Matthias Riedl - Profile on Academia.edu (original) (raw)
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Public Lectures by Matthias Riedl
DUKE University -- The Franklin Humanities Institute Politics and Religion: a Humanities Futur... more DUKE University -- The Franklin Humanities Institute
Politics and Religion: a Humanities Futures Cross-Departmental Seminar
December 3, 2014 - 1:00pm - 5:00pm
See more at: http://www.fhi.duke.edu/events/fhi-mellon-seminar-political-theory-religious-studies#sthash.L7JH1kdc.dpuf
A number of eminent philosophers, historians, and political theorists have described modern conceptions of history as secularized apocalypses. They argued that the progressivist ideologies of Enlightenment, positivism and communism had adopted from the apocalypses the linear and future-oriented conception of history and had replaced the expectation of a beyond with the promise of innerwordly fulfillment. Recently, a number of comparative studies on terrorism and sectarian violence have concluded that the one unifying element in such diverse groups as American far-right activists, the Japanese Aum Shinrikyo sect and radical Islamists, is their apocalyptic conception of violence: Religious terrorists see their own activity integrated in the scenario of a global war of good against evil. Employing a similar argument, other researchers have stated that the rhetoric of the Cold War and the “War on Terror” is clearly apocalyptic. Thus the question arises: Is then everything apocalyptic? The apocalypse is certainly in fashion in modern social science. However, some basic paradoxes of the above claims have been almost completely overlooked: How can modern narratives of progress draw on the apocalypses, if apocalypses traditionally offer a narrative of decline? How can activist and revolutionary movements be called apocalyptic, if apocalypses traditionally dissuade their readers from any engagement in politics? If the ideologies of the 19th and 20th centuries result from a secularization of the apocalypse, why are the apocalyptic activists of the early 21st century suddenly religious again? How can it happen that a decidedly Jewish and Christian symbolic tradition becomes integrated into Islamic and even Buddhist narratives? How is it possible that, after two millennia and despite multiple religious, political, social, and cultural transformations, the symbolic lore of the apocalypses is still with us today? My paper will show that there are answers to these questions and that they are highly relevant for modern political science. However, they require two preconditions which are often missing from the way in which political science is practiced and taught at universities today: 1) a long-term historical perspective, which reaches back to the formative periods of symbolic complexes; 2) methodological flexibility, which overcomes the fragmentation of modern academic disciplines.
Translations by Matthias Riedl
"The return of man to himself, illustrated by a serpent." Taken from chapter 27 of the Liber de S... more "The return of man to himself, illustrated by a serpent." Taken from chapter 27 of the Liber de Sapiente (fol. 133 r in the Paris, 1510 edition)
Articles by Matthias Riedl
This essay challenges an often-invoked defense of Luther which claims that the reformer's hostili... more This essay challenges an often-invoked defense of Luther which claims that the reformer's hostility to Islam and the Turks can be explained by the "conditions of the time." In contrast, I argue that in the early 16th century, the perception of the Ottomans as a diabolic force was a possibility but not a necessity – especially not for somebody with higher education. By the time of Luther, Northern humanism had opened new perspectives on Islam, presenting Muslims as fellow humans, capable of rational discussion. The essay shows that Thomas Müntzer's rather friendly attitude to Muslims, Jews, and other non-Christians is owed to the Neo-Platonist background of his thought.
Fidele Signaculum. Writings in Honour of Endre György Szőnyi, 2022
Apocalyptic knowledge is not necessarily esoteric knowledge. In the course of its history, it has... more Apocalyptic knowledge is not necessarily esoteric knowledge. In the course of its history, it has oscillated between the esoteric and the exoteric, between knowledge communicated to inner circles, and knowledge communicated to the public. Esoteric and alchemist traditions have always put more trust in human capacities than has Christian theology with its doctrines of sin and corruption. This trust may have been an important catalyst for the shift from a divinely operated transformation of reality, as we find promised in the apocalypses, to the promise of a human operated transformation of reality, as we find it in the manifestos of the European revolutions. Alchemy ascribes to man the divine power of changing the nature of things. Revolutionary thought, in turn, ascribes to man the divine power of changing the course of universal history. The essay shows that these two forms of human self-divinization are much more interrelated than the history books tell us.
Litteraria Pragensia: Studies in Literature and Culture 31 (62), 7-35, 2021
This article takes its point of departure from Marshall McLuhan's The Gutenberg Galaxy (1962) and... more This article takes its point of departure from Marshall McLuhan's The Gutenberg Galaxy (1962) and Elizabeth L. Eisenstein's The Printing Press as an Agent of Change (1979). The purpose, however, is not a detailed historical critique of both books, but to take issue with fundamental claim underlying both publications: the claim that media technology is the creative agent behind early modern social, political, religious, and intellectual revolutions. The article refers to Eric Voegelin, Hannah Arendt, Ernst Cassirer, and Wilhelm von Humboldt to lay the theoretical groundwork for an alternative claim: creative agency happens in the form of linguistic evocation. The final section of the article provides a brief case study on revolutionary agency, primarily at the example of the radical reformer Thomas Müntzer. It highlights the role of language in the revolutionary transformation of the early reformation period.
Abstract: This article discusses the category of 'apocalyptic violence', which has been frequentl... more Abstract: This article discusses the category of 'apocalyptic violence', which has been frequently applied in recent studies of terrorism. It shows that the category is not self-explanatory because apocalyptic literature is traditionally determinist and rather dissuades their readers from taking action. A historical overview demonstrates that revolutionary forms of apocalypticism emerge only in early modernity, when mystical and humanist influences undermined the determinist creed. A more differentiated concept of 'apocalyptic violence' is then tested using the example of several cases of modern terrorism. The result is that the category is meaningful for understanding certain trends within modern terrorism, especially as it captures the symbolic self-interpretation of terrorist groups more adequately than the categories extremism and fundamentalism. However, the article also shows that the category has clear limits and is not suitable for a comprehensive understanding of the motivational and ideological grounds behind terroristic violence.
In: A Companion to Joachim of Fiore, ed. Matthias Riedl
Abstract: The chapter describes the late medieval and early modern transformation of Joachite ide... more Abstract: The chapter describes the late medieval and early modern transformation of Joachite ideas into a revolutionary program and traces the legacy of this program in 19th and 20th century ideologies.
Sonderdruck aus: RELIGION UND POLITIK. Herausgegeben vom Exzellenzcluster „Religion und Politik“ ... more Sonderdruck aus:
RELIGION UND POLITIK. Herausgegeben vom Exzellenzcluster „Religion und Politik“ der Westfälischen Wilhelms-Universität Münster.
Band 13: Zukunftsvisionen zwischen Apokalypse und Utopie. Herausgegeben von Katharina Martin Christian Sieg
Würzburg: ERGON VERLAG, 2016. S. 127-147
If you need the published version of this article, please notify me via Academia.edu
Un giorno, mentre indugiava sulla vetta d'una montagna, meditando sul Libro della rivelazione, Gi... more Un giorno, mentre indugiava sulla vetta d'una montagna, meditando sul Libro della rivelazione, Gioacchino da Fiore (1135?-1202) ebbe d'improvviso la visione d'un albero. Nel suo Liber concordiae egli ci dice che questa visione non assomigliava in alcun modo a un albero normale, come se ne trovano nei boschi di montagna; era piuttosto l'immagine d'un albero concessogli dalla grazia di Dio. 1 La visione si colloca nel solco della lunga tradizione delle rivelazioni apocalittiche ed è conforme al significato originale del termine apokalypsis: un disvelamento dei piani divini per l'umanità, una penetrazione nella struttura d'una storia ordinata da Dio. 2 Di conseguenza l'albero divenne un simbolo chiave nelle riflessioni di Gioacchino sul progresso del popolo di Dio e il corso parallelo d'Israele e della Chiesa, i principali temi dei suoi scritti.
This article summarizes some essential research results of my German monograph "Joachim von Fiore - Denker der vollendeten Menschheit", 2013
International Political Anthropology, 2012
The suppression of the Bacchanalia in Rome 186 BCE was the first major religious persecution in E... more The suppression of the Bacchanalia in Rome 186 BCE was the first major religious persecution in Europe. The essay provides a new analysis, referring to the political theory of Eric Voegelin. It shows that the suppression was a reaction of the Roman commonwealth to a cult which challgenged the meaning of political existence within the republic. Ultimately, the Bacchanalian affair is a collision of two types of religiosity, the political religiosity of the public cult and the orgiastic and apolitical religiosity of the Bacchic underground. Both types are based on particular religious experiences, the experience of gods preserving and fostering the political community and the experience of a god promoting the fulfilment of bodily desires. As the essay shows at the example of Euripides’ Bacchae, the worship of Bacchus-Dionysus had always represented the apolitical dimension of human existence; already in the ancient myths the “alien god” appears as the enemy of rulers and politicians. Finally, this reconsideration of the Bacchanalia helps to understand why the early Christians were likened to the Bacchants.
International Political Anthropology, 2010
The essay introduces the concept of “proleptic existence” which denotes a psychological dispositi... more The essay introduces the concept of “proleptic existence” which denotes a psychological disposition determined by the anticipation (prolepsis) of the future. The first historical evidence for this type is found in the apocalyptic literature of the Greco-Roman period. As these texts clearly show, the proleptic expectation of a future transformation of the world results from a complete alienation from political reality. Consequently, proleptic existence becomes articulate in visionary accounts of a coming order, which predicts the reconciliation of individual consciousness and social order. The essay presents examples from ancient apocalypticism, early Christianity, medieval monasticism, and modern art in order to show how proleptic existence becomes a formative feature of Western society.
Studia Philosophica, 2012
Tento článok predkladá tvrdenie, že judaizmus počas grécko-rímskeho obdobia založil nový spôsob e... more Tento článok predkladá tvrdenie, že judaizmus počas grécko-rímskeho obdobia založil nový spôsob existencie, uvádzaný v tomto texte ako proleptická existencia. Jej hlavným znakom je psychologická dispozícia určená anticipáciou budúcnosti. Proleptická existencia nie je ničím špecificky moderným, ale hrá podstatnú rolu pri utváraní modernity. V druhej knihe Baruchovej, apokryfnom apokalyptickom texte z obdobia okolo roku 100 po Kr., sa píše: "Pretože ten, kto sa ženie teraz, ženie sa márne, a ten, kto je šťastný, rýchlo upadne a bude pokorený. Pretože to, čo bude v budúcnosti, teda to, čo každý hľadá a to, čo prichádza neskôr, je tým, v čo máme dúfať. Lebo existuje čas, ktorý sa nepominie. A nastáva tá epocha, ktorá bude trvať naveky. A existuje nový svet, ktorý sa nezvráti späť do skazenosti tých, ktorí vstúpili do jeho počiatku, a ktorý nemá súcit s tými, ktorí mali niečo spoločného so súžením tých, ktorí sú v ňom žijúci, svet, ktorý nepovedie do zatratenia." 1 Tento citát ilustruje to, čo znamená proleptická existencia. Ide o anticipáciu (predpovedanie) transformovaného sveta vo vedomí apokalyptického
DUKE University -- The Franklin Humanities Institute Politics and Religion: a Humanities Futur... more DUKE University -- The Franklin Humanities Institute
Politics and Religion: a Humanities Futures Cross-Departmental Seminar
December 3, 2014 - 1:00pm - 5:00pm
See more at: http://www.fhi.duke.edu/events/fhi-mellon-seminar-political-theory-religious-studies#sthash.L7JH1kdc.dpuf
A number of eminent philosophers, historians, and political theorists have described modern conceptions of history as secularized apocalypses. They argued that the progressivist ideologies of Enlightenment, positivism and communism had adopted from the apocalypses the linear and future-oriented conception of history and had replaced the expectation of a beyond with the promise of innerwordly fulfillment. Recently, a number of comparative studies on terrorism and sectarian violence have concluded that the one unifying element in such diverse groups as American far-right activists, the Japanese Aum Shinrikyo sect and radical Islamists, is their apocalyptic conception of violence: Religious terrorists see their own activity integrated in the scenario of a global war of good against evil. Employing a similar argument, other researchers have stated that the rhetoric of the Cold War and the “War on Terror” is clearly apocalyptic. Thus the question arises: Is then everything apocalyptic? The apocalypse is certainly in fashion in modern social science. However, some basic paradoxes of the above claims have been almost completely overlooked: How can modern narratives of progress draw on the apocalypses, if apocalypses traditionally offer a narrative of decline? How can activist and revolutionary movements be called apocalyptic, if apocalypses traditionally dissuade their readers from any engagement in politics? If the ideologies of the 19th and 20th centuries result from a secularization of the apocalypse, why are the apocalyptic activists of the early 21st century suddenly religious again? How can it happen that a decidedly Jewish and Christian symbolic tradition becomes integrated into Islamic and even Buddhist narratives? How is it possible that, after two millennia and despite multiple religious, political, social, and cultural transformations, the symbolic lore of the apocalypses is still with us today? My paper will show that there are answers to these questions and that they are highly relevant for modern political science. However, they require two preconditions which are often missing from the way in which political science is practiced and taught at universities today: 1) a long-term historical perspective, which reaches back to the formative periods of symbolic complexes; 2) methodological flexibility, which overcomes the fragmentation of modern academic disciplines.
"The return of man to himself, illustrated by a serpent." Taken from chapter 27 of the Liber de S... more "The return of man to himself, illustrated by a serpent." Taken from chapter 27 of the Liber de Sapiente (fol. 133 r in the Paris, 1510 edition)
This essay challenges an often-invoked defense of Luther which claims that the reformer's hostili... more This essay challenges an often-invoked defense of Luther which claims that the reformer's hostility to Islam and the Turks can be explained by the "conditions of the time." In contrast, I argue that in the early 16th century, the perception of the Ottomans as a diabolic force was a possibility but not a necessity – especially not for somebody with higher education. By the time of Luther, Northern humanism had opened new perspectives on Islam, presenting Muslims as fellow humans, capable of rational discussion. The essay shows that Thomas Müntzer's rather friendly attitude to Muslims, Jews, and other non-Christians is owed to the Neo-Platonist background of his thought.
Fidele Signaculum. Writings in Honour of Endre György Szőnyi, 2022
Apocalyptic knowledge is not necessarily esoteric knowledge. In the course of its history, it has... more Apocalyptic knowledge is not necessarily esoteric knowledge. In the course of its history, it has oscillated between the esoteric and the exoteric, between knowledge communicated to inner circles, and knowledge communicated to the public. Esoteric and alchemist traditions have always put more trust in human capacities than has Christian theology with its doctrines of sin and corruption. This trust may have been an important catalyst for the shift from a divinely operated transformation of reality, as we find promised in the apocalypses, to the promise of a human operated transformation of reality, as we find it in the manifestos of the European revolutions. Alchemy ascribes to man the divine power of changing the nature of things. Revolutionary thought, in turn, ascribes to man the divine power of changing the course of universal history. The essay shows that these two forms of human self-divinization are much more interrelated than the history books tell us.
Litteraria Pragensia: Studies in Literature and Culture 31 (62), 7-35, 2021
This article takes its point of departure from Marshall McLuhan's The Gutenberg Galaxy (1962) and... more This article takes its point of departure from Marshall McLuhan's The Gutenberg Galaxy (1962) and Elizabeth L. Eisenstein's The Printing Press as an Agent of Change (1979). The purpose, however, is not a detailed historical critique of both books, but to take issue with fundamental claim underlying both publications: the claim that media technology is the creative agent behind early modern social, political, religious, and intellectual revolutions. The article refers to Eric Voegelin, Hannah Arendt, Ernst Cassirer, and Wilhelm von Humboldt to lay the theoretical groundwork for an alternative claim: creative agency happens in the form of linguistic evocation. The final section of the article provides a brief case study on revolutionary agency, primarily at the example of the radical reformer Thomas Müntzer. It highlights the role of language in the revolutionary transformation of the early reformation period.
Abstract: This article discusses the category of 'apocalyptic violence', which has been frequentl... more Abstract: This article discusses the category of 'apocalyptic violence', which has been frequently applied in recent studies of terrorism. It shows that the category is not self-explanatory because apocalyptic literature is traditionally determinist and rather dissuades their readers from taking action. A historical overview demonstrates that revolutionary forms of apocalypticism emerge only in early modernity, when mystical and humanist influences undermined the determinist creed. A more differentiated concept of 'apocalyptic violence' is then tested using the example of several cases of modern terrorism. The result is that the category is meaningful for understanding certain trends within modern terrorism, especially as it captures the symbolic self-interpretation of terrorist groups more adequately than the categories extremism and fundamentalism. However, the article also shows that the category has clear limits and is not suitable for a comprehensive understanding of the motivational and ideological grounds behind terroristic violence.
In: A Companion to Joachim of Fiore, ed. Matthias Riedl
Abstract: The chapter describes the late medieval and early modern transformation of Joachite ide... more Abstract: The chapter describes the late medieval and early modern transformation of Joachite ideas into a revolutionary program and traces the legacy of this program in 19th and 20th century ideologies.
Sonderdruck aus: RELIGION UND POLITIK. Herausgegeben vom Exzellenzcluster „Religion und Politik“ ... more Sonderdruck aus:
RELIGION UND POLITIK. Herausgegeben vom Exzellenzcluster „Religion und Politik“ der Westfälischen Wilhelms-Universität Münster.
Band 13: Zukunftsvisionen zwischen Apokalypse und Utopie. Herausgegeben von Katharina Martin Christian Sieg
Würzburg: ERGON VERLAG, 2016. S. 127-147
If you need the published version of this article, please notify me via Academia.edu
Un giorno, mentre indugiava sulla vetta d'una montagna, meditando sul Libro della rivelazione, Gi... more Un giorno, mentre indugiava sulla vetta d'una montagna, meditando sul Libro della rivelazione, Gioacchino da Fiore (1135?-1202) ebbe d'improvviso la visione d'un albero. Nel suo Liber concordiae egli ci dice che questa visione non assomigliava in alcun modo a un albero normale, come se ne trovano nei boschi di montagna; era piuttosto l'immagine d'un albero concessogli dalla grazia di Dio. 1 La visione si colloca nel solco della lunga tradizione delle rivelazioni apocalittiche ed è conforme al significato originale del termine apokalypsis: un disvelamento dei piani divini per l'umanità, una penetrazione nella struttura d'una storia ordinata da Dio. 2 Di conseguenza l'albero divenne un simbolo chiave nelle riflessioni di Gioacchino sul progresso del popolo di Dio e il corso parallelo d'Israele e della Chiesa, i principali temi dei suoi scritti.
This article summarizes some essential research results of my German monograph "Joachim von Fiore - Denker der vollendeten Menschheit", 2013
International Political Anthropology, 2012
The suppression of the Bacchanalia in Rome 186 BCE was the first major religious persecution in E... more The suppression of the Bacchanalia in Rome 186 BCE was the first major religious persecution in Europe. The essay provides a new analysis, referring to the political theory of Eric Voegelin. It shows that the suppression was a reaction of the Roman commonwealth to a cult which challgenged the meaning of political existence within the republic. Ultimately, the Bacchanalian affair is a collision of two types of religiosity, the political religiosity of the public cult and the orgiastic and apolitical religiosity of the Bacchic underground. Both types are based on particular religious experiences, the experience of gods preserving and fostering the political community and the experience of a god promoting the fulfilment of bodily desires. As the essay shows at the example of Euripides’ Bacchae, the worship of Bacchus-Dionysus had always represented the apolitical dimension of human existence; already in the ancient myths the “alien god” appears as the enemy of rulers and politicians. Finally, this reconsideration of the Bacchanalia helps to understand why the early Christians were likened to the Bacchants.
International Political Anthropology, 2010
The essay introduces the concept of “proleptic existence” which denotes a psychological dispositi... more The essay introduces the concept of “proleptic existence” which denotes a psychological disposition determined by the anticipation (prolepsis) of the future. The first historical evidence for this type is found in the apocalyptic literature of the Greco-Roman period. As these texts clearly show, the proleptic expectation of a future transformation of the world results from a complete alienation from political reality. Consequently, proleptic existence becomes articulate in visionary accounts of a coming order, which predicts the reconciliation of individual consciousness and social order. The essay presents examples from ancient apocalypticism, early Christianity, medieval monasticism, and modern art in order to show how proleptic existence becomes a formative feature of Western society.
Studia Philosophica, 2012
Tento článok predkladá tvrdenie, že judaizmus počas grécko-rímskeho obdobia založil nový spôsob e... more Tento článok predkladá tvrdenie, že judaizmus počas grécko-rímskeho obdobia založil nový spôsob existencie, uvádzaný v tomto texte ako proleptická existencia. Jej hlavným znakom je psychologická dispozícia určená anticipáciou budúcnosti. Proleptická existencia nie je ničím špecificky moderným, ale hrá podstatnú rolu pri utváraní modernity. V druhej knihe Baruchovej, apokryfnom apokalyptickom texte z obdobia okolo roku 100 po Kr., sa píše: "Pretože ten, kto sa ženie teraz, ženie sa márne, a ten, kto je šťastný, rýchlo upadne a bude pokorený. Pretože to, čo bude v budúcnosti, teda to, čo každý hľadá a to, čo prichádza neskôr, je tým, v čo máme dúfať. Lebo existuje čas, ktorý sa nepominie. A nastáva tá epocha, ktorá bude trvať naveky. A existuje nový svet, ktorý sa nezvráti späť do skazenosti tých, ktorí vstúpili do jeho počiatku, a ktorý nemá súcit s tými, ktorí mali niečo spoločného so súžením tých, ktorí sú v ňom žijúci, svet, ktorý nepovedie do zatratenia." 1 Tento citát ilustruje to, čo znamená proleptická existencia. Ide o anticipáciu (predpovedanie) transformovaného sveta vo vedomí apokalyptického
Mirabilia, 2012
At the end of the 12th century, the famous Calabrian abbot and apocalyptic seer Joachim of Fiore ... more At the end of the 12th century, the famous Calabrian abbot and apocalyptic seer Joachim of Fiore drafted a constitution for the universal Christian society he expected to emerge in a coming third age of the Spirit. This articles shows that the constitution combines a highly complex symbolic structure with very concrete and pragmatic instructions for future social life. While the symbolic structure amounts to the image of a collective messiah, the pragmatic structure evokes the picture of a strictly hierarchical society, where the rank of a person depends on the possession of spiritual knowledge.
The Future of Political Theology, 2011
Civil Religion in Political Thought, 2010
Joachim of Fiore (c.1135-1202) remains one of the most fascinating and enigmatic figures of medie... more Joachim of Fiore (c.1135-1202) remains one of the most fascinating and enigmatic figures of medieval Christianity. In his own time, he was an influential advisor to the mighty and powerful, widely respected for his prophetic exegesis and decoding of the apocalypse. In modern times, many thinkers, from Thomas Müntzer to Friedrich Engels, have hailed him as a prophet of progress and revolution. Even present-day theologians, philosophers and novelists were inspired by Joachim’s vision of a Third Age of the Holy Spirit.
However, at no time was Joachim an uncontroversial figure. Soon after his death, the church authorities became suspicious about the explosive potential of his theology, while more recently historians held him accountable for the fateful progressivism of Western Civilization.
Contributors are: Frances Andrews, Valeria De Fraja, Alfredo Gatto, Peter Gemeinhardt, Sven Grosse, Massimo Iiritano, Bernard McGinn, Matthias Riedl, and Brett Edward Whalen
Seit langen wird dem kalabresischen Abt Joachim von Fiore († 1202) eine geradezu ungeheure Wirkun... more Seit langen wird dem kalabresischen Abt Joachim von Fiore († 1202) eine geradezu ungeheure Wirkung auf die abendländische Geistesgeschichte zugeschrieben. Karl Löwith, Jakob Taubes, Eric Voegelin und andere sahen in ihm den „Vordenker“ der neuzeitlichen Ideologien, ja selbst der Totalitarismen des 20. Jahrhunderts. Doch die ideengeschichtliche Forschung kümmerte sich wenig darum, was tatsächlich in den Schriften Joachims steht. Das wird mit dieser Studie nachgeholt. Sie zieht die populären Joachim-Bilder in Zweifel. Nicht als antiklerikaler Revolutionär, zurückgezogener Mystiker oder dunkler Prophet des Dritten Reiches zeigt sich der Abt, sondern als innovativer Gesellschaftstheoretiker. Er beteiligte sich aktiv an den politischen Auseinandersetzungen seiner Zeit und stand den Mächtigen als Ratgeber zur Seite. Sein Verfassungsentwurf für das „Dritte Zeitalter des Heiligen Geistes“, der von Matthias Riedl in kommentierter Übersetzung vorgelegt wird, ist nicht weniger faszinierend als die Utopien eines Morus, Campanella oder Fourier. Joachim von Fiore, so belegt dieses Buch, formuliert zum ersten Mal die Idee des Fortschritts, im Sinne einer geschichtlich-sozialen Höherentwicklung und Vollendung der Menschheit.
Die Stadt: Achse und Zentrum der Welt / The City: Axis and Centre of the World
Eranos - Neue Folge Nr. 16, ed. Matthias Riedl and Tilo Schabert (Würzburg: Königshausen & Neumann 2011).
"Matthias Riedl/Tilo Schabert, Hrsg. DIE STADT: ACHSE UND ZENTRUM DER WELT THE CITY: AXIS AND C... more "Matthias Riedl/Tilo Schabert, Hrsg.
DIE STADT: ACHSE UND ZENTRUM DER WELT
THE CITY: AXIS AND CENTRE OF THE WORLD
Reihe: ERANOS – Neue Folge, Band 16
Aus dem Inhalt:
Matthias Riedl: Introduction: The City as Symbol
Alessandro Scafi: Filarete’s Ideal City of Sforzinda: Architecture between Nature and Society
Christoph Schumann: Die nahöstliche Stadt im Schnittpunkt zwischen Erinnerung und Erwartung
Steven F. McGuire: Philosophy, the Mysteries, and Politics in Plato’s Phaedrus
Dieter Fuchs : Socratic Archetypes of Metropolitan Discourse in James Joyce's Ulysses
Chloé Ragazzoli: A Tale of Two Cities: sémiotique de la ville en Égypte. À travers ses représentations
Håkan Forsell: Metropolitan Pedagogy in Fín de Siècle Central Europe -- Johannes Tews, Fritz Gansberg and the Discovery of the ‘Democratic Child’
Tilo Schabert: On the Recent History of the Eranos-Tagungen
"
Gott oder Götter? / God or Gods?
Eranos - Neue Folge Nr. 15, ed. Tilo Schabert and Matthias Riedl (Würzburg: Königshausen & Neumann, 2009).
"Tilo Schabert, Matthias Riedl (Hrsg.) Gott oder Götter? - God or Gods 224 Seiten. Broschur mit... more "Tilo Schabert, Matthias Riedl (Hrsg.)
Gott oder Götter? - God or Gods
224 Seiten. Broschur mit Fadenheftung
Würzburg: Königshausen & Neumann 2009
ISBN 3-8260-3539-9
Reihe: ERANOS – Neue Folge, Band 15
Aus dem Inhalt:
Tilo Schabert: Einführung
Polymnia Athanassiadi: The Gods are God. Polytheistic Cult and Monotheistic Theology
in the World of Late Antiquity
Burkhard Gladigow: Wieviel Götter braucht der Mensch? Erwartungen an Götter in der Religionsgeschichte
Antonio Panaino: Ahura Mazdā tra Baga e Yazata. La religione mazdaica come forma particolare di monoteismo
Aaron J. Powell: God or Gods? Buddhas, Bodhisattvas and the Buddha-Nature in Chinese Buddhism
Christoph Egger: Demogorgon. Christlicher Gott und heidnische Götter im Mittelalter
Gabriele De Angelis : Religion and the Integration of Society. Religious Systems, Monotheism and Polytheism in Sociological Perspective
Friedrich Wilhelm Graf: Der Christengott im Plural. Zum Gestaltwandel des Christentums in der Gegenwart
Stéphane Toussaint: Survivances du polythéisme. Avec une lettre d’Henry Corbin inédite en français
Tilo Schabert: In the fading of divine voices: The song of Eranos
"
Religionen – Die religiöse Erfahrung / Religions – The Religious Experience
Eranos - Neue Folge Nr. 14, ed. Matthias Riedl and Tilo Schabert (Würzburg: Königshausen & Neumann, 2008).
""Matthias Riedl,/Tilo Schabert (Hrsg.) Religionen - die religiöse Erfahrung Religions - the re... more ""Matthias Riedl,/Tilo Schabert (Hrsg.)
Religionen - die religiöse Erfahrung
Religions - the religious experience
225 Seiten. Broschur mit Fadenheftung
Würzburg: Königshausen & Neumann 2008
ISBN 978-3-8260-3538-8
Reihe: ERANOS – Neue Folge, Band 14
Aus dem Inhalt:
Matthias Riedl: Einleitung: Religiöse Erfahrung als wissenschaftliches Problem
Walter Haug: Gotteserfahrung im abendländischen Mittelalter
Moshe Idel: On the Language of Ecstatic Experiences in Jewish Mysticism
Enzo Pace: Lo spirito et l`ordine. L`esperienza religiosa nell`Islam
Davíd Carrasco: The Virgin of Guadalupe and two types of religious experiences: The personal illumination and the ceremonial landscape
Michel-Yves Perrin: Arcana mysteria ou ce que cache la religion. De certaines pratiques de l’arcane dans le christianisme antique
Julia Eva Wannenmacher: Das Tor zur Ewigkeit: Grenzerfahrung und Vision in der Mittelalterlichen Apokalyptik
Gerson Moreno-Riaño: Religious Experience and Political Morality: The Thomistic natural law tradition
Francesco Gaiffi: L`"ultimo dio": Letture filosofiche dell`esperienza religiosa contemporanea
Die Menschen im Krieg, im Frieden mit der Natur / Humans at War, in Peace with Nature
Eranos - Neue Folge Nr. 13, ed. Tilo Schabert & Matthias Riedl (Würzburg: Königshausen & Neumann, 2006).
"Tilo Schabert/Matthias Riedl, Hrsg. Die Menschen im Krieg, im Frieden mit der Natur – Humans at... more "Tilo Schabert/Matthias Riedl, Hrsg.
Die Menschen im Krieg, im Frieden mit der Natur – Humans at War, at Peace with Nature
227 Seiten. Broschur mit Fadenheftung
Würzburg: Königshausen & Neumann 2006
ISBN 3-8260-3392-6
Reihe: ERANOS – Neue Folge, Band 13
Aus dem Inhalt:
Tilo Schabert: Introduction: A Wisdom To Be Recovered – The Relations of the Parts to the Whole
Joseph Hanimann: La cime abandonné – Die abgestoßene Krone. Zur Frage des Tragischen in der Natur
Stéphane Toussaint: La destruction du cosmos. Esquisse d`une analyse
Elisabetta Barone: Tra empatia e dominio: Sentieri di pace o asce di guerra?
Hans-Jörg Sigwart: In Corpore Salus? Entfremdung und Leiblichkeit in der Bewegung der “Lebensreform” um 1900
Massimo Iiritano: “Nuovi cieli e nuova terra”: Per une teologia messianica della natura.
Matthias Riedl: Natur und Sünde. Augustinus über den Anfang der Politik.
Flavia Monceri: Bushidō. L`arte di far guerra in pace con la natura.
Arpád Szakolczai: World-Rejections and World-Conquests: The Spiralling Dynamics of War and Peace.
"
Propheten und Prophezeiungen / Prophets and Prophecies
Eranos - Neue Folge Nr. 12, ed. Matthias Riedl and Tilo Schabert (Würzburg: Königshausen & Neumann, 2005.)
"Matthias Riedl/Tilo Schabert, Hrsg. Propheten und Prophezeiungen – Prophets and Prophecies 2... more "Matthias Riedl/Tilo Schabert, Hrsg.
Propheten und Prophezeiungen – Prophets and Prophecies
227 Seiten. Broschur mit Fadenheftung
Würzburg: Königshausen & Neumann 2005
ISBN 3-8260-2253-X
Reihe: ERANOS – Neue Folge, Band 12
Aus dem Inhalt:
Matthias Riedl: Einleitung: Prophetie als interzivilisatorisches Phänomen
Adriano Fabris: Il Tempo della Profezia. I Modelli Greco, Ebraico e Cristiano
Tilo Schabert: Prophecy in Politics: The Voice of Plato
Josef van Ess: Das Siegel des Propheten. Die Endzeit und das Prophetische im Islam
Kurt-Victor Selge: Die Verzeitlichung der Gottesstadt bei Joachim Von Fiore
Christine Trevett: Early Christian Prophets: Wanderings, Women, and the Course of Change
Bernard McGinn: „Trumpets of the Mysteries of God“. Prophetesses in Late Medieval Christianity
John von Heyking: Political Prophecy in Nicholas of Cusa
Philippe Bénéton: Suite Pascalienne: Les prophéties
Rita Laura Segato: Oracle, Destiny and Personality in Afro-Brazilian Cosmologies
Flavia Monceri: The Time of the Instant: Prophecy in Japan
"
Das Ordnen der Zeit (The Ordering of Time)
Eranos - Neue Folge Nr. 10, ed. Tilo Schabert and Matthias Riedl (Würzburg: Königshausen & Neumann, 2003.)
"Tilo Schabert/Matthias Riedl, Hrsg. Das Ordnen der Zeit 240 Seiten. Broschur mit Fadenheftung ... more "Tilo Schabert/Matthias Riedl, Hrsg.
Das Ordnen der Zeit
240 Seiten. Broschur mit Fadenheftung
Würzburg: Königshausen & Neumann 2003
ISBN 3-8260-2251-3
Reihe: ERANOS – Neue Folge, Band 10
Aus dem Inhalt:
Tilo Schabert: Einführung: Wahrnehmungen unter dem Namen „Zeit“
Walter Haug: Der Durchbruch durch die Ordnung der Zeit in der abendländischen Mystik
Moshe Idel: Sabbat: Zeitkonzepte in der jüdischen Mystik
Anthony F. Aveni: Präkolumbianische Zeitvorstellungen
Friedrich Niewöhner: Die Ordnung der Zeit verbürgt die Endlichkeit der Macht
Gerhard Böwering: Ewigkeit und Augenblick – Dimensionen der Zeit im Islam
Joël Thomas: Griechisch-römische Vorstellungen von Raum und Zeit
Giuseppe Zarone: Realität und Rätsel der Zeit
Aleida Assmann: Obsession der Zeit in der englischen Moderne
Pioniere, Poeten, Professoren. Eranos und der Monte Verità in der Zivilisationsgeschichte des 20. Jahrhunderts.
Eranos - Neue Folge Nr. 11, ed. Elisabetta Barone, Matthias Riedl, Alexandra Tischel (Würzburg: Königshausen & Neumann, 2003.)
"""Elisabetta Barone/Matthias Riedl/Alexandra Tischel, Hrsg. Pioniere, Poeten, Professoren Eran... more """Elisabetta Barone/Matthias Riedl/Alexandra Tischel, Hrsg.
Pioniere, Poeten, Professoren
Eranos und der Monte Verità in der Zivilisationsgeschichte des 20. Jahrhunderts
260 Seiten. Broschur mit Fadenheftung
Würzburg: Königshausen & Neumann 2004
ISBN 3-8260-2252-1
Reihe: ERANOS – Neue Folge, Band 11
Aus dem Inhalt:
Tilo Schabert: Introduction: The Eranos Experience
Elisabeth Ries: Monte Verità, Ascona: Oberfläche und Unterströmungen am Berg der Wahrheit
Alexandra Tischel: Unter Propheten – Franziska zu Reventlows Romane im Spannungsfeld der Jahrhundertwende
Claudio Belloni: Thomas Mann e le origini di Eranos
Adriano Fabris: La filosofia di Eranos
Elisabetta Barone: L’avventura di Eranos: tra memoria e profezia
Thomas S. Bremer: The Genius loci ignotus of Eranos and the Making of Sacred Place
John von Heyking: From a Wooded Summit: Learning to Love Through Augustinian Meditation at Ascona
Ron Margolin: Three Approaches to the Study of Religion at Eranos. Martin Buber, C.G. Jung and Mircea Eliade
Serena Di Matteo/Aaron Powell: Far Eastern Thought at Eranos: It’s History and Impact
Matthias Riedl: Adolf Portmann – Ein Skeptiker auf der Suche
Adele Bottiglieri: Eranos tra i tempi e i luoghi della storia. La metafora dell’ esilio
Francesco Saverio Festa: Teosofia ed esotersimo nelle riviste italiane della prima metà del ‘900
Georg Dörr: Archetyp und Geschichte oder München – Ascona: Typologische und menschliche Nähe (Mit einigen Briefen Olga Fröbes an L. Derleth).
Gian Paolo Cammarota: Quale messianismo? Riflessioni a partire da Gershom Scholem
Francesco Gaiffi: Mito e fede cristiana. La dimensione mitico-archetipica nei contributi dei teologi cristiani ad Eranos
Silvia Siniscalchi: Il concetto di ,opposizione‘ tra Musica e alchimia
"
Order is one of the most central concepts in the history of political thought. The English word (... more Order is one of the most central concepts in the history of political thought. The English word (just as the French ordre, the German Ordnung, the Italian ordine, or the Spanish orden) is derived from the Latin term ordo, which can denote any kind of structured or regulated condition, as opposed to disorder and chaos. As such, ordo may refer to a variety of more or less politically relevant matters: monastic and clerical organizations, the estates within a society, coronation rituals, the structure of the cosmos, the disposition of the human soul, and so forth. This entry considers the most important and most general meaning of political order, which denotes the meaningful dimension of human social existence. It briefly describes five approaches to political order in their particular experiential contexts. The first two – the order of cosmos and the order of history – may be termed classical, while the latter three – the order of existence, the order of consciousness, and the order of discourse – are rather modern approaches. Yet it will become clear that the classical models retain their significance even in the modern era.
After a first glance at the title, the reader would expect a book in the tradition of Eric Voegel... more After a first glance at the title, the reader would expect a book in the tradition of Eric Voegelin’s "Political Religions" or Karl Löwith’s "Meaning in History," in other words, a book researching the transformation of apocalyptic thought into modern secular ideologies. But this is not what "Apocalypse without God" is about. Instead, Ben Jones’ study looks at secular political thinkers who are uncomfortable with apocalyptic thought and, at the same time, adopt elements of it into their own conception of politics. For this purpose, the book provides three historical case studies on Niccolò Machiavelli, Thomas Hobbes, and Friedrich Engels.
![Research paper thumbnail of Technik und Science-Fiction in der Vormoderne [Technology and science fiction in the premodern age]](https://attachments.academia-assets.com/88955043/thumbnails/1.jpg)
](Technology and Culture, 2022
Review of "Technik und Science-Fiction in der Vormoderne" [Technology and science fiction in the... more Review of "Technik und Science-Fiction in der Vormoderne" [Technology
and science fiction in the premodern age]
Edited by Brigitte Burrichter and Dorothea Klein. Würzburg:
Königshausen & Neumann, 2018. Pp. 312.
It may be one of the great ironies of our time that the language of leftist political philosophy ... more It may be one of the great ironies of our time that the language of leftist political philosophy is becoming increasingly theological. After the deconstructive work of postmodernism and the breakdown of Soviet communism, it appears that a reconstruction of leftist meaning requires recourse to the Jewish and Christian revelations, from which-according to Karl Löwith's famous thesis-all leftist promises of secular salvation have originally departed. However, the recent leftist recourse to the Bible no longer aims to revive the deconstructed eschatological grand narratives, nor does it indicate that the authors have abandoned their atheism; it rather seeks a new language for arguing that revolution-theoretically as well as practically-still makes sense. Along these lines, Alain Badiou has shown how a Maoist can find inspiration in the letters of Christ's apostle in Saint Paul: The Foundation of Universalism; several decades ago that would have been a rather unlikely combination. In The Time That Remains: A Commentary on the Letter to the Romans, Giorgio Agamben even returned to the classical genre of Biblical exegesis.
The essay introduces the concept of "proleptic existence" which denotes a psychological dispositi... more The essay introduces the concept of "proleptic existence" which denotes a psychological disposition determined by the anticipation (prolepsis) of the future. The first historical evidence for this type is found in the apocalyptic literature of the Greco-Roman period. As these texts clearly show, the proleptic expectation of a future transformation of the world results from a complete alienation from political reality. Consequently, proleptic existence becomes articulate in visionary accounts of a coming order, which predicts the reconciliation of individual consciousness and social order. The essay presents examples from ancient apocalypticism, early Christianity, medieval monasticism, and modern art in order to show how proleptic existence becomes a formative feature of Western society.
Eric Voegelin formulated one of the most challenging theses about the theological foundations of ... more Eric Voegelin formulated one of the most challenging theses about the theological foundations of modern progressivist and revolutionary thought: the character of modernity is essentially Gnostic. The aim of this essay is to show why the early version of Voegelin' Gnosis-thesis, as proposed in his New Science of Politics (1951), is not convincing. I argue that processes of immanentization can be fully explained within the development of Western ecclesiastical thought, without invoking Gnostic sectarianism. From a historical-empirical perspective Gnosticism is, in fact, principally opposed to immanent eschatologies. Joachim of Fiore, who, according to Voegelin, is the originator of modern Gnosticism, aptly illustrates this incompatibility. This essay also aims to show how Voegelin became increasingly aware of this problem and, accordingly, formulated a much more adequate and convincing version of the Gnosis-thesis in The Ecumenic Age (1974). The final section of the essay returns to the question of the relation of Gnosis and revolution.
Theologies of Revolution, 2019
Workshop, 20-21 May 2019, Prague
Language and the Evocation of Order ? On Eric Voegelin`s Concept of the Political