Structural ontology

Structural ontology is a form of ontology that was developed by the German philosopher Heinrich Rombach . With her, Rombach follows on from Martin Heidegger's fundamental ontology , which he tries to expand to include everything real.

particularities

In contrast to Heidegger, who distinguished different modes of being in being and time (such as that of human existence from that of things), Rombach tries to develop a step model of reality. Different ontological levels differ in the different structures on which they are based. In addition, these structures are not thought of as rigid, but rather with their own movement. Therefore, according to Rombach, it is better to speak of self-structuring instead of being . By overcoming the dualism of nature and spirit, structural ontology also makes a contribution to the question of free will .

Rombach also tries to understand self-structuring as “concreativity”. Concreativity is supposed to express that the life achievement is neither provided by the subject, the person or the existence, but takes place in orientation to the found reality. Just as in art the work of art results from the interplay of artist and work, becoming must also be understood as such an interplay. It is only the results of this becoming that are then subsequently and incorrectly understood as substance. With this, Rombach tries to go back behind Heidegger's fundamental ontological approach and to place the ontology on an even deeper foundation.

history

With “Substance, System, Structure” , Rombach has provided a history of philosophy that traces the predecessors and origins of structural ontology. While antiquity was shaped by substance-based thinking, the concept of system emerges in modern times. It was only with Nietzsche and Heidegger that this was then replaced by the concept of structure, and this upheaval has continued into our days. Rombach traces the traces of structural thinking back to Nikolaus Cusanus and German mysticism .

The "structural theology" announced by Rombach was no longer published by himself.

literature

• Substance system structure: The ontology of functionalism and the philosophical background of modern science , 2 vols., Freiburg / Munich: Alber 1965/66, ²1981. Study edition 2010 with the subtitle The Main Epochs of European Intellectual History , Volume 1: ISBN 978-3-495-48390-9 , Volume 2: ISBN 978-3-495-48391-6
• Structural ontology: A phenomenology of freedom , Freiburg / Munich: Alber 1971, ²1988 ISBN 3-495-47637-7
• Structural anthropology: "Der Mensch Mensch" , Freiburg / Munich: Alber 1987, ²1993 ISBN 3-495-47604-0
• The world as a living structure: Problems and solutions in structural ontology , Freiburg 2003

Web links

• "Attempt at self-expression" by Heinrich Rombach
• Georg Stenger on the life and scientific complete works of Heinrich Rombach

Individual evidence

1. ↑ See Georg Stenger's presentation  ( page no longer available , search in web archives )  Info: The link was automatically marked as defective. Please check the link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. for comparison with the artistic creation process.  
2. ↑ See Thomas Franz in BBKL, Volume XXV (2005), columns 1185–1192 ( Memento from June 29, 2007 in the Internet Archive ).