Metaphors for Mankind

The Development of Hans Blumenberg's Anthropological Metaphorology

Bibliographic Data

ID4455861
AuthorsDavid Adams (0000-0002-5479-0007, corresponding author)
Year1991
Volume52
Issue1
Pages152
Publication date1991-01-01
Peer ReviewedYes
Open AccessNo
TypeARTICLE
VenueJournal of the History of Ideas (JOURNAL)
Journal identifiersISSN: 0022-5037 • E-ISSN: 1086-3222
PublisherJSTOR (PUBLISHER)
DOI10.2307/2709587
OpenAlexW2320904596
LanguageEN
Citations received9

Hans Blumenberg appears to be more prolific now, forty-five years into his career, than ever before. This means that an assessment of his metaphorology could prove premature, but he has given us little reason to expect any fundamental changes in his position. In the past he has remained quite consistent as he has developed and extended his ideas. In any case we need not speculate about his future course; we can begin to measure the distance he has come without considering where he will end up. To indicate his point of departure and provide a context for his accomplishment, I shall begin with a brief discussion of the confrontation between Ernst Cassirer and Martin Heidegger in 1929 in Davos, Switzerland. The Davos debate, which survives in the form of minutes taken by students, gives succinct expression to the two philosophers' striking differences on a variety of interrelated issues. It allows us to see the challenge that metaphysics (Heidegger) had presented to philosophical anthropology (Cassirer) before Blumenberg took up the cause of the latter

Epistemology · Sociology · Humanities and Social Sciences · Philosophy

Tools

Open DOISci-Hub