Abstract

ExcerptThe world has to wait. Martin Heidegger1 Thus we philosophize for the time being. Hans Blumenberg2“The war is over, we should go back to philosophy” was the sentiment expressed by Maurice Merleau-Ponty in one of the first issues of his and Jean-Paul Sartre's new journal Les Temps modernes in Paris, May 1945. Having escaped from a work camp, Hans Blumenberg could hardly have taken any notice of this thought, but he was certainly and decisively in agreement with Merleau-Ponty.3 Since then we have become accustomed to Adorno's verdict that after Auschwitz, poetry is no longer…