten Institut für die Wissenschaft des Judentums an der Freien Universität Berlin übernahm, und endet 20 Jahre später wiederum mit einem Brief von Taubes aus Frankfurt, in dem er Blumenberg berichtet, er habe auf der Buchmesse dessen ”Die Lesbarkeit der Welt“ entdeckt. Dazwischen wird allerlei verhandelt: vor allem das Werk Blumenbergs, das in Taubes einen kongenialen Leser gefunden hat, aber auch die Situation an den Universitäten und die berühmte Forschungsgruppe ”Poetik und Hermeneutik“. Und natürlich geht es auch um Carl Schmitt und Gershom Scholem und nicht zuletzt um den Suhrkamp Verlag, insbesondere die neue Reihe ”Theorie“, zu deren Herausgebern Blumenberg und Taubes gehörten. Die 56 überlieferten Briefe werden nun zusammen mit weiteren Materialien zum ersten Mal kommentiert vorgelegt. Sie führen ins Zentrum der intellektuellen Debatten der 1960er und 1970er Jahre und sind ein wichtiges Stück Geistesgeschichte der alten Bundesrepublik aus der Perspektive zweier ihrer wichtigsten Vertreter. (Quelle: www.buchhandel.de). (shrink)

Had anybody told me at the beginning of my university studies that I would end up as a historian of science, I would not only have shaken my head in disbelief, I would in all probability not even have understood the prophecy. When I left high school, my interests ranged from literary writing to the life sciences. After an initial attempt to study biochemistry, which I aborted after a year, my early university education was in philosophy, with an emphasis on (...) continental philosophy, from Descartes to Spinoza, from Kant to Hegel, from Nietzsche to Heidegger, pretty much the curriculum that would dominate the vast majority of the philosophical institutes in German universities in the mid-1960s. Having moved from Tübingen to Berlin, in addition I absorbed early on, as part of a group of students around Jacob Taubes, what came to be subsumed under the label of structuralism and post-structuralism: linguistics and semiotics from the Prague School through Noam Chomsky to Julien Greimas, grammatology from Ignace Gelb to Jacques Derrida, historical epistemology in its latest, Canguilhemian and Foucauldian versions, literary theory as practiced by Roland Barthes, to mention just a few names that formed the horizon of our student reading circles. (shrink)

I. The Confrontation of Terror and Play: An Intellectual-Historical Constellation in Early West Germany In September 1968, a conference took place in the castle of the town of Rheda , remote from German intellectual centers. Boasting illustrious names from the German history of ideas, such as Jean Bollack, Hans Robert Jauss, Wolfgang Iser, Hans Blumenberg, and Manfred Fuhrmann, this gathering of twenty-eight highly renowned scholars appears, in retrospect, to be one of the more memorable events in the intellectual (...) history of the Federal Republic of Germany. It had a lasting impact on German research in the fields…. (shrink)

Written in the 1960s, TRUTH AND METHOD is Gadamer's magnum opus. Looking behind the self-consciousness of science, he discusses the tense relationship between truth and methodology. In examining the different experiences of truth, he aims to "present the hermeneutic phenomenon in its fullest extent.

Throughout the twentieth century, German writers, philosophers, theologians, and historians turned to Gnosticism to make sense of the modern condition. While some saw this ancient Christian heresy as a way to rethink modernity, most German intellectuals questioned Gnosticism's return in a contemporary setting. In No Spiritual Investment in the World, Willem Styfhals explores the Gnostic worldview's enigmatic place in these discourses on modernity, presenting a comprehensive intellectual history of Gnosticism's role in postwar German thought. Establishing the German-Jewish philosopher Jacob Taubes (...) at the nexus of the debate, Styfhals traces how such figures as Hans Blumenberg, Hans Jonas, Eric Voegelin, Odo Marquard, and Gershom Scholem contended with Gnosticism and its tenets on evil and divine absence as metaphorical detours to address issues of cultural crisis, nihilism, and the legitimacy of the modern world. These concerns, he argues, centered on the difficulty of spiritual engagement in a world from which the divine has withdrawn. Reading Gnosticism against the backdrop of postwar German debates about secularization, political theology, and post-secularism, No Spiritual Investment in the World sheds new light on the historical contours of postwar German philosophy. (shrink)

The ethical aspects of placebo control in clinical trials have been extensively and controversially debated in the last decade. However, a thorough analytical comparison of the different existing international regulations, their terminologies and their ethical principles concerning placebo, is still missing. The central issue in the ongoing controversy is the justification of placebo‐use, if proven treatment exists. All present versions of the examined guidelines propose such justifications, but each guideline differs from the others in relevant details. Therefore the conditions justifying (...) placebo‐use according to each guideline are the focus of our attention. We will first propose a formalized general principle that defines the ethical acceptability of placebo‐use. Then we will analyse three categories of conditions put forward by the different documents: the risk of harm or burden, compelling scientific reasons, and the availability of proven treatment. The analysis shows important normative discrepancies and contradictions between the examined guidelines. Especially striking is the fact that some guidelines allow the participants in clinical trials to be exposed to a risk of serious harm, while others do not. Finally, we try to show how the normative difference of each guideline could influence the decision of researchers or IRBs concerning the ethical acceptabililty of placebo‐use. (shrink)

Resumen La experiencia religiosa y la experiencia política han subsistido, a pesar de que la Modernidad y de que nuestra época pretendió a menudo reducir lo político a un campo de relaciones técnicas y procedimientos administrativos. En este contexto es necesario formular la pregunta filosófica por el valor y legitimidad de la relación entre ambos campos en su versión contemporánea. En este artículo se indaga, en primer lugar, en la noción de legitimidad a partir de la obra de Schmitt, para (...) comprender los orígenes y la dependencia simbólica de la mencionada relación. Esta indagación mostrará una tensión entre dos experiencias: la expectativa de lo apocalíptico y la “administración” del tiempo, que atraviesa toda la reflexión teológica. En segundo lugar, se verá a partir de Voegelin el riesgo necesario que se corre en toda acción política. Finalmente, se mostrará a partir de Taubes y Metz cómo la tradición monoteísta de la memoria de la Ley y del sufrimiento postula el peso de una autoridad que permite un horizonte posible desde el cual juzgar y limitar los déficits de toda acción político-religiosa, y cómo se puede sostener la tensión entre ambas experiencias.Religious experience andpolitical experience have survived, despite the fact that Modernity and our age have often tried to reduce the political to a field of technical relations and administrative procedures. In this context, it is necessary to formulate the philosophical question about the value and legitimacy of the relationship between both fields in its contemporary version. This article investigates, firstly, the notion of legitimacy based on Schmitt's work, to understand the origins and symbolic dependence of the afore- mentioned relationship. This inquiry will show a tension between two experiences: the expectation of the apocalyptic and the “administration” of time, which runs through all theological reflection. Second, it will be seen from Voegelin the necessary risk that is run in all political action. Finally, it will be shown from Taubes and Metz how the monotheistic tradition of the memory of the Law and of suffering postulates the weight of an authority that allows a possible horigon from which to judge and limit the deficits of allpolitical-religious action, and how the tension between the two experiences can be sustained. (shrink)

In seinem 1960 erschienenen Hauptwerk "Wahrheit und Methode" nimmt Gadamer die bis in die Antike zuruckreichende hermeneutische Tradition auf, um vor allem im Anschluss an Hegel und Heidegger eine philosophische Hermeneutik zu begrunden. Das Buch brachte seinem Autor internationalen Ruhm, und die philosophische Hermeneutik ist eine der massgeblichen Konzeptionen der neueren Philosophie geworden. Nach wie vor bildet "Wahrheit und Methode" den Ausgangspunkt fur eine philosophische Klarung des Verstehens und seiner von Gadamer behandelten Auspragungen in Kunst, Geschichte und Sprache. Der vorliegende (...) Band rekonstruiert und diskutiert in Form eines kooperativen Kommentars, der Gliederung des Werkes folgend, Gadamers Gedankengang, zeigt aber auch die Perspektiven einer Philosophie auf, die sich gegenuber ihrem eigenen hermeneutischen Charakter nicht verschliesst.". (shrink)

Term and concept of bioethics originally were developed by Fritz Jahr, a Protestant Pastor in Halle an der Saale in 1927, long before the period, when bioethics in the modern sense was recreated in the US in 1970s and since that time has spread globally. Jahr’s bioethical imperative, influenced by Christian and humanist traditions from Assisi to Schopenhauer and by Buddhist philosophy holds its own position against Kant’s anthropological imperative and against dogmatic Buddhist reasoning: ‘Respect each living being as an (...) end in itself and treat it, if possible, as such’. Jahr interprets the 5th Commandment ‘Thou shall not kill’ offensively and liberally as ‘common morality’ which includes the obligation of caring for one’s own health, public health and health education within the wider framework of a universal bioethical Sittengesetz. In the article-translation the actual contemporary thoughts about the bioethical imperative, which serves not only the object of interdisciplinary study, but also the practical approach to acquiring responsibility and environmental image of thinking, are found. Didactic considerations of Yahr go beyond the paternalistic upbringing, they point to the content and methodological purpose of teaching ethics to ethical discourse. According to Yahr, ethics does not regulate philosophical, theological or political knowledge, does not act as a dictatorship of a way of behavior. Ethics is the conduct of discussions, the culture of discussion and communication. Following the philosophy of Yahr, Professor Hans-Martin Zass formulated the geo-ethical imperative: "Respect the Mother Earth and all natural life as it is, for which the responsible person is an end in itself, and get around as much as possible in this way!". In respect for all living things, there is a relationship between man and animals, plants, nature, including the health systems, educational-informational and research organizations. Pastor Fritz Jahr, who had no immediate influence during his times, built a strong first Protestant foundation for contemporary theological and ethical concepts in medical ethics, bioethics, and environmental ethics. (shrink)

Heidegger's Crisis shows not only how the Nazis exploited philosophical ideas and used philosophers to gain public acceptance, but also how German philosophers played into the hands of the Nazis. Hans Sluga describes the growth, from World War I onward, of a powerful right-wing movement in German philosophy, in which nationalistic, antisemitic, and antidemocratic ideas flourished.

Beherrschten vor 20 Jahren noch Industriekonglomerate, Energiekonzerne und Banken die Rangliste der wertvollsten Unternehmen, wurden diese längst von Internetgiganten wie Google, Apple, Amazon und Tencent abgelöst. Digitale Technik ist allgegenwärtig: Wir tragen Hochleistungsrechner in unseren Taschen herum, Waschmaschinen können sich mit dem Internet verbinden. Doch erschöpft sich darin das Neue am digitalen Kapitalismus? 0Philipp Staab beleuchtet den digitalen Kapitalismus aus unterschiedlichen Perspektiven, um ihn präziser auf den Begriff zu bringen. Er zeigt, wie digitale Überwachungs- und Bewertungspraktiken in immer mehr Bereiche (...) der Wirtschaft vordringen und dabei die soziale Ungleichheit verschärfen. Das Spezifische am digitalen Kapitalismus, so Staab, ist die Herausbildung 'proprietärer Märkte': Kam es früher darauf an, Dinge herzustellen und mit Gewinn zu verkaufen, geht es im Zeitalter der Unknappheit um das Eigentum an den Märkten selbst. (shrink)

Profielen van 59 denkers die filosofie en wetenschap van de twintigste eeuw beslissend beïnvloed hebben.

Kennismaking -- Verwantschap, vriendschap -- Antisemitisme, imperialisme -- Waarheid en politiek -- Slotbeschouwing.

Was sind 'äußere' und 'innere' Bilder? Wie entstehen sie? Was sind ihre Korrelate? Seit der Antike bewegen diese Fragen Philosophie, Rhetorik, Literatur- und Kunstwissenschaft, gegenwärtig auch die Medien- und Intermedialitätsforschung und Neurowissenschaften. Als Beitrag zu Bild- und Literaturwissenschaften sowie Visual Studies bietet der Band interdisziplinäre Untersuchungen der Bewegung vom Sehen über das An-schauen zu Anschaulichkeit und Anschauung. Die Beiträge zeigen Verflechtungen zwischen Epistemologie und Ästhetik auf, erhellen Fragen von Imagination und Stil, stellen neue Bezüge zwischen unterschiedlichen Künsten, Medien und Ausdrucks-formen (...) her und bieten neue Einsichten in die visuell-imaginativen Dimensionen von Wissen, Erkenntnis und Erfahrung. (shrink)

Rethinking politics in a new vocabulary, Hans Sluga challenges the firmly held assumption that there exists a single common good which politics is meant to realize. He argues that politics is not a natural but a historical phenomenon, and not a single thing but a multiplicity of political forms and values only loosely related. He contrasts two traditions in political philosophy: a 'normative theorizing' that extends from Plato to John Rawls and a newer 'diagnostic practice' that emerged with Marx (...) and Nietzsche and has found its three most prominent twentieth-century practitioners in Carl Schmitt, Hannah Arendt, and Michel Foucault. He then examines the sources of diagnostic political thinking, analyzes its achievements, and offers a critical assessment of its limitations. His important book will be of interest to a wide range of upper-level students and scholars in political philosophy, political theory, and the history of ideas. (shrink)

_Wittgenstein_ presents a concise, comprehensive, and systematic treatment of Ludwig Wittgenstein's thought from his early work, _Tractatus Logico-Philosophicus,_ to the posthumous publication of _On Certainty_, notes written just prior to his death. A substantial scholarly addition to our understanding of one of the most original and influential thinkers of the twentieth century, by renowned Wittgenstein scholar, Hans Sluga Proposes an original new interpretation of Wittgenstein's work Written to also be accessible to readers unfamiliar with Wittgenstein's thought Includes discussion of (...) the social and political background and contemporary relevance of Wittgenstein's thoughts. (shrink)

Art and Pornography presents a series of essays which investigate the artistic status and aesthetic dimension of pornographic pictures, films, and literature, and explores the distinction, if there is any, between pornography and erotic art. Is there any overlap between art and pornography, or are the two mutually exclusive? If they are, why is that? If they are not, how might we characterize pornographic art or artistic pornography, and how might pornographic art be distinguished, if at all, from erotic art? (...) Can there be aesthetic experience of pornography? What are some of the psychological, social, and political consequences of the creation and appreciation of erotic art or artistic pornography? This book will contribute to a more accurate and subtle understanding of the many representations that incorporate explicit sexual imagery and themes. It is sure to stir debate, and healthy controversy. (shrink)

Judging works of art is one thing. Loving a work of art is something else. When you visit a museum like the Louvre you make hundreds of judgements in the space of just a couple of hours. But you may grow to love only one or a handful of works over the course of your entire life. Depending on the art form you are most aligned with, this can be a painting, a novel, a poem, a song, a work of (...) architecture, or some other art object or performance. As it happens, however, we have fallen in love with a series of films: Before Sunrise, Before Sunset, and Before Midnight. But what does it mean to love a film? What’s the difference between liking a film, loving a film, and being a film lover? How rational or irrational is it to fall in love with a film? What are the constitutive elements of such a love? These are the questions we seek to address in this paper. -/- . (shrink)

The aim of what I propose to call “existential aesthetics” is to investigate the various ways in which art and certain kinds of aesthetic practice or aesthetic experience can be of existential importance to people. Section I provides a definition of existential aesthetics, while Section II delineates this emerging field from cognate areas of research. Sections III and IV explore various subcategories and examples of existential aesthetics. Section V seeks to identify important avenues for future research and Section VI presents (...) some concluding thoughts about the potential of existential aesthetics and why philosophers should be encouraged to fulfill this potential. (shrink)

This work has been selected by scholars as being culturally important, and is part of the knowledge base of civilization as we know it. This work was reproduced from the original artifact, and remains as true to the original work as possible. Therefore, you will see the original copyright references, library stamps (as most of these works have been housed in our most important libraries around the world), and other notations in the work. This work is in the public domain (...) in the United States of America, and possibly other nations. Within the United States, you may freely copy and distribute this work, as no entity (individual or corporate) has a copyright on the body of the work. As a reproduction of a historical artifact, this work may contain missing or blurred pages, poor pictures, errant marks, etc. Scholars believe, and we concur, that this work is important enough to be preserved, reproduced, and made generally available to the public. We appreciate your support of the preservation process, and thank you for being an important part of keeping this knowledge alive and relevant. (shrink)

This work has been selected by scholars as being culturally important, and is part of the knowledge base of civilization as we know it. This work was reproduced from the original artifact, and remains as true to the original work as possible. Therefore, you will see the original copyright references, library stamps (as most of these works have been housed in our most important libraries around the world), and other notations in the work. This work is in the public domain (...) in the United States of America, and possibly other nations. Within the United States, you may freely copy and distribute this work, as no entity (individual or corporate) has a copyright on the body of the work. As a reproduction of a historical artifact, this work may contain missing or blurred pages, poor pictures, errant marks, etc. Scholars believe, and we concur, that this work is important enough to be preserved, reproduced, and made generally available to the public. We appreciate your support of the preservation process, and thank you for being an important part of keeping this knowledge alive and relevant. (shrink)

Bd. 1. Die Weltanschauung des Altertums.--Bd. 2. Vom Urchistentum bis zu Augustin.--Bd. 3. [Die Weltanschauung des Mittelalters.] --Bd. 5. Die Weltanschauung der Gegenwart. 2., verm. Aufl.