Tag: Ernst Cassirer

Heidegger (right) and Husserl in 1921.

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In my “Notes on Strauss and Husserl,” I discuss the following passage from Leo Strauss’ Natural Right and History:

To grasp the natural world as a world that is radically prescientific or prephilosophic, one has to go back behind the first emergence of science or philosophy. It is not necessary for this purpose to engage in extensive and necessarily hypothetical anthropological studies. The information that classical philosophy supplies about its origins suffices . . . (more…)

Edmund Husserl

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Leo Strauss credited Edmund Husserl’s phenomenology as a critical resource for his project of overthrowing modern political thought and vindicating the ancients. This may come as some surprise to readers of Strauss, given the prominence of his critique of historicism, which applies to Husserl as well. But Strauss’s late essay, “Philosophy as Rigorous Science and Political Philosophy”[1] as well as posthumously published lectures and correspondence reveal significant debts to Husserl.

Husserl was not, moreover, a mere “negative influence” — i.e., someone whose ideas Strauss rejected. Husserl was a “positive influence,” meaning that Strauss accepted and incorporated some of his ideas. (more…)

Giambattista Vico

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Author’s Note:

This is the transcript by V.S. of my speech “Vico and Modern Anti-Liberalism,” given at The London Forum on Saturday, September 27, 2014. I have heavily edited it, rewriting it in places. I want to thank Jez Turner and The London Forum team for a memorable event. 

Today I’m going to talk about a topic that’s somewhat esoteric. (more…)

3,758 slov

English original here

Často se říká, že nihilismus je jednou z nejvýraznějších charakteristik naší moderní doby – co to ale vlastně nihilismus vůbec je? Nihilismus znamená cosi jako „smrt“ Boha, popření objektivního smyslu a hodnot, rozostření morálních kategorií a hierarchií, rozklad společného světa na individuální náhledy i společné kultury do subjektivních „osobních preferencí.“ (more…)

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English original here

On dit souvent que le nihilisme est l’une des principales caractéristiques de l’âge moderne, mais qu’est-ce que le nihilisme ? Le nihilisme signifie quelque chose comme la « mort » de Dieu, la négation du sens et de la valeur objectifs, l’effacement des distinctions morales et des hiérarchies, la dissolution d’un monde commun en perspectives individuelles, et la dissolution d’une culture commune en « préférences données » subjectives.  (more…)

3,318 words

English original here

Frecuentemente se dice que el nihilismo es una de las características de la era moderna pero, ¿qué es el nihilismo? El nihilismo significa algo así como la “muerte” de Dios, la negación del valor y del significado objetivo, la borradura de las distinciones morales y jerárquicas, la disolución de un mundo común a las perspectivas individuales, y la disolución de una cultura común a las “preferencias dadas” subjetivas.  (more…)

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Translations: French, Spanish, Czech

It is often said that nihilism is one of the leading characteristics of the modern age, but what is nihilism? Nihilism means something like the “death” of God, the denial of objective meaning and value, the erasure of moral distinctions and hierarchies, the dissolution of a common world into individual perspectives, and the dissolution of a common culture into subjective “given preferences.”  (more…)

54:49 / 99 words

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This is my lecture “Giambattista Vico and Modern Anti-Liberalism,” delivered at the London Forum on Saturday, September 27, 2014.  (more…)

16,482 words

1. Introduction

Le problème avec nos païens occidentaux modernes, c’est qu’ils ne croient pas vraiment en leurs dieux, ils croient seulement croire en eux.

Mes ancêtres croyaient, mais je ne sais pas de quelle manière ils croyaient. Je confesse que je ne sais pas à quoi cela ressemble de vivre dans un monde où il y a des dieux. (more…)