Hans Blumenberg

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Hans Blumenberg (born July 13, 1920 in Lübeck , † March 28, 1996 in Altenberge near Münster ) was a German philosopher .

Life

Hans Blumenberg was the eldest son of Josef Carl Blumenberg (1880–1949), the owner of a Lübeck art publisher, and his wife Else Blumenberg, née. Schreier (1882-1945). The father's family came from the Diocese of Hildesheim and had produced Catholic priests such as Friedrich Blumenberg SJ (1732–1811) and Franz Edmund Blumenberg (1764–1846) for generations. In the Catholic diaspora family of Lübeck , the Nazi- critical chaplain Johannes Prassek , who was trained in Sankt Georgen (Frankfurt am Main) and is one of the Lübeck martyrs , had a formative influence on Blumenberg as a youth chaplain and spiritual guide.

Blumenberg visited the Katharineum in Lübeck , where he passed his school-leaving examination in 1939 as the best of his year. In the winter semester of 1939/40 he began his theology studies as a candidate for the priesthood of the Diocese of Osnabrück at the Theological Academy in Paderborn, which according to the study regulations at that time had a very high proportion of philosophy in the beginning semesters. Blumenberg spent the summer semester 1940 studying Jesuits in Frankfurt- Sankt Georgen , where he was particularly impressed by the scotist- oriented philosopher Caspar Nink . Due to his mother's Jewish family background, he had to drop out of Catholic theology in autumn 1940. His friend, the priest and former Frankfurt student pastor Walter Kropp (1919–2019), gave information about this study of Catholic theology . He shared the room with Blumenberg: “It was the most exciting and stimulating semester of my studies for me. We were talking day and night. That means: Most of the time he talked and I listened. I was deeply impressed by the man who knows a lot, who has a clear view and who thinks ahead. "

Back in Lübeck, he was first drafted into labor service and then worked at Drägerwerk AG in Lübeck. In 1945 he was interned in Zerbst , but was released on Heinrich Dräger's initiative and hid with the family of Ursula Heinck (1922-2010), whom he married in 1944, until the end of the war. After 1945 he continued his studies in philosophy, German and classical philology at the University of Hamburg . In 1947, Blumenberg's dissertation contributed to the problem of the originality of medieval-scholastic ontology , which at the beginning of 1946 still bore the working title “The ontological achievement of medieval scholasticism with regard to Heidegger's destruction of traditional ontology” at Christian-Albrechts-University Kiel is doing his doctorate. Here he completed his habilitation in 1950 with the study The ontological distance. An investigation into the crisis of Husserl's phenomenology . His teacher during this time was Ludwig Landgrebe .

In 1958, Blumenberg became an associate professor of philosophy in Hamburg and, in 1960, a full professor of philosophy at the Justus Liebig University in Giessen . In 1965 he moved to the Ruhr University in Bochum as a full professor of philosophy and in 1970 to the Westphalian Wilhelms University in Münster, where he retired in 1985.

Blumenberg was a member of the Academy of Sciences and Literature in Mainz (since 1960), the Senate of the German Research Foundation (DFG), a member of the Senate Commission for the History of Concepts of the DFG under the chairmanship of Hans Georg Gadamer and co-founder of the research group “ Poetics and Hermeneutics ".

Blumenberg died of a heart attack on March 28, 1996. He had three sons and the daughter Bettina Blumenberg .

plant

The early writing Paradigms zu einer Metaphorologie , based on selected examples from the history of ideas and philosophy, pursues the idea that certain metaphors (such as those of "naked" truth ") are to be viewed as" basic constituents of philosophical language "that are not defined by concepts replace it and thus "bring it back into the real, into the logic". According to Blumenberg, such “absolute metaphors” constitute a conceptual concept of reality that can never be fully captured in terms of its vividness and meaning, and on which human thought and action can and must be oriented. This approach is then further elaborated in individual representations, among other things, on the metaphor of light in epistemological contexts, on shipping as a metaphor for existence ( Shipwreck with a spectator , 1979) and on the book metaphor ( Die Legbarkeit der Welt, 1979).

One focus of the diverse philosophical-historical investigations by Blumenberg is the "epoch threshold" between the Middle Ages and the modern age ( The Legitimacy of the Modern Age, 1966; The Genesis of the Copernican World , 1975). From a functionalist perspective on the history of ideas and philosophy, inspired by, among others, Ernst Cassirer , which reckons with epoch-specific "reassignments" within a formal relational structure of intellectual content, a substantialist understanding of historical continuity is rejected, as is often the basis of the secularization theorem, for example . The modern age is presented as an epoch independent of antiquity and the Middle Ages , the development of which is due, among other things, to the need for human self-assertion in view of the escalation of "theological absolutism" in late medieval nominalism , and which rehabilitates the theoretical curiosity that arose in Greek antiquity from this necessity Has.

In later studies ( work on Mythos , 1979; cave exits ), Blumenberg increasingly profiled the anthropological background of his thinking. The guiding principle is the assumption based on Arnold Gehlen that humans, as finite and void defective beings, need certain aids in order to assert themselves in the face of the "absolutism of reality". With this in mind, Blumenberg interprets metaphors and myths - due to their services that distance reality, orientate them and so relieve people - as a functional equivalent to institutions in the sense of Gehlen.

In his late work, Matthäuspassion (1993), Blumenberg explores the question of what significance Christian statements can still have for a reader who - like Blumenberg himself - is no longer a Christian, but who looks back on Christianity from the perspective of the history of reception. Jacob Taubes , a longtime partner Blumenberg's discussion, criticized in his confrontation with Blumenberg and Odo Marquard , Neopagan implications of Blumenberg's anthropological theory of relief and of myth. Despite this departure from Christianity, which is also motivated by autobiographical remarks, Blumenberg's work is also received by theologians and discussed with regard to its potential for stimulating Protestant and Catholic theology.

Mostly under a pseudonym, Blumenberg also wrote literary reviews of international fiction.

reception

Blumenberg's own students ( Manfred Sommer , Ferdinand Fellmann , Heinrich Niehues-Pröbsting ) developed their own positions in recognizable connection to and analysis of Blumenberg's philosophy. In addition, Blumenberg's theories in Germany were initially taken up primarily in the Joachim Ritters circle , above all in Odo Marquard , who adopted elements of Blumenberg's anthropology for the theoretical and scientific-political legitimation of the humanities. Students of Odo Marquard continued this form of affirmative Blumenberg reception ( Franz Josef Wetz ). Blumenberg's account of the nominalism of the late Middle Ages found a detailed discussion in the history of philosophy and was ultimately rejected ( Wolfgang Hübener , Jürgen Goldstein ). The project of a metaphorology was also received in depth, especially in literary studies (for example with Anselm Haverkamp ), but also among scientific theorists ( Lutz Danneberg ). The estate publications on the theory of the lifeworld and phenomenological anthropology have drawn attention to Blumenberg's affiliation with the “phenomenological movement”.

A reception of Blumenberg in academic philosophy in English-speaking countries began with the appearance of the first English translations since 1983. The translation of The Legitimacy of Modern Times was discussed by Richard Rorty , who regretted the late reception of the book. Numerous works by Blumenberg have also been translated in France, Italy and Spain.

During his lifetime, Blumenberg experienced a considerable reception in the features sections of the Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung and the Neue Zürcher Zeitung ( Henning Ritter , Martin Meyer ). In her novel Blumenberg (2011), Sibylle Lewitscharoff confronts the philosopher with the appearance of a lion.

Awards

Fonts (selection)

Correspondence

literature

  • Julia Amslinger: A new form of academy. Poetics and Hermeneutics - the beginnings. Wilhelm Fink Verlag, Paderborn 2017, ISBN 978-3-7705-5384-6 . (At the same time dissertation at Humboldt University Berlin, 2013).
  • Peter Behrenberg: Ultimate immortality. Studies on the theological criticism of Hans Blumenberg. Königshausen & Neumann, Würzburg 1994, ISBN 3-88479-895-2 .
  • Cornelius Borck (Ed.): Hans Blumenberg observed. Science, technology and philosophy. Alber, Freiburg im Breisgau / Munich 2013, ISBN 978-3-495-48585-9 .
  • Robert Buch, Daniel Weidner (Ed.): Read Blumenberg. A glossary . Suhrkamp, ​​Berlin 2014.
  • Paolo Caloni: Hans Blumenberg. Realtà metaforiche e fenomenologia della distanza . Mimesis, Milano 2016, ISBN 978-88-5753-612-5 .
  • Dahlke, Benjamin / Laarmann, Matthias: Hans Blumenberg's academic years. Spotlights on places, institutions and people. In: Theologie und Glaube 107 (2017), pp. 338–353.
  • Ferdinand Fellmann : Hans Blumenberg. In: Information Philosophy . 2008, H. 3, pp. 49-54 ( online ).
  • Kurt Flasch : Hans Blumenberg. Philosopher in Germany. The years 1945 to 1966 . Vittorio Klostermann, Frankfurt am Main 2017, ISBN 978-3-465-00017-4 .
  • Alberto Fragio, Martina Philippi, Josefa Ros Velasco (eds.): Metaphorology, Anthropology, Phenomenology. New research on the estate of Hans Blumenberg. Alber, Freiburg im Breisgau / Munich 2019, ISBN 978-3-495-49008-2 .
  • Alberto Fragio: Paradigms for a Metaphorology of the Cosmos. Hans Blumenberg and the Contemporary Metaphors of the Universe. Aracne, Roma 2015, ISBN 978-88-548-8090-0 .
  • Jürgen Goldstein : Nominalism and Modernity. On the constitution of modern subjectivity in Hans Blumenberg and Wilhelm von Ockham. Alber, Freiburg im Breisgau 1998, ISBN 3-495-47863-9 .
  • Jürgen Goldstein: Hans Blumenberg. A philosophical portrait. Matthes & Seitz, Berlin 2020, ISBN 978-3-95757-758-0 .
  • Jürg Haefliger: Imagination Systems. Epistemological, anthropological and historical mentality aspects of Hans Blumenberg's metaphorology. Lang, Bern 1996, ISBN 3-906756-83-1 .
  • Felix Heidenreich: People and Modernity at Hans Blumenberg. Fink, Paderborn 2005, ISBN 3-7705-4158-8 .
  • Felix Heidenreich: Political Metaphorology. Hans Blumenberg today. Metzler, Stuttgart 2020, ISBN 978-3-476-05651-1
  • Markus Hundeck: World and Time. Hans Blumenberg's philosophy between creation and redemption theory. Echter, Würzburg 2000, ISBN 3-429-02281-9 .
  • Andreas Kirchner: The dynamic of unity. A theoretical figure of late modernism and its development with Hans Blumenberg. VS, Wiesbaden 2012.
  • Andreas Klein: Between the concept of limit and absolute metaphor: Hans Blumenberg's absolutism of reality. Ergon, Würzburg 2017.
  • Rebekka A. Klein (Ed.): At a distance from nature. Philosophical and theological perspectives in Hans Blumenberg's anthropology. Königshausen & Neumann, Würzburg 2009, ISBN 978-3-8260-4143-3 .
  • Herbert Kopp-Oberstebrink, Martin Treml (eds.): Hans Blumenberg / Jacob Taubes. Correspondence 1961–1981 and other materials. Suhrkamp, ​​Berlin 2013, ISBN 978-3-518-58591-7 .
  • Dorit Krusche: "The evening star does not sparkle" (for the magazine "Erdball und Weltall" published by Hans Blumenberg), in: Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung of July 8, 2020, No. 156, page N3.
  • Marcel Lepper , Alexander Schmitz: Hans Blumenberg, Carl Schmitt. Correspondence 1971–1978 and other materials. Suhrkamp, ​​Frankfurt am Main 2007, ISBN 978-3-518-58482-8 .
  • Ahlrich Meyer : Hans Blumenberg or: The art of staying out. In: Thomas Jung, Stefan Müller-Doohm (Ed.): Flying fish. A sociology of the intellectual. Fischer, Frankfurt 2008, ISBN 978-3-596-18146-9 , pp. 337-362.
  • Oliver Müller: Worry about reason. Hans Blumenberg's phenomenological anthropology. Mentis, Paderborn 2005, ISBN 3-89785-432-5 .
  • Angus Nicholls: Myth and the Human Sciences: Hans Blumenberg's Theory of Myth. Routledge, New York 2014, ISBN 978-0-415-88549-2 .
  • Philipp Stoellger: Metaphor and lifeworld. Hans Blumenberg's metaphorology as lifeworld hermeneutics and its religious-phenomenological horizon. Mohr Siebeck, Tübingen 2000, ISBN 3-16-147302-7 .
  • Denis Trierweiler (Ed.): Hans Blumenberg, anthropologie philosophique. Presses Universitaires de France, Paris 2010, ISBN 978-2-13-057074-5 .
  • Philipp Vanscheidt: History in Metaphors. Weidler, Berlin 2009, ISBN 978-3-89693-535-9 .
  • Jose Luis Villacañas (Ed.): Blumenberg: la apuesta por una Ilustración tardía. In: Anthropos 239, 2013.
  • Franz Josef Wetz : Hans Blumenberg for an introduction. 5th edition. Junius, Hamburg 2020, ISBN 978-3-88506-684-2 .
  • Franz Josef Wetz, Hermann Timm (ed.): The art of survival. Thinking about Hans Blumenberg. Suhrkamp, ​​Frankfurt 1999, ISBN 3-518-29022-3 (with bibliography).
  • Uwe Wolff: "The man whom everyone beats, you won’t beat him" - Hans Blumenberg’s Catholic roots. In: Communio . Vol. 43 (2014), H. 3, pp. 182-198.
  • Uwe Wolff: The philosopher's desk. Memories of Hans Blumenberg. Claudius, Munich 2020, ISBN 978-3-532-62850-8
  • Nicola Zambon: The afterglow of the stars. Constellations of Modernism by Hans Blumenberg (= transitions 71), Wilhelm Fink, Paderborn 2017, ISBN 978-3-770-55946-6 .
  • Martin Zerrath: Perfection and Modern Times. Transformation of eschatology in Blumenberg and Hirsch (= Marburg Theological Studies ). Evangelische Verlagsanstalt, Leipzig 2011, ISBN 978-3-374-02814-6 .
  • Rüdiger Zill : The absolute reader. Hans Blumenberg. An intellectual biography. Suhrkamp, ​​Berlin 2020, ISBN 978-3-518-58752-2 .

Film / television

  • 2018: Hans Blumenberg - the invisible philosopher. Documentation, 102 min., A film by Christoph Rüter , production: Tag / Traum Filmproduktion, premiere: 60th Nordic Film Days Lübeck

Web links

Wikiquote: Hans Blumenberg  - Quotes

Individual evidence

  1. ^ Dorothea Haunhorst: The death cellar in the Episcopal Gymnasium Josephinum. Hildesheim Calendar 2012, pp. 83–93.
  2. ↑ Information and data on the biography can be found in Angus Nicholls: Myth and the Human Sciences: Hans Blumenberg's Theory of Myth . Routledge, New York 2014, pp. 11f.
  3. ↑ Cf. Dahlke, Benjamin / Laarmann, Matthias: Hans Blumenbergs Studienjahre. Spotlights on places, institutions and people. In: Theologie und Glaube 107 (2017), pp. 338–353, there 339–343.
  4. ↑ See the article of the Katharineum on Hans Blumenberg and Hans Blumenberg: An Georg Rosenthal remembering . In: Katharineum zu Lübeck. Festschrift for the 450th anniversary . Edited by the Association of Friends of the Katharineum, Lübeck 1981, pp. 55–57.
  5. ↑ Cf. Benjamin Dahlke / Matthias Laarmann: Hans Blumenbergs Studienjahre. Spotlights on places, institutions and people. In: Theologie und Glaube 107 (2017), pp. 338–353, there 343–346.
  6. ↑ Cf. Dahlke, Benjamin / Laarmann, Matthias: Hans Blumenbergs Studienjahre. Spotlights on places, institutions and people. In: Theologie und Glaube 107 (2017), pp. 338–353, there 346–350.
  7. ^ Walter Kropp: Obituary for Hans Blumenberg . In: Upward. Journal of the St. Georgen seminary. AStA news. Edition 1st summer semester 1997. pp. 5–8.
  8. ↑ See Blumenberg's genealogical family tree and obituary notice .
  9. ↑ Who is who? The German Who's Who (formerly Degeners Wer ist's?). Federal Republic of Germany , Volume 29, Schmidt-Römhild, Lübeck 1990, p. 117.
  10. ↑ Cf. Dahlke, Benjamin / Laarmann, Matthias: Hans Blumenbergs Studienjahre. Spotlights on places, institutions and people. In: Theologie und Glaube 107 (2017), pp. 324–339, there 351–353.
  11. ↑ Cf. Dahlke, Benjamin / Laarmann, Matthias: Hans Blumenbergs Studienjahre. Spotlights on places, institutions and people. In: Theologie und Glaube 107 (2017), pp. 338–353, there 352.
  12. ↑ On the death of the philosopher Hans Blumenberg. Report dated April 12, 1996
  13. ^ Jacob Taubes : To the conjuncture of polytheism. In: Karl Heinz Bohrer (ed.): Myth and Modernity. Suhrkamp, ​​Frankfurt / M. 1983, pp. 457-471.
  14. ↑ For example in the treatise by Markus Hundeck: Welt und Zeit. Hans Blumenberg's philosophy between creation and redemption theory. Echter Verlag, Würzburg 2000 (= Bonner dogmatic studies, 32nd)
  15. ↑ Philosophy and Fiction. In: full text. Retrieved August 18, 2020 .
  16. ↑ Richard Rorty: Against belatedness . (Review by: Hans Blumenberg, The Legitimacy of the Modern Age , translated by Robert Wallace, MIT Press, 1983.) In: London Review of Books. Vol. 5, No. 11, 16 June 1983, pp. 3-5.
  17. ↑ Cf. the critical review of the novel by the philosopher Birgit Recki: "Blumenberg" or Die Chance der Literatur . In: Mercury. German Journal for European Thinking, Volume 66, No. 755, April 2012, pp. 322–328.
  18. ^ Table of contents , christoph-rueter-filmproduktion.de, accessed May 30, 2010
personal data
SURNAME Blumenberg, Hans
BRIEF DESCRIPTION German philosopher
DATE OF BIRTH July 13, 1920
PLACE OF BIRTH Lübeck
DATE OF DEATH March 28, 1996
Place of death Altenberge near Münster (Westphalia)