Weltfremdheit (Worldly Innocence)

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Peter Sloterdijk

Suhrkamp, Frankfurt, 2009, German

Nonfiction, General

7 x 4.4 inches, paperback, 381 pages

ISBN: 9783518117811

From the Publisher (in German). Das schöne, vielleicht ein wenig zu deutsch klingende Wort Weltfremdheit benennt eine so ursprüngliche wie unvermeidliche Stellung antiker Minderheiten und neuzeitlicher Mehrheiten zu einem Ganzen, dessen Liebenswürdigkeit den Test der Geschichte nicht unbeschädigt übersteht. Folglich könnte man das Buch als eine Expertise zur Strukturreform im Weltaufenthaltsraum bezeichnen. Seinem Grundzug nach gehört es nicht zur Kulturkritik, zur Moralphilosophie noch weniger. Worum es in ihm geht, ist eine Phänomenologie des weltlosen oder weltabgewandten Geistes. Diese entfaltet gleichsam ein großes Welttheater unter dem Aspekt des Fernseins von der Bühne. Wird das Interesse dieser Studien als ein anthropologisches beschrieben, so ist dies nur mit einer Einschränkung korrekt. Nicht die Menschen sind die Helden der Geschichte, sondern die Rhythmen und Gewalten des Weltaufgangs und -untergangs, in denen Menschen vorkommen.

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Peter Sloterdijk begins with describing the role of the philosopher in society as somebody who is able to explain the complexities of our world to an individual. As opposed to other philosophers of the 20th and 21st century he is more of a generalist who looks at the world as a whole. I like that he often uses polemical and controversial examples to express his ideas. There is an interesting chapter explaining the difference between a hero, who is able to walk on water, and a mystic, who accepts that he is water within water.

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