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 Unpublished during his lifetime, this essay analyzes Freud's Moses and Monotheism (1939) and Arendt's Eichmann in Jerusalem (1963), and discovers in both a principled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.

About the Author

Hans Blumenberg (1920-1996) was Professor of Philosophy, Emeritus, at the University of Munster and the author of books including Paradigms for a Metaphorology (also in Cornell's Signale series), The Legitimacy of the Modern Age, The Genesis of the Copernican World, and Work on Myth. Joe Paul Kroll is Editor at the Leibniz Institute of European History, Mainz, Germany. Ahlrich Meyer, a German political scientist and historian, is the author of many books in German.

Reviews

Blumenberg's essay brilliantly demonstrates his thesis on the subjectivity of 'truth.'

* Neue Zurcher Zeitung *

The Reader is a kind of belated debutante ball for Hans Blumenberg inviting a new audience to view Blumenberg not only at his entrance to scholarly life in the 1940s but also to key moments in his ascent of the rarefied staircase of German intellectual history.... A large and bounteous book.

* Critical Inquiry *

This work is recommended to everyone interested in Blumenberg's thinking and work.

* literaturkritik.de *

Rigorism of Truth has been received as a critically important text revealing Blumenberg's political interests. It gives insight into certain more articulated political views that remained hidden during his lifetime.

* Phenomenological Reviews *

Rigorism of Truth is as philosophically complex as the book is biographically and politically convoluted.

* Arendt Studies *

The book is an impassioned reflection on the power and failure of the rigorous pursuit of truth by two prominent Jewish intellectuals of the 21st century, namely, Sigmund Freud and Hannah Arendt. Blumenberg's posthumously published views, originally taken from his Nachlass, opens up important questions: what can truth achieve for our understanding of human political reality? What is the role of myth in the world of human affairs?

* Philosophy in Review *



Book Information
ISBN 9781501716720
Author Hans Blumenberg
Format Paperback
Page Count 108
Imprint Cornell University Press
Publisher Cornell University Press
Weight(grams) 454g
Dimensions(mm) 229mm * 152mm * 10mm