Prof. Dr. Michael Bongardt Slides for private use only! Hans Jonas: Heidegger‘s Disobedient Student Lecture at Sapienza Universitá Rome May 2015 Prof. Dr. Michael Bongardt Freie Universität Berlin Michael. Bongardt@fu-berlin. de
Prof. Dr. Michael Bongardt I. Broken friendship: some biographical notes II. Reflecting on human existence III. Existence and religion IV. The value of life V. Human responsibility
Prof. Dr. Michael Bongardt I. Broken friendship: some biographical notes
Prof. Dr. Michael Bongardt I. Broken friendship 1903 1921 -28 1933 1934 1940 -45 1948 -49 1949 Hans Jonas was born in Mönchengladbach Studies in Freiburg, Berlin, Marburg Emigration to London Emigration to Jerusalem Soldier of the British Army Soldier of the Army of Israel Emigration to Canada (fellow at several universities) 1954 Emigration to USA 1954 -76 Professor at New School, New York 1993 Hans Jonas passed away in New York
Prof. Dr. Michael Bongardt I. Broken friendship Martin Heidegger (1889 – 1976) in Marburg 1924 – 1927
Prof. Dr. Michael Bongardt I. Broken friendship Hans Jonas (1903 – 1993) in Marburg 1923 - 1933
Prof. Dr. Michael Bongardt I. Broken friendship Heidegger - fascinating teacher Hannah‘s friend Ph. D supervisor National Socialist Irreparable discord
Prof. Dr. Michael Bongardt I. Broken friendship: some biographical notes II. Reflecting on human existence 1. Between Heidegger and Kierkegaard 2. Existentialism and ontology
Prof. Dr. Michael Bongardt II. Reflecting on human existence 1. Between Heidegger and Kierkegaard Heidegger: - Phenomenology - „Sein“ und „Dasein“ („being“ – „being there“ - Phenomena of human life: „existentials“ - Beyond the split - Post-metaphysical thought
Prof. Dr. Michael Bongardt II. Reflecting on human existence 1. Between Heidegger and Kierkegaard: - Subjectivity as truth - Choosing yourself - Free will and faith
Prof. Dr. Michael Bongardt II. Reflecting on human existence 1. Between Heidegger and Kierkegaard Jonas: - Phenomena of human life - Subjectivity and free will
Prof. Dr. Michael Bongardt I. Broken friendship: some biographical notes II. Reflecting on human existence 1. Between Heidegger and Kierkegaard 2. Existentialism and ontology
Prof. Dr. Michael Bongardt II. Reflecting on human existence 2. Existentialism and ontology Heidegger / Jonas - common questions - common critiques - very different answers
Prof. Dr. Michael Bongardt II. Reflecting on human existence 2. Existentialism and ontology „From being and time“ (Heidegger) vs. „Life and organism“ (Jonas)
Prof. Dr. Michael Bongardt I. Broken friendship: some biographical notes II. Reflecting on human existence III. Existence and religion
Prof. Dr. Michael Bongardt III. Existence and religion Rudolf Bultmann (1884 – 1976) in Marburg 1905 – 1916 1921 – 1976
Prof. Dr. Michael Bongardt III. Existence and religion 1. 2. 3. 4. Experience and dogma Demythologisation St. Paul and St. Augustine The gnostic interpretation of human existence
Prof. Dr. Michael Bongardt III. Existence and religion 1. Experience and dogma - Human experience of world, man, and God as starting point of selfinterpretation - Selfinterpretation as starting point of religion - Myth and dogma as condensed and fixed selfinterpretation
Prof. Dr. Michael Bongardt III. Existence and religion 1. Experience and dogma 2. Demythologisation
Prof. Dr. Michael Bongardt III. Existence and religion 2. Demythologisation as interpretation of religious systems - Uncovering the selfinterpretation behind the myths and dogmas - Contextualizing the selfinterpretation - Understanding the meaning of myths and dogmas - Critical investigation of past and presence
Prof. Dr. Michael Bongardt III. Existence and religion 1. Experience and dogma 2. Demythologisation 3. St. Paul and St. Augustine
Prof. Dr. Michael Bongardt III. Existence and religion 3. Paul and Augustine A new definition of free will: Stoic understanding: - free from emotions - acceptance of the rational order vs. St Paul: - free will - choosing the good
Prof. Dr. Michael Bongardt III. Existence and religion 3. Paul and Augustine Rom 7, 15 “And I have no clear knowledge of what I am doing, for that which I have a mind to do, I do not, but what I have hate for, that I do. ”
Prof. Dr. Michael Bongardt III. Existence and religion 3. Paul and Augustine Jonas‘ interpretation: - the dialectics of human free will - free will is a dynamic but any decision is an objectivation - We don‘t the good because it is good but to become a good man – praised by God
Prof. Dr. Michael Bongardt III. Existence and religion 3. Paul and Augustine St Augustin‘s interpretation: - cause of sin is the original sin - any human being after Adam is born in sin - nobody is able by his own potency to recognise, to want and to do the good - there is no free will - all human beings need the grace of God - then the Holy Spirit acts within man
Prof. Dr. Michael Bongardt III. Existence and religion 3. Paul and Augustine Jonas‘s interpretation of Augustin: - „original sin“ is a myth / dogma - the dogma neglected the dialectics of human free will - demythtologisation has to rediscover free will
Prof. Dr. Michael Bongardt III. Existence and religion 1. 2. 3. 4. Experience and dogma Demythologisation St. Paul and St. Augustine The gnostic interpretation of human existence
Prof. Dr. Michael Bongardt III. Existence and religion 4. Gnosticism - phenomenon from 2 nd to 5 th cent. CE. (Manichaeism until 15 th cent. ) - a way of religious thinking, gone in several religions including Christianity - important gnostic thinkers and teachers: Marcion, Valentinus (both 2 nd. cent. ) Mani (3 rd. cent. )
Prof. Dr. Michael Bongardt III. Existence and religion 4. Gnosticism Hans Jonas: - Intensive historical and philological research on the sources about Gnosticism - 2 published Volumes: Gnosticism and the spirit of late antiquity But most important: - The existentialistic interpretation of Gnosticism: „Demythologization“
Prof. Dr. Michael Bongardt III. Existence and religion 4. Gnosticism Jonas on Gnosticism Characteristics of gnostic systems: - a gapping abyss between - God and the world - human beings and God
Prof. Dr. Michael Bongardt III. Existence and religion 4. Gnosticism Characteristics of gnostic systems: - no chaos but order - gnostic systems establish order - system of gods, angels, powers, matter etc. - the order of the world as order of a prison - the order of salvation
Prof. Dr. Michael Bongardt III. Existence and religion 4. Gnosticism Contradictions against Bible and ancient philosophy: - Bible - the transcendent God created the world well - he gave a good order to the world - the world should be the home of mankind and the object of its responsibility
Prof. Dr. Michael Bongardt III. Existence and religion 4. Gnosticism Contradictions against Bible and ancient philosophy: - Ancient philosophy, partcularly Stoicism - „Logos“: the rational order of the whole being - human capacity to recognice and understand the order - freedom as accepting the rational order
Prof. Dr. Michael Bongardt III. Existence and religion 4. Gnosticism Feelings behind the Myths - alienation loneliness worthlessness desire for extramundan salvation
Prof. Dr. Michael Bongardt III. Existence and religion 4. Gnosticism Feelings behind the Myths „Greek thought had been a grand expression of man‘s belonging to the world (if not unreservedly to mere terrestrial life) […]: gnostic thought is inspired by the anguished discovery of man‘s cosmic solitude, of the utter otherness of his being to that of the universe at large. “ (Jonas, Gnostic Religion, p. 251)
Prof. Dr. Michael Bongardt III. Existence and religion 4. Gnosticism Social context: From „polis“ to „Imperium Romanum“: „But the new atomized masses of the Empire, who had never shared in that noble tradition of areté, might react very differently to a situation in which they found themselves passively involved: a situation in which the part was insignificant to the whole, and the whole alien to the parts. “ (Jonas, Gnostic Religion, p. 249)
Prof. Dr. Michael Bongardt III. Existence and religion 4. Gnosticism Practical Consequences of gnostic ideas: - Nihilism: There is no value or worth of the human existence leads to: - Ascetism: Distance to the world or - Libertinism: Enjoy the meaningless life
Prof. Dr. Michael Bongardt III. Existence and religion 4. Gnosticism „Libertinism had its alternative in asceticism. Opposite as the two types of conduct are, they yet were in the gnostic case of the same root, and the same basic argument supports them both. The one repudiates allegiance to nature through excess, the other, through abstention. “ (Jonas, Gnostic Religion, p. 274)
Prof. Dr. Michael Bongardt III. Existence and religion 4. Gnosticism Heidegger and Gnosticism according to Jonas: „The ‚existentialist‘ reading of Gnosticism, so well vindicated by ist hermeneutic success, invites as its natural complement the trial of a ‚gnostic‘ reading of Existentialism. “ (Jonas, Gnostic Religion, p. 321)
Prof. Dr. Michael Bongardt I. Broken friendship: some biographical notes II. Reflecting on human existence III. Existence and religion IV. The value of life
Prof. Dr. Michael Bongardt IV. The value of life 1. The ambiguity of divine creation 2. Life as self-affirmation 3. Life against nihilism
Prof. Dr. Michael Bongardt IV. The value of life 1. Creation Is the created world worthwile? Bible: Yes, because it is made by a good and loving God! Gnosticism: No, because it is made by an evil God, angel or principle!
Prof. Dr. Michael Bongardt IV. The value of life 1. Creation Consequence: The value of the world has to be shown without any reference to a Creator / God.
Prof. Dr. Michael Bongardt IV. The value of life 1. The ambiguity of divine creation 2. Life as self-affirmation
Prof. Dr. Michael Bongardt IV. The value of life 2. Life as self-affirmation Jonas „Life and Organism“ – a philosophical biology Philosophical interpretation of the cosmogony and the evolution of life
Prof. Dr. Michael Bongardt IV. The value of life 2. Life as self-affirmation - ongoing procession from big bang to human life - two „jumps“ („fulgurations“ – K. Lorenz): - from matter to life - from brain to mind - continuity is always higher than discontinuity
Prof. Dr. Michael Bongardt IV. The value of life 2. Life as self-affirmation Characteristics of life from its very beginning - metabolism contingency inwardness transcendence freedom / free will
Prof. Dr. Michael Bongardt IV. The value of life 2. Life as self-affirmation Characteristics of life from ist very beginning Life is the unity of necessity and freedom Life is self-affirmation Life is worthwile in itself
Prof. Dr. Michael Bongardt IV. The value of life 1. The ambiguity of divine creation 2. Life as self-affirmation 3. Life against nihilism
Prof. Dr. Michael Bongardt IV. The value of life 3. Life against nihilism From animals to human being - emergence of consciousness bound to matter and animals human life is self-affirmation as well concious decision to live confirmation of the pre-human life, its selfaffirmation, and worth
Prof. Dr. Michael Bongardt I. Broken friendship: some biographical notes II. Reflecting on human existence III. Existence and religion IV. The value of life V. Human responsibility
Prof. Dr. Michael Bongardt IV. Human Responsibility 1. Jonas‘ myth of creation an evolution 2. „It is man‘s now to give him“
Prof. Dr. Michael Bongardt IV. Human Responsibility 1. The „myth“ History: - „Immortality and Modern Temper“ (1962) context: Eternity not of human beings but of human acts and decision - „The Concept of God after Auschwitz“ (1965/1968; german: 1984) Context: theodicee
Prof. Dr. Michael Bongardt IV. Human Responsibility 1. The „myth“ „speculative theology“ and/or foundation and last reason of human responsibility
Prof. Dr. Michael Bongardt IV. Human Responsibility 1. The „myth“ „In the beginning, for unknowable reasons, the ground of being, or the Divine, chose to give itself over to the chance and risk and endless variety of becoming. And wholly so: entering into the adventure of space and time, the deity held back nothing of itself: no uncommitted or unimpaired part remained to direct, correct, and ulitmately guarantee the devious workingout of its destiny in creation. […]
Prof. Dr. Michael Bongardt IV. Human Responsibility 1. The „myth“ In order that the world migt be, and be for itself, God renounced his being, divesting himself of his deity – to receive it back from the odyssey of time weighted with the chance harvest of unforeseeable temporal experience: transfigured or possibly even disfigured by it. In such self-forfeiture of divine integrity for the sake of unprejudiced becoming, no other foreknowledge can be admitted than that of possibilities, which cosmic being offers in its own terms: to these, God committed his cause in effacing himself for the world. “ (Jonas, Concept, p. 134)
Prof. Dr. Michael Bongardt IV. Human Responsibility 1. The „myth“ Jonas‘ Conclusions: - God is not almighty - God is a becoming god (with open end!) - God is a suffering god
Prof. Dr. Michael Bongardt IV. Human Responsibility 2. „It is man‘s now to give him“ „Having given himself whole to the becoming world, God hat no more to give: it is man‘s now to give him. “ (Jonas, Concept, p. 142)
Prof. Dr. Michael Bongardt IV. Human Responsibility 2. „It is man‘s now to give him“ - For believers: They feel responsible for the world and its future – not only in view of the face of God but also in responsibility for God. - But that‘s a motivation, not a foundation of responsibility. - This foundation is the worth of life by it‘s selfaffirmation.
Prof. Dr. Michael Bongardt IV. Human Responsibility 2. „It is man‘s now to give him“ „Das Prinzip Verantwortung. Versuch einer Ethik für die technoloische Zivilisation“ (Frankfurt 1979) „The Imperative of Responsibility. In search of an ethics for the technological Age“ (Chicago 1984)
Prof. Dr. Michael Bongardt IV. Human Responsibility 2. „It is man‘s now to give him“ The title and the intention of this book are as far away from Heidegger as possible. But the friendship of Jonas and Heidegger was broken many years ago. Jonas grew up as this „inobedient student“ and became a teacher of his own ontology and ethics.
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