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291 © 2017 by University of Hawai‘i Press lects (pp. 247–248) seems like pushing at an open door. Not only does Fingarette never see his view as excluding others, but his suggestion is very much in a Wittgensteinian line, never referring... more
291 © 2017 by University of Hawai‘i Press lects (pp. 247–248) seems like pushing at an open door. Not only does Fingarette never see his view as excluding others, but his suggestion is very much in a Wittgensteinian line, never referring to a “theory” of ritual. However, since the publication in 1972 of Fingarette’s Confucius: The Secular as Sacred, much scholarship has been produced, including a completely different theory of ritual offered in 2008 by Seligman, Weller, Puett, and Simon, in Ritual and Its Consequences: An Essay on the Limits of Sincerity (Oxford University Press), showing how ritual defines the theoretical boundaries of imagined worlds. Dealing with their suggestion is therefore indispensable in the context of wishing to refute a theory of ritual in the Analects. Finally, in the context of his attack on Confucian theory, Peterman refers to Zhu Xi’s metaphysical views (pp. 182–184). Yet, is it clear that Zhu Xi offers metaphysical grounding to Confucianism? Certainly one should agree that Confucianism is not about metaphysics, and that Zhu Xi, living in the Song, applies some metaphysical terminology in a time-honored manner as appropriate to his own language game. Yet perhaps it can be seen as an attempt at showing that, even in the new terminology, Confucian morality still holds, and at the end of the day li (rites)-following is as solid as heavenly pattern (tianli 天理), since even “the Great Ultimate is a name to express all the virtues and the highest good in Heaven and Earth, man and things” (Yulei 11.118). While discussion will go on, Peterman’s book is a wonderful call to rethink, reflect, argue, sometimes disagree, and keep on searching. This is vital for every good philosophy according to the ways of both Confucius and Wittgenstein.
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Classical Chinese philosophy, and Daoism in particular, has emphasized the importance of rhythm for performing actions well. Drawing on this insight, the paper argues that rhythm is an essential element of nourishing life. A focus on the... more
Classical Chinese philosophy, and Daoism in particular, has emphasized the importance of rhythm for performing actions well. Drawing on this insight, the paper argues that rhythm is an essential element of nourishing life. A focus on the relationship between rhythm, action, and life becomes necessary in societies that are experiencing a crisis of temporal relationships. Modern agents are pressured to adapt to accelerating speeds that are increasingly experienced as undermining the conditions necessary for human flourishing. A critical theory of temporal relationships is committed to (1) revealing and explaining the increase of rhythmic pathologies and to (2) recovering “eurhythms” that enable exemplary action and human flourishing.
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Nothingness has become a prominent research topic in recent intercultural philosophy. An Eastern concern for nothingness is frequently juxtaposed to a Western philosophy of being. Rather than adopting a contrastive approach, this chapter... more
Nothingness has become a prominent research topic in recent intercultural philosophy. An Eastern concern for nothingness is frequently juxtaposed to a Western philosophy of being. Rather than adopting a contrastive approach, this chapter proposes a critical conception of nothingness in a twofold sense. First, nothingness is related to human experience and action. Secondly, a transcultural conception of nothingness highlights the incongruity between distinctive domains of human experience between and within cultures. Departing from Roland Barthes’ aesthetic approach to nothingness in terms of “the neutral,” the chapter argues for a practice of inter-cultural philosophy that reveals the in-between spaces, the interstices, and voids in modern societies.
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Research Interests: Philosophy and Gnosis
„Am gleichen Ufer gespielt zu haben, natürlich hat es etwas Verbindendes; es für Wesensverwandtschaft anzusehen, wäre ein Irrtum, der uns früher oder später, indem wir ihn nur als Enttäuschung und nicht als Irrtum erkennen, ungerecht... more
„Am gleichen Ufer gespielt zu haben, natürlich hat es etwas Verbindendes; es für Wesensverwandtschaft anzusehen, wäre ein Irrtum, der uns früher oder später, indem wir ihn nur als Enttäuschung und nicht als Irrtum erkennen, ungerecht macht.“ In diesem Satz drückt der mit seiner schweizerischen Identität hadernde Max Frisch die normative Ambivalenz von kulturellen Identitätszuschreibungen aus. Ursula Renz stellt das Zitat als Epigraph ihrem Buch voran. Die Berufung auf geteilte Erfahrungen – das gemeinsame Spiel am gleichen Ufer – kann sowohl verbinden als auch zur Ungerechtigkeit führen. Letzteres geschieht dann, wenn Zugezogenen, die nicht am gleichen Ufer gespielt haben, geteilte Erfahrungen und die damit einhergehende „Wesensverwandtschaft“ abgesprochen werden. Das dadurch ausgelöste Gefühl, entweder nicht oder nicht wirklich Teil einer Gemeinschaft zu sein oder werden zu können, schmerzt. Dies tut es insbesondere dann, wenn die Ausgeschlossenen in dieser Gemeinschaft leben und von den dort getroffenen Entscheidungen abhängig sind. Renz stellt sich die Frage nach der Bedeutung kultureller Identität aus einer kritischen Perspektive. Die als „akademische Gastarbeiterin“ (14) an der Universität Klagenfurt lehrende Schweizerin untersucht die Mechanismen, die das „Kränkungspotenzial von Identitätszuschreibungen“ (19) hervorrufen. Auf etwas mehr als 100 Seiten ergründet Renz, „warum wir so verletzlich sind, wenn es um unsere Identität geht“ (18). Zentral für ihren Ansatz ist die Unterscheidung der Identität von Dingen und Personen. Im Unterschied zu Äpfeln und Bananen, die bevorzugten Beispiele der Autorin, können Personen mit anderen Personen in Gespräche eintreten und sie damit als Wesen wahrneh-
Jaspers and Bloch, who were acquaintances in Heidelberg, both elaborate a future-oriented philosophy. By establishing a dialogue between Jaspers' philosophy of transcendence and Bloch's philosophy of utopia it is possible to... more
Jaspers and Bloch, who were acquaintances in Heidelberg, both elaborate a future-oriented philosophy. By establishing a dialogue between Jaspers' philosophy of transcendence and Bloch's philosophy of utopia it is possible to better understand the relationship between existentialism and Western Marxism. After reconstructing the notion of "limit situations" in Psychology of World Views, the focus is on Bloch's critique of, and alternative to, Jaspers' idea of transcendence. Finally, a comparative analysis that preserves the respective strengths and insights of existentialism and utopian Marxism is called for. In 1917, two year before the publication of Jaspers' path-breaking Psychology of World Views, Ernst Bloch develops in his Spirit of Utopia an existentialist form of Western Marxism. Bloch, the philosopher of utopia, aims to rescue emancipatory potentials. These potentials are always in danger of being exhausted and corrupted under conditions of moder...
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Classical Chinese philosophy, and Daoism in particular, has emphasized the importance of rhythm for performing actions well. Drawing on this insight, the paper argues that rhythm is an essential element of nourishing life. A focus on the... more
Classical Chinese philosophy, and Daoism in particular, has emphasized the importance of rhythm for performing actions well. Drawing on this insight, the paper argues that rhythm is an essential element of nourishing life. A focus on the relationship between rhythm, action, and life becomes necessary in societies that are experiencing a crisis of temporal relationships. Modern agents are pressured to adapt to accelerating speeds that are increasingly experienced as undermining the conditions necessary for human flourishing. A critical theory of temporal relationships is committed to (1) revealing and explaining the increase of rhythmic pathologies and to (2) recovering “eurhythms” that enable exemplary action and human flourishing.
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... which were originally presented at a conference dedicated to the topic, ranges from reflections on general problems inherent in philosophical biography to investigations ... Going back to thecritique of the reductivist by the ...... more
... which were originally presented at a conference dedicated to the topic, ranges from reflections on general problems inherent in philosophical biography to investigations ... Going back to thecritique of the reductivist by the ... Existential Irrationalism (Engelmann, Drury) stresses the ...
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Emotions are popular again.1 However, while there have been discussions of emotions ranging from humiliation, guilt, and anxiety to love or sympathy, rage has received only marginal attention. This is rather surprising, given that rage is... more
Emotions are popular again.1 However, while there have been discussions of emotions ranging from humiliation, guilt, and anxiety to love or sympathy, rage has received only marginal attention. This is rather surprising, given that rage is one of the most apparent ...
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El artículo se centra en el imaginario europeo sobre China durante la Edad Moderna temprana y su contribución al pensamiento ilustrado. Parto recordando la precaria condición del misionero jesuita en cuanto “medio complejo” de intercambio... more
El artículo se centra en el imaginario europeo sobre China durante la Edad Moderna temprana y su contribución al pensamiento ilustrado. Parto recordando la precaria condición del misionero jesuita en cuanto “medio complejo” de intercambio intercultural. Luego abordo la misión jesuita desde la perspectiva de la filosofía de los medios de comunicación e investigo la forma específica de subjetividad que fomentó. Finalmente, analizo las disputas intestinas de la Iglesia Católica y el protagonismo del misionero Domingo Navarrete, quien contribuyó al desarrollo de un discurso misionero ilustrado y crítico, el cual culminó en una política de tolerancia y en el surgimiento del secularismo europeo.
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A translation, by Mario Wenning, of Über das Kartenspiel [On Card Games] (1798) by Georg Friedrich Wilhelm Hegel.
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Reorienting the Political examines the reception of Carl Schmitt and Leo Strauss in the Chinese-speaking world. The legacies of both Schmitt, the German legal theorist and thinker who joined the Nazi party, and Strauss, the German-Jewish... more
Reorienting the Political examines the reception of Carl Schmitt and Leo Strauss in the Chinese-speaking world. The legacies of both Schmitt, the German legal theorist and thinker who joined the Nazi party, and Strauss, the German-Jewish classicist and political philosopher who became famous after his emigration to the United States, are highly controversial. Since the 1990s, however, these thinkers have had a powerful resonance for Chinese scholars. Today, when Chinese intellectuals debate the Chinese state, the future role of China in the world, the liberal international order, and even the meaning of Confucian civilization, they often employ Schmittian and Straussian concepts like “the political,” “friend-enemy,” “state of exception,” “liberal education,” and “natural right.” The very possibility of a genuine Chinese political theory is often thought to be tied to the legacy of these two thinkers. This volume explores this complex phenomenon from a cross-cultural and inter-disciplinary perspective. The twelve essays in this volume are written from a range of perspectives by philosophers, political theorists, historians, and legal scholars from China, Germany, Taiwan, and the United States.
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Philosophical mysticism is often understood as involving an irrational union with a transcendent reality. This paper challenges this assumption by examining the universal and rational potentials of mysticism. Drawing on Ernst Tugendhat’s... more
Philosophical mysticism is often understood as involving an irrational union with a transcendent reality. This paper challenges this assumption by examining the universal and rational potentials of mysticism. Drawing on Ernst Tugendhat’s interpretation of mysticism as an overcoming of egocentricity and a pursuit of peace of mind, it focuses on philosophical Daoism as a distinctive form of mysticism that emphasizes the rationality of stepping back from one’s excessive volitional attachments in light of the validity of other perspectives. Mysticism, thus conceived, has a distinctive potential that does not depend on religious revelation or ineffable experience. Its genuine appeal consists in stepping back from oneself and one’s desires, even including the pursuit of peace of mind.
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The gambler’s probing of luck in games of chance cannot be reduced to rational calculation. The art of gambling flourishes at the margins of societies and undermines the correlation of effort and entitlement. This paper interprets the... more
The gambler’s probing of luck in games of chance cannot be reduced to rational calculation. The art of gambling flourishes at the margins of societies and undermines the correlation of effort and entitlement. This paper interprets the peculiar thrill of gambling in modern times by drawing on social systems theory and critical theory. It argues that gambling is a specific mode of agency that consists in a playful engagement with risk and contingency. The gambler reveals a highly aroused and yet passive consciousness. Success in gambling depends on the art of proper timing as well as a preconscious awareness of fortune.
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The utopian imagination is ambivalent in that it both escapes from, while also critically engaging with contemporary societies and forms of living. This paper calls to mind the dignity of utopian longing as well as common objections... more
The utopian imagination is ambivalent in that it both escapes from, while also critically engaging with contemporary societies and forms of living. This paper calls to mind the dignity of utopian longing as well as common objections against political interpretations of utopia. Philosophical utopias, it is argued, make deliberative use of the imagination by sharpening a sense of possibility and providing reasons for (or against) utopian thought-images. On this account, utopias draw on irony and satire as constructive modes of imagining unrealized potentials and exposing what falls short of these potentials. Thus conceived, the utopian imagination is not the enemy, but an essential aid of practical reason.
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Utopisches Denken beruht auf der Annahme, dass es der Gesellschaft und den in ihr lebenden Individuen wesentlich besser gehen könnte und sollte. Im Gegensatz zu literarischen Utopien wie etwa der von Thomas Morus beschriebenen, geht es... more
Utopisches Denken beruht auf der Annahme, dass es der Gesellschaft und den in ihr lebenden Individuen wesentlich besser gehen könnte und sollte. Im Gegensatz zu literarischen Utopien wie etwa der von Thomas Morus beschriebenen, geht es beim utopischen Philosophieren nicht um die Konstruktion eines imaginierten Schlaraffenlandes, in dem alle Bewohner wunschlos glücklich sind. In der philosophischen Imagination einer wesentlich besseren Gesellschaft ist es seit Platon das Ziel, den Möglichkeitssinn im Hinblick auf die Gerechtigkeit und das gute Leben zu schärfen. Martin Seel definiert Utopien daher als „in Raum und Zeit unerreichbare Zustände, deren Erreichbarkeit dennoch gedacht werden kann und gedacht werden soll.“ Während sich das utopische Denken imWesten, wennman diesen verkürzenden Terminus noch verwenden möchte, nach dem kalten Krieg erschöpft hat und allenfalls in Form einer selbstwidersprüchlich als realistisch bezeichneten Utopie fortlebt, spielt es in der chinesischen Gegenwartsphilosophie eine bedeutende Rolle. Die politische Philosophie in konfuzianisch geprägten Kulturen ist durch die Suche nach Formen gelingender Gesellschaftsordnungen geprägt, die in Raum und Zeit unerreichbar sind und doch als erreichbar gedacht werden sollen. Philosophen wie Jiang Qing und Jiwei Ci, mit deren utopischen Entwürfen sich dieser Aufsatz befasst, denken über radikal andere – und in einem emphatischen Sinne bessere – Gesellschaftsordnungen nach. Diesem utopischen Denken liegt die Überzeugung zu Grunde, dass die real existierende Gesellschaft von zunehmenden Krisentendenzen geplagt ist. In China wird zunehmend von einer Leere des Geistes (jingshen weiji) und einer Glaubensarmut (xinyang weiji) gesprochen. Das utopische Denken versucht, einen Weg aus diesen Krisen zu finden. Während das Nachund Vordenken über optimale Gesellschaften im euroamerikanischen Kulturkreis nahezu ausgestorben ist oder allenfalls in Form von real existierenden Utopien überlebt, genießt es in der politischen Philosophie
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There are good reasons to expect that modern societies, East and West, will continue to be shaped by an increase of religious, spiritual and secular worldviews, practices and forms of life. What consequences can be drawn from this... more
There are good reasons to expect that modern societies, East and West, will continue to be shaped by an increase of religious, spiritual and secular worldviews, practices and forms of life. What consequences can be drawn from this unprecedented condition? How does the acknowledgment of irreducible religious and nonreligious diversity transform membership and experience in these societies? Rather than simply accommodating religion within the modern state, the version of postsecularism put forward calls for a productive engagement and mutual critique between immanent and absolute conceptions of transcendence.