Rigorism of Truth

Hans Blumenberg, Paul Kroll Joe

Description

In "Moses the Egyptian"-the centerpiece of Rigorism of Truth, the German philosopher Hans Blumenberg addresses two defining figures in the intellectual history of the twentieth century: Sigmund Freud and Hannah Arendt. Unpublished during his lifetime, this essay analyzes Freud's Moses and Monotheism (1939) and Arendt's Eichmann in Jerusalem (1963), and discovers in both a principled rigidity that turns into recklessness because it is blind to the politics of the unknown.Offering striking insights into the importance of myth in politics and the extent to which truth can be tolerated in adversity, the essay also provides one of the few instances where Blumenberg reveals his thinking about Judaism and Zionism. Rigorism of Truth also includes commentaries by Ahlrich Meyer that give a fuller understanding of the philosopher's engagement with Freud, Arendt, and the Eichmann trial, as well as situating these reflections in the broader context of Blumenberg's life and thought.

Sujets

• Philosophie et théologie
• History of Europe

Informations

• Publié par: Cornell University Press
• Date de parution: 15 février 2018
• Nombre de lectures: 0
• EAN13: 9781501714788
• Langue: English
• Poids de l'ouvrage: 2 Mo

Extrait

RigorismofTruth

Series editor: Peter Uwe Hohendahl, Cornell University

Signale|TRANSFERprovides a unique channel for the transmission of critical Germanlanguage texts, newly translated into English, through to current debates on theory, philosophy, and social and cultural criticism. Signale|TRANSFERis a component of the seriesSignale: Modern German Letters, Cultures, and Thought,which publishes books in literary studies, cultural criticism, and intellectual history.Signalebooks are published under the joint imprint of Cornell University Press and Cornell University Library. Please see http://signale.cornell.edu/.

RigorismofTruth

“Moses the Egyptian” and Other Writings on Freud and Arendt

HansBlumenberg

Edited,withcommentaryandan afterword, by Ahlrich Meyer TranslatedbyJoePaulKroll

A Signale Book

Cornell University Press and Cornell University Library Ithaca and London

CornellUniversityPressandCornellUniversityLibrarygratefully acknowledge the College of Arts & Sciences, Cornell University, for support of the Signale series.

Original Germanlanguage edition,Der Rigorismus der Wahrheit: “Moses der Ägypter” und weitere Texte zu Freud und Arendtvon Hans Blumenberg; herausgegeben, kommentiert und mit einem Nachwort von Ahlrich Meyer

Copyright©SuhrkampVerlagBerlin2015

AllrightsreservedbyandcontrolledthroughSuhrkampVerlagBerlin.

Allrightsreserved.Exceptforbriefquotationsinareview,thisbook,or parts thereof, must not be reproduced in any form without permission in writing from the publisher. For information, address Cornell University Press, Sage House, 512 East State Street, Ithaca, New York 14850.

Firstpublished2018byCornellUniversityPressand Cornell University Library

PrintedintheUnitedStatesofAmerica

LibraryofCongressCataloginginPublicationData

Names: Blumenberg, Hans, author. | Meyer, Ahlrich, 1941– editor, writer of commentary, writer of afterword. | Kroll, Joe Paul, 1979– translator. Title: Rigorism of truth : “Moses the Egyptian” and other writings on Freud and Arendt / Hans Blumenberg ; edited, with commentary and an afterword, by Ahlrich Meyer ; translated by Joe Paul Kroll. Other titles: Rigorismus der Wahrheit. English Description: Ithaca : Cornell University Press : Cornell University Library, 2017. | Series: Signale|transfer : German thought in translation | “A Signale book.” | Includes bibliographical references. Identifiers: LCCN 2017051823 (print) | LCCN 2017052395 (ebook) | ISBN 9781501714788 (pdf) | ISBN 9781501714696 (epub/mobi) | ISBN 9781501704819 | ISBN 9781501704819 (cloth ; alk. paper) | ISBN 9781501716720 (pbk. ; alk. paper) Subjects: LCSH: Moses (Biblical leader) | Freud, Sigmund, 1856–1939. Mann Moses und die monotheistische Religion. | Arendt, Hannah, 1906–1975. Eichmann in Jerusalem. Classification: LCC B3209.B833 (ebook) | LCC B3209.B833 R5413 2017 (print) | DDC 193—dc23 LC record available at https://lccn.loc.gov/2017051823

I. Moses the Egyptian

Editor’sNotes

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II.ExcerptsandPreliminaryStudies

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OnSigmundFreud,Moses and Monotheism OnHannahArendt,Eichmann in Jerusalem

III. Thematically Related Texts from the Nachlass

Editor’s Afterword

EditorialNoteandAcknowledgments Translator’sNote Illustration Credits AbouttheAuthors

1 12 29 29 41 57

71 94 96 98 99

Rigorism of Truth

I

1 Moses the Egyptian

2 Moses,theEgyptianofpharaonicblood,was invented by Sig mund Freud as a blow to his people, just as he had long before, in succession to the blows delivered by Copernicus and Darwin, 3 delivered a blow to humanity with the unconscious.He was one of those people who trust that the truth can achieve anything, even 4 freedom, and thus from their love of truthfeel entitled to expect everything of themselves and of others. The year 1939 did not seem 5 to him to be the absolutely wrong momentto take from the beaten and humiliated [Jews] the man who, in the beginning, had founded 6 their trust in history.Freud had a low opinion of that history’s doc 7 8 uments;to him, they were screen memoriesdevised to cover up the murderous outcome of a great deed, concealing the murder of 9 Mosesin the desert and with it the failure of the most tremendous sublimation: the rising of the people from the mist of their libidi nous state in Egypt to the lawfulness and purity of their fortyyear 10 11 education in the desert.To Stefan Zweig,Freud seems to have