Jürgen Habermas

Also a History of Philosophy, Volume 1 (eBook, ePUB)

The Project of a Genealogy of Postmetaphysical Thinking
Übersetzer: Cronin, Ciaran

• Format: ePub

Produktbeschreibung

This is the first volume of a ground-breaking new work by Jürgen Habermas on the history of philosophy. In this major new work, Habermas sets out the ideas that inform his systematic account of the history of Western philosophy as a genealogy of postmetaphysical thinking. His account goes far beyond a vindication of the enduring relevance of philosophical reflection founded on communicative reason as a source of orientation in the modern world. He contrasts this conception with prominent diagnoses of the supposed crisis of Enlightenment reason and culture that seeks redemption in the affirmation of traditional religious authority (Schmitt), the timeless validity of Greek metaphysics (Strauss), a numinous conception of nature (Löwith), and an occurrence of being that speaks to us from beyond the mists of pre-Socratic thought (Heidegger). Habermas situates Western philosophy in relation to traditions of thought founded in the major worldviews (Judaism, Buddhism, Confucianism and Taoism) that continue to shape contemporary culture and civilization. At the same time, he lays the groundwork for his analysis in the later volumes of the constitutive role played by the discourse on faith and knowledge in the development of Western philosophy, which is the result of the unique symbiosis that Christianity entered into with Greek thought with the Christianization of the Roman Empire. Far from raising claims to exclusivity, completeness or closure, Habermas's history of philosophy, published in English in three volumes, opens up new lines of research and reflection that will influence the humanities and social sciences for decades to come.

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Produktdetails

• Verlag: John Wiley & Sons
• Seitenzahl: 448
• Erscheinungstermin: 23. August 2023
• Englisch
• ISBN-13: 9781509543908
• Artikelnr.: 68709610

Autorenporträt

Jürgen Habermas is Emeritus Professor of Philosophy at the Johann Wolfgang Goethe University of Frankfurt and one of the leading philosophers and social and political thinkers in the world today.

Inhaltsangabe

Acknowledgements

Translator's Note

Abbreviations

Preface

I. On the Question of a Genealogy of Postmetaphysical Thinking

1. Crisis Scenarios and Narratives of Decline in Major Twentieth-Century Philosophical Theories

(1) Carl Schmitt

(2) Leo Strauss

(3) Karl Löwith

(4) Martin Heidegger

(5) The reconstruction of learning processes and the independent legitimacy of modernity

2. Religion as a 'Contemporary' Formation of Objective Mind?

(1) The sociological controversy over the secularization thesis

(2) John Rawls: political reason and religion

(3) Karl Jaspers: philosophical and religious 'faith'

3. The Occidental Path of Development and the Claim to Universality of Postmetaphysical Thinking

(1) The analysis of the formative power of world religions in the theory of civilizations

(2) Intercultural understanding, secular mode of thought and concerns about the Eurocentric narrowing of perspective

4. Basic Assumptions of the Theory of Society and Programmatic Outlook

(1) The problem of social integration and the stages of social evolution

(2) Sketch of the line of thought

(3) From world views to the lifeworld

II. The Sacred Roots of the Axial Age Traditions

1. Cognitive Breakthrough and Preservation of the Sacred Core

(1) The concept of the Axial Age

(2) The two elements of religion

(3) Excursus on the concept of 'religion'

2. Myth and Ritual Practices

(1) Performance of rituals and enactment of myths

(2) The meaning of ritual practices

(3) Excursus on the origins of language

3. The Meaning of the Sacred

(1) The self-referential character of ritual behaviour

(2) From symbolic to linguistic communication

(3) Myth as a response to the cognitive challenge of openness to the world

(4) The complementary dangers of exclusion and hyper-inclusion

(5) Ritual as a source of solidarity

(6) The explosive power of dissonant empirical knowledge

4. The Path to the Axial Age Transformation of Religious Consciousness

(1) Pantheon and religious practice in early civilizations

(2) Cult of the gods

(3) The differentiation of forms of knowledge

III. A Provisional Comparison of the Axial Age World Views

1. The Moralization of the Sacred and the Break with Mythical Thought

(1) The step of abstraction from the gods to the transcendent divine

(2) Essence and appearance

(3) Second-order thinking: discourse and dogmatics

2. The Repudiation of 'Paganism' by Jewish Monotheism

(1) From henotheism to the monotheistic creator, lawgiver and judge

(2) The universalistic meaning of the covenant with the transcendent God

(3) The overcoming of magical thinking and the disenchantment of ritual

(4) On the singular status of monotheism

3. The Buddha's Teaching and Practice

(1) Brahmanism, the Upanishads and meditative practice

(2) The Buddha's life and teachings

(3) Aims and paths of salvation in Buddhism and Judaism

(4) Meditation

4. Confucianism and Taoism

(1) Emergence of Confucianism and the era of the 'Warring States'

(2) Confucius's life and teachings

(3) Confucianism as ethics and learned religion

(4) The counter-model of the Taoist doctrine of salvation

5. From the Greek 'Natural Philosophers' to Socrates

(1) The very different original context

(2)

Rezensionen

"A wonderful English translation of Jürgen Habermas's magnum opus tracing 1,300 years of philosophy in the West. This volume is at once a reconstruction of the encounter between faith and reason, so defining of the Western philosophical legacy, and a reflection on philosophy's role in shaping who we are and how we relate to the world around us. Brilliant, breath-taking in scope, and profound in its assessment of the modern self-understanding, this magnificent work is a vital contribution to contemporary philosophy."
Simone Chambers, University of California, Irvine

"Among all the philosophers and social theorists of our time, Jürgen Habermas has distinguished himself not only for his philosophical acumen, but also for a certain epistemic modesty - a willingness to learn from both his contemporaries and the preceding tradition. In this monumental volume, Habermas shows us how the ideal of philosophy as a learning process can assist in reconstructing our own philosophical history. He guides us through an exhilarating series of past encounters between faith and knowledge that contribute to the rational but fallibilistic model of postmetaphysical thinking today. The result is nothing less than a masterpiece."
Peter E. Gordon, Harvard University

"one of the pre-eminent philosophers and public intellectuals of our time."
Times Literary Supplement

"Not a pedagogic work, not a generic history of philosophy, and certainly not a philosophy of history, Also a History of Philosophy is intimately linked to the inner dynamics of Habermas' project."
Michael Maidan, Phenomenological Reviews