The basic human experience of the atrocities in the first half of the 20th century has significantly strengthened the recognition of human dignity and human rights for all born people at the political level. Therefore, the Charter of the United Nations in 1945 and its Universal Declaration of Human Rights of 1948, Article 1 affirms: ‘All human beings are born free and equal in dignity and rights’. This article provides an ethical justification of why we in this political consensus should (...) not waver, and why we should grant the right to life to all born human infants. Moreover, there is an ethical justification to granting the right to life even to unborn human beings, who already bear a human face. (shrink)

Johann Nikolaus Tetens (1736-1807) gehörte zu den prägenden Gestalten der europäischen Aufklärung, und zwar sowohl innerhalb der Philosophie, im Kontext sprachtheoretischer und ästhetischer Diskurse, als auch in einer Reihe von Einzelwissenschaften (etwa der Mathematik und der Naturforschung). All diese Werkbereiche werden im vorliegenden Band von international renommierten Forschern eingehend betrachtet. Tetens hat als einer der ersten deutschsprachigen Autoren die Philosophie John Lockes und David Humes systematisch studiert und für die epistemologischen und moralphilosophischen Diskussionen der Zeit fruchtbar gemacht. Nicht (...) zufällig wurde ihm in den britischen Debatten der Zeit der Titel eines 'deutschen Locke' verliehen. Er prägte wichtige Debatten, Kontroversen und Forschungsentwicklungen zwischen 1760 und 1790 insbesondere in seinem namhaften Einfluss auf Immanuel Kant. Tetens großer philosophischer Entwurf, Philosophische Versuche über die menschliche Natur und ihre Entwickelung von 1777, zeigt mit allem Nachdruck, dass es eine bedeutende und nachhaltige Rezeption und affirmative Aufnahme des britischen und französischen Empirismus in Deutschland gegeben hat. Dennoch suchte Tetens zugleich, die neuen Einflüsse dieses Empirismus mit den wolffianischen und leibnizianischen Lehren seiner Ausbildung zu vermitteln. Dieser spezifischen Vermittlungsleistung gilt ein besonderes Augenmerk aller Beiträge des Bandes. (shrink)

In this article, I focus on Johann Nikolaus Tetens’s linguistic theory to make three arguments: (a) this linguistic theory endorses a phonological (contra phonetic) approach to the acoustic sphere of language; (b) the phonological approach is based on the idea that sounds can turn into phonemes (of a properly human language) only when a minimally rational reflection on them is made; and (c) the phonological approach allows us to understand the phoneme as a differential unity, as being composed (...) of structure and function, and as giving a theoretical basis for language learning. (shrink)

Tetens is usually considered the main representative of English empiricism in 18th-century German philosophy. In order to find out how fair this characterization is, the authors turn to the analysis of the critical foundations of the project of reform of metaphysics proposed by Tetens in his early article “Reflections on Some Reasons Why There Are So Few Settled Truths in Metaphysics” (1760). Having analyzed the arguments of this article, the authors prove: 1) Tetens's project for the reform of philosophy fully (...) fits into the tradition of German "methodical" philosophy, 2) it is based on the methodological and epistemological principles of the philosophy of Leibniz and Wolf, and is aimed at substantiating the basic provisions of Leibniz's metaphysics, 3) Tetens's “observing method” is rooted in the philosophy of Leibniz and Wolf, and not in the tradition of English empiricism. (shrink)

Die vorliegende Arbeit entstand im Auftrag des Osteuropa-Institutes der Universitat FreiburgjSchweiz und wurde in groBziigiger Weise von der Rockefeller Foundation unterstutzt. Ich machte diesen Institutionen hiermit meinen Dank aussprechen; insbesondere aber machte ich dem Herausgeber der Reihe "Sovietica", meinem verehrten Lehrer Prof. Dr. J. M. Bochenski danken, dem ich zahlreiche konkrete Hinweise verdanke. Da uber die marxistisch-Ieninistische Philosophie in der CSR m. W. keine einzige westliche Untersuchung vorliegt - und sei sie noch so bescheiden-, auf eigene Forschung angewiesen. Was allerdings (...) nicht war ich vallig philosophische Fragen betrifft, so konnte ich mich auf zahlreiche Hin weise von Spezialisten stiitzen; in diesem Zusammenhang machte ich mich bei den Herren Dr. H. Dahm von der Redaktion der "Ost-Probleme", Bonn, O. Kostrba yom "Radio Free Europe", Munchen, Dr. Kuhn yom Sudetendeutschen Archiv, Munchen, sowie Dr. R. Urban yom Johann Gottfried Herder-Institut, Marburg, bedanken. Zu besonderem Dank bin ich Dr. H. Slapnicka, Linz, verpfiichtet, von dem ichin wenigen Stunden oft mehr gelernt habe, als ich dureh monate1anges Studium Mtte erfahren kannen. SchlieBlieh machte ieh aueh Herrn O. Sagner von der Buchhandlung Kubon & Sagner, Munchen, danken; seiner oft muhe vollen Sueharbeit verdanke ich fast aIle Zeitschriften und Bucher, die mir zur Verfiigung standen. Der informierte Leser wird vermutlieh zahlreiche Lucken, Ungenauig keiten oder gar Fehler entdecken; ieh muG wohl nieht besonders hervor heben, wie dankbar ieh fUr entsprechende Hinweise bin, die mieh stets uber den Verlag Reidel, Dordrecht, erreichen. (shrink)

In his Philosophical Essays, Johann Nikolaus Tetens (1736-1807) distinguishes three main functions of the power of representing (perceiving, reproducing, inventing) to which relate, respectively, the faculty of apprehension, imagination (or, reproducing fantasy) and the power of invention. For each of these faculties it appears that the power of representing is essentially synthetic: perception makes the synthesis of the continuum, unifying the diversity of impressions, imagination creates new links between pre-existing representations and the power of invention shapes new images, (...) transforming the representations kept in memory and uniting them in one simple representation. Thus, we can argue that a triple synthesis of the power of representing does exist thanks to which all our representations are made. Tetens raises the question of whether these three faculties could be brought down to one fundamental force. We will wonder to what extend Tetens’ triple synthesis could be related to Kant’s as it is presented in his transcendental deduction of 1781. Moreover, we will point out similarities between the concept of general image (or sensible abstraction) in Tetens’ work and the concept of (empirical) scheme by Kant. (shrink)

Der Körper hat Konjunktur. Als ausgestellter, verfüg- und verführbarer begegnet er uns täglichim Übermaß. Es war nur eine Frage der Zeit, bis im Spiel der sich in den Wissenschafteneinander ablösenden turns auch ein corporeal (oder body) turn ausgerufen würde. Dabeibleibt im genannten turn der Gegenstand der Untersuchung nicht selten reduziert auf das, wasman im deutschen Sprachgebrauch »Körper« nennt: ein physisches Substrat, das wie ein Dingunter Dingen beschreibbar ist. Gegen diese Verkürzung stellt der Begri des »Leibes«,spätestens seit Edmund Husserl, eine präzise (...) theoretische Intervention in die wissenschaftlicheund philosophische Diskussion um Körper und Körperlichkeit dar: Dem objektiv beobachtbaren Körper, den wir haben, wird der lebendige Leib, der wir sind, gegenübergestellt. Diesem »Leib«, seiner Geschichte, seinen Varianten und seinem Versprechen gehen dieAutoren der vorliegenden Beiträge nach. Inhaltsübersicht Emmanuel Alloa/Thomas Bedorf/Christian Grüny/Tobias Nikolaus Klass: Einleitung I. Der Leibbegriff in der Phänomenologie Emmanuel Alloa / Natalie Depraz: Edmund Husserl – „Ein merkwürdig unvollkommenkonstituiertes Ding“ – Stefan Kristensen: Maurice Merleau-Ponty I – Körperschema undleibliche Subjektivität – Emmanuel Alloa: Maurice Merleau-Ponty II – Fleisch und Dierenz – David Espinet: Martin Heidegger – Der leibliche Sinn von Sein – Thomas Bedorf: EmmanuelLevinas – Der Leib des Anderen – Karel Novotný: Körper, Leib, Aektivität in Jan Pato č kasPhänomenologie der natürlichen Welt – Julia Scheidegger: Michel Henry – TranszendentaleLeiblichkeit – Jörg Sternagel: Bernhard Waldenfels – Responsivität des Leibes – Kerstin Andermann: Hermann Schmitz – Leiblichkeit als kommunikatives Selbst- und Weltverhältnis II. Zur Geschichte des Leibbegris Emmanuel Alloa: Archaische Leiblichkeit. Die griechische Antike und die Entdeckung desKörpers – Theresia Heimerl: Der Leib Christi und der Körper des Christen: Körper und Leib alszentrale Problemzonen des Christentums – Marc Rölli: Philosophische Anthropologie im 19. Jahrhundert – Zwischen Leib und Körper – Tobias Nikolaus Klass: Friedrich Nietzsche – Denkenam „Leitfaden des Leibes“ – Andreas Cremonini: Sigmund Freud – Der gelebte vs. derphantasmatische Leib – Uta Noppeney: Kurt Goldstein und Frederik Buytendijk – Der Leib-Begri in der organismischen Biologie – Volker Schürmann: Max Scheler und Helmuth Plessner– Leiblichkeit in der Philosophischen Anthropologie – Marion Lauschke: Ernst Cassirer und AbyWarburg – Kulturanthropologie III. Grenzen und Kritik des Leibbegris Christian Grüny: Theodor W. Adorno – Soma und Sensorium – Ulrich Johannes Schneider: Michel Foucault – Der Körper und die Körper – Burkhard Liebsch: Paul Ricoeur – Das leiblicheSelbst begegnet dem Widerstand des Anderen – Mirjam Schaub: Gilles Deleuze – Was weiß ein„Körper ohne Organe“ vom Leib? – Kathrin Busch: Jean-Luc Nancy – Exposition und Berührung– Shaun Gallagher: Embodiment: Leiblichkeit in den Kognitionswissenschaften – Marie-Luise Angerer: Gender und Performance – Ist leibliche Identität ein Konstrukt? – Thomas Bedorf/Selin Gerlek: Praxistheorien – Leibkörperliche Praktiken im Vollzug. (shrink)

This article investigates the palimpsest reception of Pseudo-Dionysius (ca. 500) in the metaphysics of Nicholas of Cusa (1401–1464). The article covers Cusa’s political theory and metaphysics, which are intertwined. Reading Cusa against the backdrop of an analysis of Pseudo-Dionysius’ metaphysics in a preceding article, the author, in a synthetic conclusion, isolates seven Dionysic ‘trails’ (S1 to S7) in Cusa’s metaphysics: the interpretation of transcendence as bound to immanence; the affirmation of God’s transcendence in the world (or a metaphysics of ‘creation (...) as teophany’); the radical transcendence and simultaneous radical immanence of God (that is, God as ‘Beingness’); fundamental restrictions of language and the analogical ‘Naming’ of God; creation as a system of dialectical symbols about God; the analogical participation of the subject in creation; and unification (reditus, the ‘flowing of things back to God’). The Dionysic trails in Cusa’s metaphysics are described as a noteworthy, if not important, palimpsest in the corpus of late Medieval philosophy and is indicative of what the author puts forward as ‘discursive memory’, which is presented as a modern-critical concept. (shrink)

Das Buch legt in geschichtlicher Reihenfolge dar, wie sich herausragende Denker des Abendlandes Gott geistig und geistlich angenähert haben und wer für sie Gott im Wesentlichen war. So war für die antiken Philosophen Platon und Plotin das Göttliche vor allem das Gute, Schöne oder Eine. Als christliche Denker suchten dann im Früh- und Hochmittelalter Augustinus, Richard von St. Viktor und Thomas von Aquin auf je eigene Weise die Dreieinheit Gottes zu erklären. Am Beginn der Neuzeit endete die lebenslange Suche des (...) Nikolaus von Kues nach dem angemessensten Gottesbegriff schliesslich beim "Können selbst." In der Neuzeit erfuhr Teresa von Avila Gott als das Innerste ihrer Seele, während ihr Ordensbruder Johannes vom Kreuz Gott als lebendige Liebesflamme erlebte. In seinen "Meditationen" bestimmte Descartes Gott als das vollkommenste Wesen. Wiederum dem dreieinen Gott näherte sich Hegel mit seiner spekulativen Lehre vom Reich des Vaters, des Sohnes und des Geistes. Für Hans Urs von Balthasar war im 20. Jh. das stellvertretende Leiden des Gottessohnes für uns Menschen von entscheidender Bedeutung. Im selben Zeitraum verstand Karl Rahner Gott primär als das heilige Geheimnis. Anhand eines Hauptwerkes oder mehrerer Werke wird jeweils der Weg oder ein Weg dieser Denker zu Gott nachgezeichnet. Ausserdem werden mithilfe neuerer angelsächsischer Diskussionen einige Eigenschaften Gottes erörtert: sein Schöpfertum sowie seine Allmacht, Allwissenheit und Ewigkeit.-- Back cover. (shrink)

Nikolaus von Kues, eine Schwellengestalt zwischen Mittelalter und Neuzeit, gewinnt in einer Zeit, die sich selbst als Ubergangsepoche wahrnimmt, wieder starkere Aufmerksamkeit. Er steht in dem noch ungewissen Morgenlicht einer Epoche, deren Abenddammerung gegenwartig vielfach diagnostiziert wird. Wichtige Themen, an denen Stellung und Bedeutung des Cusanus immer wieder aufbrechen, sind der Individualitatsbegriff, der cusanische Beitrag zur Ausbildung der modernen Naturwissenschaften, die Kreativitat des Denkens, die Reichweite seiner konjekturalen Erkenntnislehre und die gesellschaftliche Rolle der Toleranz im Dialog der Kulturen. Die (...) kulturwissenschaftliche Neuorientierung der Geisteswissenschaften schuf auch in der Cusanusforschung Raum fur neue Forschungsfelder wie das Verhaltnis von Malerei und Philosophie. Die sich seit Jahrzehnten anbahnende Neubewertung der cusanischen Philosophie wird im vorliegenden Band umfassend dokumentiert und weitergefuhrt. Alle Beitrage eint die Uberzeugung, dass die Hinterlassenschaften des Theologen, Philosophen, Naturwissenschaftlers, Mystikers, Juristen und Politikers Nicolaus Cusanus fur ein an der Praxis des menschlichen Lebens orientiertes gegenwartiges Philosophieren fruchtbar gemacht werden kann. Der vorliegende Band dokumentiert Ergebnisse von sechs selbstandigen, aber koordinierten Tagungen der internationalen Cusanusforschung aus dem Jubilaumsjahr 2014. (shrink)

Ancient Greek philosophers were the first to postulate the possibility of explaining nature in theoretical terms and to initiate attempts at this. With the rise of monotheistic religions of revelation claiming supremacy over human reason and envisaging a new world to come, studies of the natural order of the transient world were widely considered undesirable. Later, in the Middle Ages, the desire for human understanding of nature in terms of reason was revived. This article is concerned with the fundamental reversal (...) of attitudes, from "undesirable" to "desirable", that eventually led into the foundations of modern science. One of the earliest, most ingenious and most interesting personalities involved was Eriugena, a theologian at the Court of Charles the Bald in the 9th century. Though understanding what we call nature is only one of the several aspects of his philosophical work, his line of thought implies a turn into a pro-scientific direction: the natural order is to be understood in abstract terms of "primordial causes"; understanding nature is considered to be the will of God; man encompasses the whole of creation in a physical as well as a mental sense. Basically similar ideas on the reconciliation of scientific rationality and monotheistic religions of revelation were conceived, independently and nearly simultaneously, by the Arab philosopher al-Kindi in Bagdad. Eriugena was more outspoken in his claim that reason is superior to authority. This claim is implicit in the thought of Nicholas of Cusa with his emphasis on human mental creativity as the image of God's creativity; and it is the keynote of Galileo's "Letter to the Grand Duchess Christina" some 800 years later, the manifesto expressing basic attitudes of modern science. (shrink)

Imagine an author living in the days of Kant, who influenced him, but at the same time followed his own path... Imagine that this author criticized some phases of Kantian thought, developing an original approach to issues as important as objectivity, or even the transcendental... Such an author should be considered an important protagonist in the history of philosophy, offering opportunities for original thought. He should enjoy a great reputation and be studied by many commentators. Such an author exists. He (...) is called Johann Nikolaus Tetens. However, only a few experts know his work. (shrink)

In this text, I offer an investigation of the role played by “fundamental concepts” within the first sketches of two projects of a reform of metaphysics: the project of Johann Nikolaus Tetens and the project of Immanuel Kant. One year before the Berlin Academy published its famous Prize Question of 1761 (which asks for a comparison of the methods of metaphysics and geometry), Tetens had already published a short text in which he inquired into the causes of the (...) small number of accepted truths within metaphysics. Although the method of geometry has to be recommended, Tetens also thinks that it cannot simply be translated into philosophy, where it never could generate the clarity it is able to bring about in mathematics. Indeed, for Tetens, an essential preliminary for a metaphysics that contains irrefutable truths and that will be able to apply the geometrical method is the inquiry into fundamental ontological concepts. As for Kant, in 1763 he explicitly replied to the question of the Academy, but it is certainly not false to state that his quest for a definitive answer ended only in 1781, with the publication of the Critique of Pure Reason. Presented as a solution to the crisis in metaphysics, this work offers a new theory of objectivity. As we know, within this theory, the first concepts of the understanding (the categories) play an important role. How come that both Tetens and Kant connected the problem of first concepts with the problem of objectivity? And who is indebted to whom? (shrink)

The question as to whether the human soul, in the abundance of its theoretical and practical faculties, possesses a fundamental power which unites them, or combines them, or several or none, was one of the controversial fields of European philosophy between Leibniz and Kant. Johann Nikolaus Tetens has presented an independent solution to this problem. At the same time, Tetens is as far removed from speculative dogmatism as from an empirical psychology of the basic power of the soul (...) as a self-activity. Tetens formulates, as it were, conditions of the possibility of a knowledge of the human soul, based on experience, without proceeding methodically empirically. (shrink)

Beyond the usual conception of Johann Nikolaus Tetens as the “German Locke”, this paper wants to reassess the distinctive German context of the empiricist reference in the Essay on the Reform of the Speculative Philosophy (1775) and in the Philosophical Essays on Human Nature and Its Development (1777). This move shows that Tetens delivers a critical view of the empiricist philosophy and refuses to conflate the activity of the understanding and the passivity of the sensibility; he produces for (...) that purpose a highly original philosophy of human cognition which gives a pivotal place to the autonomous productions of the imagination and the understanding. (shrink)

Arina Oriekhova's interview with Professor Serhii Secundant, devoted to Leibniz's concept of time and space, the peculiarities of Michael Fatch's interpretation of this concept, and various historico-philosophical approaches to understanding Leibniz's philosophy as a whole.

This paper sketches a theory of the reason‐giving force of well‐being that allows us to reconcile our intuitions about two of the most recalcitrant problem cases in population ethics: Jan Narveson's Procreation Asymmetry and Derek Parfit's Non‐Identity Problem. I show that what has prevented philosophers from developing a theory that gives a satisfactory account of both these problems is their tacit commitment to a teleological conception of well‐being, as something to be ‘promoted’. Replacing this picture with one according to which (...) our reasons to confer well‐being on people are conditional on their existence allows me to do better. It also enables us to understand some of the deep structural parallels between seemingly disparate normative phenomena such as procreating and promising. The resulting theory charts a middle way between the familiar dichotomy of narrow person‐affecting theories and totalist or wide‐person affecting theories in population ethics. (shrink)

Contents \t\t\t\t\t \tTRANSLATOR'S INTRODUCTION \t\t1 \t \tNOTE ON THE TRANSLATION \t\t39 \t OBSERVATIONS ON THE FEELING OF THE BEAUTIFUL AND SUBLIME \t\t\t\t\t \tSECTION ONE: \t\t\t\t \t\tOf the Distinct Objects of the Feeling of the Beautiful and Sublime \t\t45 \tSECTION TWO: \t\t\t\t \t\tOf the Attributes of the Beautiful and Sublime.

Fichte's System of Ethics, originally published in 1798, is at once the most accessible presentation of its author's comprehensive philosophical project, The Science of Knowledge or Wissenschaftslehre, and the most important work in moral philosophy written between Kant and Hegel. This study integrates the discussion of our moral duties into the systematic framework of a transcendental theory of the human subject. Ranging over numerous important philosophical themes, the volume offers a new translation of the work together with an introduction that (...) sets it in its philosophical and historical contexts. (shrink)

One of the most important works of the Enlightenment—in the first new, unabridged English translation in more than two centuries Published in four volumes between 1784 and 1791, Herder’s Ideas for the Philosophy of the History of Mankind is one of the most important works of the Enlightenment—a bold, original, and encyclopedic synthesis of, and contribution to, the era’s philosophical debates over nature, history, culture, and the very meaning of human experience. This is the first new, unabridged English translation of (...) the Ideas in more than two centuries. Gregory Martin Moore’s lively, modern English text, extensive introduction, and commentary bring this neglected masterpiece back to life. The Ideas—which engages with many of the leading thinkers of the eighteenth century, such as Montesquieu, Kant, Gibbon, Ferguson, Buffon, and Rousseau—is many things at once: an inquiry into the unity and purpose of history, a reflection on human nature and the place of humans in the cosmic order, an examination of what was beginning to be called “culture,” and a narrative of cultural progress across time among different peoples. Along the way, Herder considers a dizzying variety of topics, including the formation of the earth and solar system, species change, race, the immortality of the soul, the establishment of society, and the pursuit of happiness. Above all, the Ideas is an anthropology—what Alexander Pope had termed an “essay on man”—pervaded by an appropriately humane spirit. A fresh and much-needed modern translation of the complete Ideas, this volume reintroduces English readers to a classic of Enlightenment thought. (shrink)

The world is undeniably full of injustice. Many feel that much political philosophy is practically impotent and engaged instead in overly abstract theorising insufficiently sensitive to the realities of the world. One response to this concern is David Miller’s influential model of evidence-based political philosophy, which claims to be sensitive to empirical evidence from the social sciences, takes seriously people’s opinions, and defends the role of facts in grounding normative principles. Using various examples from the field of global justice, one (...) of Miller’s key areas of work, I show that Miller’s method is unconvincing on two levels. His theoretical argument for fact-dependence is flawed, and his practical argument for an opinion-sensitive political theory is either guilty of status quo bias or, in an attempt to escape it, becomes self-defeating. While the paper is primarily critical, I endeavour also to draw out the implications of my critiques for the role of the ‘real world’ in theorising. (shrink)

Im "System der Sittenlehre" fand Fichtes praktische Philosophie im direkten Anschluß an die Wissenschaftslehre von 1794 ihre vollendete Gestalt. Fichtes theoretischer Ansatz bietet den bis heute einzigen methodisch konsistenten Versuch einer Letztbegründung des Sollens als Beweis der sittlichen Freiheit des Einzelnen.

Die erst im Juli 1980 gefundene, bis dahin gänzlich unbekannte Kolleghandschrift von Krause aus dem Wintersemester 1798/99 erweitert den Wissensstand um die Entwicklung der Philosophie Fichtes zwischen den Jahren 1795 und 1800 in einem erheblichen Maße und markiert eine Zäsur: Fichte scheidet die Philosophie nicht mehr in Theorie und Praxis, sondern faßt sie als eine, als Philosophie überhaupt.

Als die Osmanen im 15. Jahrhundert immer weiter nach Europa vordrangen und die Christenheit eine militärische Niederlage nach der anderen kassierte, entwickelte seit dem Basler Konzil (1431-1449) eine Gruppe führender Philosophen, Humanisten und Theologen eine Alternative zu Krieg und Kreuzzügen: die friedliche Bekehrung der Muslime. Ein Netzwerk um Nikolaus von Kues, Heymericus de Campo, Johannes von Segovia, Enea Silvio Piccolomini und Georg von Trapezunt erarbeiteten mit- und gegeneinander höchst originelle philosophische und rhetorische Argumentationen. Beispielsweise erdachten sie Pläne für eine (...) Friedenskonferenz mit den Muslimen und versuchten, den Koran selbst gegen den Islam ins Feld zu führen, womit sie übrigens die Basis für die Islamstudien der Neuzeit legten. Dieses Buch handelt von einem spannenden propagandistischen Feldzug und gewährt neue Einblicke in Geschichte, Gedankenwelt und Islamrezeption des Spätmittelalters und der Renaissance. (shrink)

Im ersten Teil des Buches wird das «Ich»-Verständnis der christlichen Lehre, insbesondere anhand der Position von Nikolaus von Kues und Schriften von Papst Johannes Paul II., analysiert, beziehungsweise an der Position Platons gemessen. Es wird zu zeigen versucht, daß die christliche Trinitätslehre wesentliche Impulse dafür liefert, zu einer Argumentation alleine gemäß der von Platon grundgelegten noetischen Dialektik finden zu können. Im Rahmen hiervon wird dargelegt, wo das «Ich»-Verständnis der christlichen Trinitätslehre hinter jenem Platons zurückbleibt. Im zweiten Teil des Buches (...) wird eine Skizze vom «Ich» im Sinne der noetischen Dialektik gegeben, beziehungsweise dargelegt, daß jegliches Bedenken von der Aussage «Ich bin» auszugehen hat. (shrink)

The objective of this article is to present an overview, based on the most recent specialist research, of Neoplatonist developments in the Cologne tradition of the later Middle Ages, with specific reference to a unique Proclian commentary presented by the German Albertist Dominican, Berthold of Moosburg (ca. 1300–1361). Situating Berthold in the post-Eckhart Dominican crisis of the 1340s and 1350s, his rehabilitating initiative of presenting this extensive (nine-volume) commentary on the Neoplatonist Proclus Lycaeus’ (412–485) Elements of Theology in his Expositio (...) super Elementationem theologicam Procli, the only of its kind from the Middle Ages, is contextualised with reference to Berthold’s discursive indebtedness to his Dominican predecessors, Albert the Great (ca. 1200–1280), Ulrich of Strasbourg (ca. 1220–1277) and Dietrich of Freiberg (ca.1250 – ca.1310), as well as two Dutch-Cologne successors, the Albertist Heymeric of Camp (1395–1460) and the Carthusian Thomist Denys de Leeuwis (1402–1471). Berthold’s unique contribution to the philosophical discourse of the Middle Ages is indicated therein that the Expositio provided a synthesis of the late Medieval version of Neoplatonism and contemporaneous German–Dominican theories. By contextualising the work of his Cologne predecessors and successors in the broad idea-historical landscape of antiquity and Neoplatonism, the article argues that Berthold succeeded in linking the Neoplatonic legacy with Cologne Albertism and provided an impetus for the overall consolidating ability of the Cologne tradition. By juxtaposing Berthold and his Expositio with the more conventional legacies of Ulrich, Dietrich, Heymeric and Denys, this exceptional Latin-Western intellectual tradition from Cologne is expanded and enriched with regard to its notable Neoplatonic contributions to philosophy in the later Middle Ages. Contribution: This article contributes to scholarship in Medieval philosophy by presenting an overview of Neoplatonist developments in the Cologne tradition of the later Middle Ages, with specific reference to the Proclian commentary presented by the German Albertist Dominican, Berthold of Moosburg (ca. 1300–1361). By contextualising the work of Berthold’s Cologne predecessors and successors in the broad idea-historical landscape of antiquity and Neoplatonism, the article indicates that Berthold succeeded in linking the Neoplatonic legacy with Cologne Albertism and provided an impetus for the overall consolidating ability of the Cologne tradition during the later Middle Ages. (shrink)

This article responds to a critical research challenge in Medieval philosophy scholarship regarding the internal periodisation of the register. By arguing the case for ‘post-scholasticism’ as an internal period indicator (1349–1464, the era between the deaths of William of Ockham and Nicholas of Cusa), defined as ‘the transformation of high scholasticism on the basis of a selective departure thereof’, the article specifies a predisposition in the majority of introductions to and commentaries in Medieval philosophy to proceed straight from 1349 to (...) 1464, understating 115 years of pertinent Medieval philosophical discourse. It is argued that in the modern account of Medieval philosophy, this understatement is manifested in either a predating of Renaissance philosophy to close the gap between 1349 and 1464 as far as possible or in proceeding straight from 1349 to Renaissance philosophy. The article presents five unique philosophical themes from this delicate period, indicating that ‘post-scholasticism’ was indeed a productive period in late Medieval philosophy, which should not be bypassed as an inconsequential entrance to Renaissance philosophy. The period 1349–1464 should accordingly be appreciated for its idiosyncratic contributions to the history of ideas in the late-14th and early-15th centuries, with reference to the political intensification of the via moderna, the pivotal separation of philosophy and theology and the resulting independence of the natural sciences, in res critique of institutions, transforming pragmatics and the rise of philosophical materialism. Contribution: This article contributes to methodological development in Medieval philosophy by responding to a critical research challenge regarding the internal periodisation of the later Middle Ages. Arguing the case for ‘post-scholasticism’ as an internal period indicator (1349 to 1464 in Medieval philosophy, the article presents unique philosophical themes from the period, indicating that it was a productive stage in late Medieval philosophy which should not be bypassed as an inconsequential entrance to Renaissance philosophy. (shrink)

The time and opportunity have finally arrived for the next phase of Septuagint research. Even though not all the books of the LXX have been completed by the Septuaginta-Unternehmen in Göttingen, by far the largest number of books have been assigned and are being prepared. Thus, text-critical work has largely been completed, or is in the process of being prepared. The next phase, hermeneutical research, is at hand. This phase naturally requires correct methodology. This applies to an acceptable textual theory (...) as well as to the reconstruction of the textual history of the LXX. This article takes the Septuagint of Proverbs as its point of comparison and discusses the following issues: novel research (monographs) and new research projects in conjunction with existing projects (exegetical commentaries, a theology of the Septuagint). (shrink)

Foucault’s sodomite’: Damian’s Liber gomorrhianus (1049) reopened. Taking Michel Foucault’s famous statement about the difference between the ‘Medieval sodomite’ and the heteronormative ‘19th century homosexual’ as its cue, this article surveys the discursive source of that statement in the work of Peter Damian (1007–1072) with regard to his obscure, yet consequential text, Liber gomorrhianus (presented in 1049 to Pope Leo IX, preceding the Council of Reims). Drawing on the recent research by Ranft and because Damian is such an understated figure (...) in the corpus of Medieval philosophy, an overview of Damian’s life and work is presented, especially in terms of Damian’s 11th century reforming labour ethics. Only then the article proceeds to reopen Damian’s text, indicating that the ‘Medieval sodomite’ is far removed from an elementary precursor to the modern scientia sexualis homosexual, but is indeed presented by Damian as a complex and gender-inclusive licentious person, within the context of the disintegration of sexual morality (especially within the domains of celibacy and confession) in the middle to late 11th century church and monasteries. Cross-referencing the own translation of the Latin text with the translation of Payer, the article disseminates and critiques the key concepts in Damian’s argument for the summarily deposition of lapsi [fallen priests] and the expulsion of promiscuous monks (and nuns) from the orders, especially with regard to Damian’s concepts of contra-natural and irrational fornication. Pope Leo’s deeply pastoral and insightful answer to Damian ( Ad splendidum nitentis ) is presented in the last part of the article, including his sanctioning of Damian’s complex concept of sodomy, which on that ground, became the conceptual source for the council of Reims (1049), and subsequent Medieval councils dealing with the ‘problem of sodomy’ in the church and monasteries. The canons of those councils were indeed the source of Foucault’s analysis of Medieval sexuality – yet the more fundamental source was Damian’s obscure text. (shrink)

Si l’on connaît aujourd’hui le dialogue fructueux que Paul Ricœur a noué avec les penseurs structuralistes, on ignore largement son positionnement face à la mouvance poststructuraliste. Faut-il opposer la philosophie de Ricœur au poststructuralisme à la française ou au contraire doit-on montrer qu’elle en est une variante singulière? C’est la seconde option qui est ici défendue. Certes, le poststructuralisme ne doit pas être considéré comme une école de pensée mais comme une reconstruction qui relève de l’histoire de la philosophie. Dans (...) la mesure où les horizons de dépassement du structuralisme ont été posés de manière chaque fois particulière, il est préférable de parler de poststructuralismes au pluriel. C’est la raison pour laquelle J. Michel propose des confrontations dyadiques entre Ricœur et certains de ses contemporains que l’on regroupe habituellement dans cette mouvance. (shrink)