Georg W. Bertram | Freie Universität Berlin (original) (raw)
Books by Georg W. Bertram
Berlin: Suhrkamp, 2024
The book presents a new perspective in hermeneutical thinking. The starting point is a critical e... more The book presents a new perspective in hermeneutical thinking. The starting point is a critical examination of a fundamental idea of hermeneutical theories, according to which understanding, where it occurs, is taken for granted. However, understanding is not a given, but is fundamentally connected to being questioned. Reconstructing this basic structure of understanding allows for a productive connection between hermeneutical philosophy and critical theories. Out of this connection, understanding is spelled out in three steps: First, its fundamentally improvisational structure is explained. Then, it is shown how understanding, in its improvisational structure, is inseparably bound up with conflicts. The third step consists of demonstrating that subjects of understanding are to be understood as instances of self-criticism emerging from the conflicts essential to understanding. At the end of this three-step process, it becomes evident how understanding constitutively possesses a potential for freedom.
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Stuttgart: Reclam, 2021
Der Mensch ist das improvisierende ›Tier‹ schlechthin. Denn er kann aus mangelnder Vorbereitung C... more Der Mensch ist das improvisierende ›Tier‹ schlechthin. Denn er kann aus mangelnder Vorbereitung Chancen kreieren, sich Situationen anpassen und mit Flexibilität das Beste daraus machen. Improvisation darf dabei nicht mit Stümperei verwechselt werden.
Der Jazzmusiker Lee Konitz forderte etwa von Mitmusikern und Zuhörern, darauf vorbereitet zu sein, unvorbereitet zu sein. Wer also souverän mit unklaren Situationen umgehen möchte, sollte den Zwang zur Improvisation niemals fürchten: Herausforderungen und Krisen sind ohne diese grundlegende menschliche Fähigkeit nicht zu meistern.
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Translated by Nathan Ross. Bloomsbury: London, 2019
How is art both distinct and different from the rest of human life, while also mattering in and f... more How is art both distinct and different from the rest of human life, while also mattering in and for it? This central yet overlooked question in contemporary philosophy of art is at the heart of Georg W. Bertram's new aesthetic. Drawing on the resources of diverse philosophical traditions – analytic philosophy, French philosophy, and German post-Kantian philosophy – his book offers a systematic account of art as a human practice. One that remains connected to the whole of life.
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Stuttgart: Reclam (Reihe: Was bedeutet das alles?), 2018
Der Mensch ist ein Lebewesen, das über sich selbst nachdenken kann. Doch welche Bedeutung hat es ... more Der Mensch ist ein Lebewesen, das über sich selbst nachdenken kann. Doch welche Bedeutung hat es für uns, fragen zu können, wer wir sind? Georg Bertram zeigt auf, dass nicht eine bestimmte Antwort auf diese Frage, sondern die Bewegung des Fragens selbst entscheidend ist: Der Mensch kann sich immer als einen anderen entwerfen als der, der er ist, kann sein Einfach-so-Sein immer überwinden und sich so Freiheit erarbeiten: »Was für Menschen jeweils und in unterschiedlicher Weise bedeutungsvoll ist, erfordert eine immer neue Bestimmung. So sind die Überlegungen zur Frage, wer wir sind, Erinnerungen daran, dass Menschen immer vor der Frage stehen, Freiheit zu realisieren. Dies ist der beste Grund dafür, uns zu fragen, wer wir sind.«
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Translated by Alessandro Bertinetto. Milano: Cortina, 2017
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Stuttgart: Reclam, 2017
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Berlin: Suhrkamp, 2014
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Hamburg: Junius, 2011
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This book attempts to give a systematic account of the development of semantic holism within the ... more This book attempts to give a systematic account of the development of semantic holism within the philosophy of language in the 20th century. One of the things that might make it interesting is that it covers philosophers from the analytic tradition (Hilbert, Schlick, Sellars, Davidson, McDowell) as well as structuralist and post-structuralist philosophers (Saussure, Jakobson, Hjelmslev, Merleau-Ponty, Derrida). It is not only claimed that these philosophers address what can intelligibly be recognized as the same systematic questions concerning the constitution of linguistic meaning, but also that the development of holistic approaches in the two traditions follows the same course, leading from formalist to post-formalist varieties of holism. This course implies the rejection of the myth of a pure or autonomous structure of language in favour of a view of language which sees linguistic practice as necessarily interwoven with the natural and social world.
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Stuttgart: Reclam, 2005
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München: Fink, 2002
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Papers by Georg W. Bertram
Translated by Santiago Rebelles & José F. Zuñiga. In: Ideas Y Valores 71, 33-56., 2023
El concepto de segunda naturaleza promete proporcionar una explicación de cómo la naturaleza y ... more El concepto de segunda naturaleza promete proporcionar una explicación de cómo la naturaleza y la razón se pueden reconciliar. Pero dicho concepto está cargado de ambigüedad: se entiende como aquello que une todas las actividades cognitivas y se concibe como un tipo de naturaleza que puede ser modificada por actividades cognitivas. Se intenta investigar esta ambigüedad distinguiendo una concepción kantiana de otra hegeliana. Se sostiene que la idea de una transformación de un ser de prim- era naturaleza en un ser de segunda naturaleza, que se encuentra en el corazón de la concepción kantiana, es errónea.
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Journal of Aesthetics and Science of Art (The Korean Society of Aesthetics and Science of Art), vol. 68, 246-284, 2023
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![Research paper thumbnail of 为诠释学的艺术本体论辩护 [In Defence of a Hermeneutic Ontology of Art]](https://attachments.academia-assets.com/110479464/thumbnails/1.jpg)
](现代外国哲学[第21辑 [Modern Foreign Philosophy series 21], 2023
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in: Judith Siegmund (Hg.), Handbuch Kunstphilosophie, Bielefeld: transcript, 553-563., 2022
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Berlin: Suhrkamp, 2024
The book presents a new perspective in hermeneutical thinking. The starting point is a critical e... more The book presents a new perspective in hermeneutical thinking. The starting point is a critical examination of a fundamental idea of hermeneutical theories, according to which understanding, where it occurs, is taken for granted. However, understanding is not a given, but is fundamentally connected to being questioned. Reconstructing this basic structure of understanding allows for a productive connection between hermeneutical philosophy and critical theories. Out of this connection, understanding is spelled out in three steps: First, its fundamentally improvisational structure is explained. Then, it is shown how understanding, in its improvisational structure, is inseparably bound up with conflicts. The third step consists of demonstrating that subjects of understanding are to be understood as instances of self-criticism emerging from the conflicts essential to understanding. At the end of this three-step process, it becomes evident how understanding constitutively possesses a potential for freedom.
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Stuttgart: Reclam, 2021
Der Mensch ist das improvisierende ›Tier‹ schlechthin. Denn er kann aus mangelnder Vorbereitung C... more Der Mensch ist das improvisierende ›Tier‹ schlechthin. Denn er kann aus mangelnder Vorbereitung Chancen kreieren, sich Situationen anpassen und mit Flexibilität das Beste daraus machen. Improvisation darf dabei nicht mit Stümperei verwechselt werden.
Der Jazzmusiker Lee Konitz forderte etwa von Mitmusikern und Zuhörern, darauf vorbereitet zu sein, unvorbereitet zu sein. Wer also souverän mit unklaren Situationen umgehen möchte, sollte den Zwang zur Improvisation niemals fürchten: Herausforderungen und Krisen sind ohne diese grundlegende menschliche Fähigkeit nicht zu meistern.
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Translated by Nathan Ross. Bloomsbury: London, 2019
How is art both distinct and different from the rest of human life, while also mattering in and f... more How is art both distinct and different from the rest of human life, while also mattering in and for it? This central yet overlooked question in contemporary philosophy of art is at the heart of Georg W. Bertram's new aesthetic. Drawing on the resources of diverse philosophical traditions – analytic philosophy, French philosophy, and German post-Kantian philosophy – his book offers a systematic account of art as a human practice. One that remains connected to the whole of life.
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Stuttgart: Reclam (Reihe: Was bedeutet das alles?), 2018
Der Mensch ist ein Lebewesen, das über sich selbst nachdenken kann. Doch welche Bedeutung hat es ... more Der Mensch ist ein Lebewesen, das über sich selbst nachdenken kann. Doch welche Bedeutung hat es für uns, fragen zu können, wer wir sind? Georg Bertram zeigt auf, dass nicht eine bestimmte Antwort auf diese Frage, sondern die Bewegung des Fragens selbst entscheidend ist: Der Mensch kann sich immer als einen anderen entwerfen als der, der er ist, kann sein Einfach-so-Sein immer überwinden und sich so Freiheit erarbeiten: »Was für Menschen jeweils und in unterschiedlicher Weise bedeutungsvoll ist, erfordert eine immer neue Bestimmung. So sind die Überlegungen zur Frage, wer wir sind, Erinnerungen daran, dass Menschen immer vor der Frage stehen, Freiheit zu realisieren. Dies ist der beste Grund dafür, uns zu fragen, wer wir sind.«
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Translated by Alessandro Bertinetto. Milano: Cortina, 2017
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Stuttgart: Reclam, 2017
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Berlin: Suhrkamp, 2014
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Hamburg: Junius, 2011
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This book attempts to give a systematic account of the development of semantic holism within the ... more This book attempts to give a systematic account of the development of semantic holism within the philosophy of language in the 20th century. One of the things that might make it interesting is that it covers philosophers from the analytic tradition (Hilbert, Schlick, Sellars, Davidson, McDowell) as well as structuralist and post-structuralist philosophers (Saussure, Jakobson, Hjelmslev, Merleau-Ponty, Derrida). It is not only claimed that these philosophers address what can intelligibly be recognized as the same systematic questions concerning the constitution of linguistic meaning, but also that the development of holistic approaches in the two traditions follows the same course, leading from formalist to post-formalist varieties of holism. This course implies the rejection of the myth of a pure or autonomous structure of language in favour of a view of language which sees linguistic practice as necessarily interwoven with the natural and social world.
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Stuttgart: Reclam, 2005
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München: Fink, 2002
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Translated by Santiago Rebelles & José F. Zuñiga. In: Ideas Y Valores 71, 33-56., 2023
El concepto de segunda naturaleza promete proporcionar una explicación de cómo la naturaleza y ... more El concepto de segunda naturaleza promete proporcionar una explicación de cómo la naturaleza y la razón se pueden reconciliar. Pero dicho concepto está cargado de ambigüedad: se entiende como aquello que une todas las actividades cognitivas y se concibe como un tipo de naturaleza que puede ser modificada por actividades cognitivas. Se intenta investigar esta ambigüedad distinguiendo una concepción kantiana de otra hegeliana. Se sostiene que la idea de una transformación de un ser de prim- era naturaleza en un ser de segunda naturaleza, que se encuentra en el corazón de la concepción kantiana, es errónea.
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Journal of Aesthetics and Science of Art (The Korean Society of Aesthetics and Science of Art), vol. 68, 246-284, 2023
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现代外国哲学[第21辑 [Modern Foreign Philosophy series 21], 2023
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in: Judith Siegmund (Hg.), Handbuch Kunstphilosophie, Bielefeld: transcript, 553-563., 2022
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in: Birgit Eusterschulte und Christian Krüger (Hg.): Involvierte Autonomie. Künstlerische Praxis zwischen Engagement und Eigenlogik, Bielefeld: transcript, 45-60., 2022
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in: Lydia Goehr und Jonathan Gilmore (Hg.): A Companion to Arthur C. Danto, London: Blackwell, 124-131., 2022
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in: Journal of Aesthetics and Science of Art (The Korean Society of Aesthetics and Science of Art), Vol. 65, 176-217., 2022
The essay addresses the question of how art has an impact on human practices. It aims to shed lig... more The essay addresses the question of how art has an impact on human practices. It aims to shed light on how art is relevant in historical-cultural contexts and on the ways in which art is part of these contexts as a whole. In order to reach this goal, the improvisational dimension of historicalcultural practices is illuminated. Relying on the conceptual framework provided by the analysis of improvisation, the "logic of interventions" is analyzed to better understand the ways artistic practices inform non-artistic ones. It is claimed that artistic interventions are inherently bound up with recipients' practical reactions to them in such a way that they loop back on non-artistic practices. Against this background, the social dimension of artistic interventions is thematized. Therewith, artistic interventions are concretized with regard to social structures, and the everyday aspect of artistic interventions is highlighted.
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in: Daniel Martin Feige und Gesa zur Nieden (Hg.): Musik und Subjektivität: Beiträge aus Musikwissenschaft, Musikphilosophie und kompositorischer Praxis, Bielefeld: transcript, 141-155., 2022
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in: Georg W. Bertram, Stefan Deines und Daniel Martin Feige (Hg.): Die Kunst und die Künste. Ein Kompendium zur Theorie der Gegenwartskunst, Berlin: Suhrkamp, 138-158., 2021
Georg W. Bertram schlägt eine Deutung der Einheit von Kunstwerken und Künsten im Rahmen der Kunst... more Georg W. Bertram schlägt eine Deutung der Einheit von Kunstwerken und Künsten im Rahmen der Kunst vor, die diese auf die von Kunstwerken und Künsten ausgetragenen Konflikte gründet. Die durch unterschiedliche Kunstwerke und Künste konstituierte Einheit beruht demnach gerade nicht auf etwas in Kunstwerken und Künsten Geteiltem, sondern auf dem Wettstreit, in Form von Gegenständen und Ereignissen wertvolle Impulse für die Entwicklung menschlicher Praktiken zu geben. Was auch immer als Kunstwerk (im Rahmen einer spezifischen Kunst) realisiert wird, nimmt zwangsläufig an diesem Wettstreit teil.
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in: Anne Eusterschulte und Sebastian Tränkle (Hg.): Adorno: Ästhetische Theorie (Klassiker Auslegen), Berlin/Boston: de Gruyter, 89-104., 2021
Der Abschnitt mit dem Titel "Das Kunstschöne: "apparition", Vergeistigung, Anschaulichkeit" richt... more Der Abschnitt mit dem Titel "Das Kunstschöne: "apparition", Vergeistigung, Anschaulichkeit" richtet vor dem Hintergrund des vorangehenden Passus zum Naturschönen den Blick auf den geistigen Charakter von Kunstschönheit, den Adorno im Sinne Hegels als paradigmatisch begreift. Insofern geht es hier um zentrale Bestimmungen dessen, was die Schönheit der Kunst ausmacht. Im Gesamtzusammenhang der "Ästhetischen Theorie" kommt dem Abschnitt die Aufgabe zu, den Zusammenhang zwischen der anschaulichen sinnlich-materialen Gestalt von Kunstwerken und ihrer geistigen Dimension zu klären. Mit Blick auf die Praxis mit Kunstwerken geht es damit darum, wie diese sich verstehen lassen. Drei Fragen stehen im Zentrum der hier zu kommentierenden Überlegungen: (1) Inwiefern sind Kunstwerkeerstens mehr als ihre materiale bzw. sinnlich manifeste Gestalt? (2) Wie lässt sich das Mehr, von dem in der ersten Frage die Rede ist als Schrift oder Sprache fassen? (3) Welche spezifische Zeitlichkeit ergibt sich dadurch mit Blick auf die Verfasstheit des Kunstwerks als eines geistigen Gegenstands?
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in: Alessandro Bertinetto und Marcello Ruta (Hg.): Routledge Handbook of the Philosophy of Improvisation in the Arts, London: Routledge, 21-32., 2021
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in: Adam Andrzejewski und Alessandro Bertinetto (Hg.): Schwerpunkt "Aesthetic Mistakes. Art, Nature, and the Aesthetic of Failure", in: Studi di estetica, No. 19, 25-39., 2021
Humans have developed various practices to confront the indeterminacy of their existence. Roughly... more Humans have developed various practices to confront the indeterminacy of their existence. Roughly speaking, there are two types of such practices. On the one hand are those through which humans control the uncertainty that permeates their actions and choices. These are practices of self-reassurance and risk reduction. On the other hand are practices in which humans welcome or search out uncertainty, practices that are explicitly open to the risk of failure. One particularly remarkable example of the latter set is art. Art is a practice that embraces the uncertainty of human existence in a special way. Generally speaking, artworks do not aim to reassure. Rather, they are open to uncertainty. Thus, art represents a special mode of reflecting on a constitutive feature of human existence, namely, the possibility of failure. What does it mean that art is, in principle, always susceptible to failure? The present article explores this question.
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in: Birgit Eusterschulte u.a. (Hg.): Funktionen der Künste. Transformatorische Potentiale künstlerischer Praktiken, Stuttgart: Metzler, 17-31., 2021
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in: Studi di estetica, No. 18, 254-259., 2020
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in: Stefan Bird-Pollan u.a. (Hg.): Hegel’s Political Aesthetics: Art in Modern Society, London: Bloomsbury, 196-211., 2020
The paper presents a revised interpretation of Hegel’s philosophy of art that is based on the dia... more The paper presents a revised interpretation of Hegel’s philosophy of art that is based on the dialectics of the three forms of art analyzed by Hegel. I argue that the dialectics only makes sense if we take the romantic form of art as the sublation of the other two. Accordingly, Hegel has to be understood as championing a modern conception of art, not a classical one. As I show, three characteristics are of primary importance for this modern conception of art: Firstly, art has no firm foundations and thus struggles to accomplish its aims. The struggle in question, secondly, takes place among a plurality of artworks, which is itself realized within a system of different arts. Thirdly, the lack of firm foundations has the consequence that art is constitutively bound up with interpretation and art criticism and thus with conceptual practice.
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Open Philosophy, 2020
The article presents the conceptual groundwork for an understanding of the essentially improvisat... more The article presents the conceptual groundwork for an understanding of the essentially improvisational dimension of human rationality. It aims to clarify how we should think about important concepts pertinent to central aspects of human practices, namely, the concepts of improvisation, normativity, habit, and freedom. In order to understand the sense in which human practices are essentially improvisational, it is first necessary to criticize misconceptions about improvisation as lack of preparation and creatio ex nihilo. Second, it is necessary to solve the theoretical problems that derive from misunderstandings concerning the notions of normativity, habit, and freedom– misunderstandings that revolve around the idea that rationality is a form that is developed out of itself and thus works in a way similar to algorithms. One can only make sense of normativity, habit, and freedom if one understands that they all involve conflictual relationships with the world and with others, which in turn enables one to adequately take into account their constitutive connection to improvisation, properly understood. In outlining these conceptual connections, we want to prepare the foundations for an explanation of rational practices as improvisational practices. The article concludes by stating that human rational life is improvisatory because the conditions of human practice arise out of practice itself.
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in: Jan Urbich und Jörg Zimmer (Hg.): Handbuch Ontologie, Stuttgart: Metzler, 500-507., 2020
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in Gilles Bouché (Hg.): Reading Brandom: On A Spirit of Trust, London: Routledge, 75-86., 2020
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Open Philosophy, 2020
The concept of second nature promises to provide an explanation of how nature and reason can be r... more The concept of second nature promises to provide an explanation of how nature and reason can be reconciled. But the concept is laden with ambiguity. On the one hand, second nature is understood as that which binds together all cognitive activities. On the other hand, second nature is conceived of as a kind of nature that can be changed by cognitive activities. The paper tries to investigate this ambiguity by distinguishing a Kantian conception of second nature from a Hegelian conception. It argues that the idea of a transformation from a being of first nature into a being of second nature that stands at the heart of the Kantian conception is mistaken. The Hegelian conception demonstrates that the transformation in question takes place within second nature itself. Thus, the Hegelian conception allows us to understand the way in which second nature is not structurally isomorphic with first nature: It is a process of ongoing selftransformation that is not primarily determined by how the world is, but rather by commitments out of which human beings are bound to the open future.
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in: Georg Wilhelm Friedrich Hegel: Phänomenologie des Geistes, Stuttgart: Reclam, 625-658., 2020
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Il bello dell'esperienza. La nuova estetica tedesca, 2016
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Stuttgart: Reclam, 2012
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A German-Italian workshop on the multiple sides of the aesthetics of German Idealism and its rela... more A German-Italian workshop on the multiple sides of the aesthetics of German Idealism and its relation with romantic thought.
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Call for Papers per due workshop correlati: Le estetiche dell'idealismo tedesco e il ruolo social... more Call for Papers per due workshop correlati: Le estetiche dell'idealismo tedesco e il ruolo sociale dell'arte-Attualizzazione di un dialogo italo-tedesco Pavia, 14-16 maggio 2020 / Berlino, 24-26 settembre 2020 Organizzazione: Georg W. Bertram / Luca Fonnesu / Giovanna Pinna.
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Studi di Estetica , 2020
WIth Alva Noë, Georg W. Bertram, David Davies, Thomas Leddy, Tullio Viola
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![Research paper thumbnail of Die Kunst und die Künste [mit Georg W. Bertram und Stefan Deines], Berlin: Suhrkamp 2021.](https://attachments.academia-assets.com/74875973/thumbnails/1.jpg)
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