Georg Picht: A Pioneer in Philosophy, Politics and the Arts

Description

Aimed at an international readership, this book offers a representative collection of essays by the German philosopher, Georg Picht (1913-1982), who was a specialist in Greek philosophy, practical philosophy and philosophy of religion. Picht's themes address different disciplines, such as ancient philosophy, systematic philosophy and political analysis, and often contain critical statements on significant developments from the European Enlightenment to the Cold War era. Other essays offer a distinctive interdisciplinary approach characteristic of the author. These contributions are relevant to both philosophy and science as they discuss, for instance, philosophical definitions of space and time or the relationship between history and evolution. Another part of the book includes texts on art that present Picht’s authentic definition of art and his theory of the interdependence of art and politics. • For the first time, key texts of the German philosopher and political thinker Georg Picht are presented to a global readership in English. • Like Nietzsche’s philosophy, Picht’s work is grounded in his outstanding professionalism in the different fields of classics, embracing not only textsand theories of the great thinkers from the pre-Socratic to the post-Aristotelian and Stoic philosophies but also the main currents of ancient literature. • Picht’s importance as a political author and public adviser is exceptional, and may explain why his lifelong friend Carl Friedrich von Weizsäcker – another pioneer presented in this series – called him his “teacher”.  Acknowledgements Introduction Contents 1 Prologue: Atonal Philosophy – In Memory of Theodor W. Adorno († 6 August 1969) Part I Ancient Greek Philosophy 2 The Epiphany of the Eternal Present – Truth, Being and Appearance in Parmenides (1960) 2.1 The Prehistory of Epiphany from Homer to Xenophanes 2.2 The Epiphany of Truth in Parmenides 3 The Irony of Socrates (1971) 4 The Concept of Energeia in Aristotle (1959) Part II Ethics, Politics and Right 5 Kant’s Transcendental Grounding of International Right (1971) 5.1 The Systematic Locus of Kant’s Transcendental Deduction of International Right 5.2 The Deduction of International Right from Natural Principles 5.3 The Deduction of International Right from the Principle of Freedom 6 The Intellectual-Historical Background of the Doctrine of Human Right (1957/1980) 7 Philosophy and Politics (1972) 8 The Philosophical Concept of Ethics (1978) Part III Time and History 9 Time and Modalities (1971) 10 The Historical Nature of the Human Being (1976) Part IV Art and Myth (1972/1973) 11 The Conflict Between Art and Society 12 Absolute Art and Politics 13 The Crisis of European Art and the Emergence of Esthetics 14 Myth and Affect 14.1 Phobos – God of Terror 14.2 Eris – Goddess of Discord 14.3 Affect and God 14.4 The Invisible Power of Horror 14.5 The Perception of the Invisible 14.6 Affect and Anticipation 15 Epilogue: On Evil (1981) On Georg Picht Selected Bibliography On the Editors Author Index Subject Index