Thomas Collmer

Thomas Collmer (born August 11, 1956 in Friedrichshafen ) is a German philosopher , literary scholar and writer . He lives in Ahrensburg .

Life

Thomas Collmer studied philosophy , sociology and classical philology (Latin) at the University of Hamburg (among others with Ulrich Steinvorth and Herbert Schnädelbach ). In 1991 he received his doctorate in philosophy with his work Current Perspectives of an Immanent Hegel Criticism. In his philosophical-scientific work, Collmer pursues the goal of a critical further development of dialectical theory and method. He tries to integrate elements of a Hegel reading “with Hegel against Hegel”, an open, plural Marxism and critical theory as well as post-structuralism and systems theory . The basic idea of ​​his three Hegel books is to convert dialectics to the principle of 'negativity' and thus to construct it 'openly' while criticizing the Hegelian conceptual logic with the essential logic.

Another focus of work is US literature . This is how studies arose on Edgar Allan Poe , William S. Burroughs and Jim Morrison . Collmer understands these literary studies as applications and components of his dialectic concept. He sometimes writes novels, short stories, and poetry. He is co-editor of Rollercoaster, a small magazine founded in 1998 for philosophy (especially dialectics), sociology, literature and art. Collmer was a lecturer in philosophy at the University of Hamburg in 1994, 1995 and 1997 and later worked for the 'Freie Uni' educational project of the Hamburg Local Economy Working Group. From 2016 to 2019 he dealt with Buddhism.

Works

• What the Dschuang Tse's butterfly dream indicates. Attempt to approach from the western point of view. Dokan Press, Hamburg 1988
• Current perspectives of an immanent Hegel criticism. Negative totalization as a principle of open dialectics. Focus-Verlag, Giessen 1992, ISBN 3-88349-398-8
• Arrows against the sun. The poet Jim Morrison and his role models. Maro-Verlag, Augsburg 1994, ISBN 3-87512-148-1 ; revised, updated & expanded new edition ibid. 1997, ISBN 3-87512-149-X ; 2. (...) New edition ibid. 2002 ISBN 3-87512-149-X ; 3. Revised edition with a long afterword in 2 volumes, ibid. 2009, ISBN 978-3-87512-154-4
• Poe or the horror of language. Maro-Verlag, Augsburg 1999, ISBN 3-87512-151-1
• Ring without a center (prose & poetry). Self-published, Hamburg 1999, ISBN 3-00-004517-1
• Hegel's dialectic of negativity. Investigations for a self-critical theory of dialectics: “self” as “absolute” form expression, identity criticism, negation theory, signs and “being-in-itself”. Focus-Verlag, Giessen 2002, ISBN 3-88349-501-8 .
• Cut-up and Dialectics - A Lecture. Stadtlichter Presse, Wenzendorf 2009, ISBN 978-3-936271-48-5
• The moon dweller - a short novel. Stadtlichter Presse, Wenzendorf 2010, ISBN 978-3-936271-50-8
• William S. Burroughs, Exorcist of the Word. Stadtlichter Presse, Wenzendorf 2011, ISBN 978-3-936271-53-9
• Hegel and Gödel. Stadtlichter Presse, Wenzendorf 2011, ISBN 978-3-936271-54-6
• Friedhofsruhe - Experimental novel. Stadtlichter Presse, Wenzendorf 2011, ISBN 978-3-936271-57-7
• Negativity in Hegel and Schopenhauer - Three essays. Stadtlichter Presse, Wenzendorf 2011, ISBN 978-3-936271-60-7
• Nietzsche's experimental philosophy. Stadtlichter Presse, Wenzendorf 2012, ISBN 978-3-936271-64-5
• Fragments of an open dialectic: essays on Hegel, Marx, Adorno, Luhmann, Lacan, Deleuze, Derrida and others. Stadtlichter Presse, Wenzendorf 2013, ISBN 978-3-936271-66-9
• “Before the whole shit house goes up in flames.” Two contributions to Jim Morrison, Stadtlichter Presse, Wenzendorf 2013, ISBN 978-3-936271-72-0
• Fragments of an Open Dialectic II: Essays on Descartes, Hegel, Nietzsche, Kafka, Marcuse, Deleuze & Guattari and others. Publishing house Thomas Collmer, Ahrensburg 2016
• The emptiness - experimental novel. Publishing house Thomas Collmer, Ahrensburg 2019

Publications

• "It hurts to set you free": Jim Morrison's rock psychodrama "The End" as ritual failure. In: Erhard Dahl & Carsten Dürkob (eds.): Rock-Lyrik. Exemplary analyzes of English-language song texts. Verlag Die Blaue Eule, Essen 1989, ISBN 3-89206-294-3 , pp. 156-187.
• Structural Laws of Capitalism Today. In: Marxist sheets . No. 5/1991, October 1991, pp. 73-78.
• The “false whole” and the totalization of the form of value . On the topicality of Adorno and Sohn-Rethel. In: Z. Zeitschrift Marxistische Renewal . No. 10, June 1992, pp. 138-154.
• Nature and dialectics. in: Marxist sheets. No. 1/1994, February 1994, pp. 49-63.
• Hegel on the dialectic of self-determination and external determination. Reflection as an objective structure: a core part of dialectical methodology. In: Z. Zeitschrift Marxistische Renewal. No. 27, September 1996, pp. 45-57 (Part I); and No. 28, December 1996, pp. 141-153 (Part II).
• The dream machine as a challenge to dialectics. A new reading by Deleuze & Guattari, “Anti-Oedipus. Capitalism and Schizophrenia I ”. In: Z. Zeitschrift Marxistische Renewal. No. 35, September 1998, pp. 199-212 (Part I); No. 36, December 1998, pp. 145-161 (Part II).
• Plural forms of refusal against external determination of needs. An attempt to update to Herbert Marcuse. In: ROLLERCOASTER # 2, January 1999, pp. 8-67.
• Post underground. Where do you get out of the dead zone? In: ROLLERCOASTER # 3, December 2000; abbreviated in Florian Vetsch (ed.): Ploog Tanker. Texts by & about Jürgen Ploog . Rohstoff-Verlag, Herdecke 2004, ISBN 3-935346-23-9 , pp. 358-373.
• Hegel's concept of negativity. In: Z. Zeitschrift Marxistische Renewal. No. 65, March 2006, pp. 174-184 (Part I); No. 66, June 2006, pp. 144-151 (Part II).
• The unbearable chatter of the orderly power. A conversation about Edgar Allan Poe. In: The bridge. No. 150, January / February / March 2009, pp. 66-70.
• Identity and self-organization in "The Dead Ship" and " The Cotton Pickers ". In: Mathias Brandstädter & Matthias Schönberg (Eds.): New 'BT-Mitteilungen'. Studies on B. Traven. Kramer, Berlin 2009, ISBN 978-3-87956-333-3 , pp. 186-237.
• How the third volume of Marx's “Das Kapital” can help us to better understand the global financial and economic crisis of 2008/09. In: ROLLERCOASTER # 5, July 2009, pp. 3–29.
• The brain as a model of the self. On Jürgen Ploog's novel / anti-novel 'Undercover', in: ROLLERCOASTER # 6: Jürgen Ploog Special, November 2009, pp. 80–90.
• Hidden meaning and mystification. On Jürgen Ploog's essay 'Simulative Writing', in: ROLLERCOASTER # 6: Jürgen Ploog Special, November 2009, pp. 94-109.
• Thoughts on the subject of truth , in: DIE BRÜCKE No. 155, Sept. - Dec. 2010, pp. 27–55.
• Sociological system theory and dialectics, in: ROLLERCOASTER # 7: December 2010, pp. 67–77.
• What can we learn from Luhmann's system theory regarding man-made climate problems ?, in: ROLLERCOASTER # 7: December 2010, pp. 67–77.
• Environmental aspects with William Burroughs. In: Die Brücke , No. 159, January - April 2012, pp. 62–64.
• Can Jim Morrison's death now be regarded as finally cleared up? A contribution to the discussion on Heinz Gerstenmeyer, "The mysterious death of Jim Morrison" , in: DIE BRÜCKE No. 160, May - August 2012, pp. 54–63.
• An addition to the subject of 'Hegel's concept of negativity': The strict antinomy as the core of Hegel's negation of negation. In: ROLLERCOASTER # 10, May 2017, pp. 31–53.
• The Brahmanic-Hindu Atman doctrine and the Buddhist rejection of an I or self against the background of narcissistic theoretical and critical considerations. In: ROLLERCOASTER # 10, May 2017, pp. 54–81.
• Negative dialectic in Buddhism. Notes on Nagarjuna. The philosophy of the void. In: ROLLERCOASTER # 10, May 2017, pp. 82–91.

Web links

• Literature by and about Thomas Collmer in the catalog of the German National Library
• http://www.thomascollmer.de