scholarly journals Totalitarianisms as political religions in the 20th century

2021 ◽  
Vol 9 (2) ◽  
pp. 44-67
Author(s):  
Hans Otto Seitschek
Keyword(s):  
20Th Century ◽  
National Socialism ◽  
History Of Ideas ◽  
Political Religion ◽  
History Of ◽  
Eric Voegelin ◽  
Raymond Aron

Despite all contents of secularisation, a certain kind of religious element is important in every modern totalitarian system, like Communism or National Socialism. Therefore, totalitarian systems can be regarded as political religions. The following historical and philosophical reflections on the history of ideas of political religions will contain three major parts: First, early uses of the concept ‘political religion’ by Campanella and Clasen in the 16th and 17th centuries will be considered, then the interpretation of totalitarianism as political religion will be analysed, with regards to Eric Voegelin, Raymond Aron and several ramifications, and finally, the perspective of political messianism in Jacob Leib Talmon’s work will be discussed.

Diffusion – Disjunktion – Distanz

2019 ◽  
Vol 63 (2) ◽  
pp. 267-284
Author(s):  
Melis Avkiran
Keyword(s):  
20Th Century ◽  
Theoretical Approach ◽  
Art History ◽  
History Of Ideas ◽  
Early 20Th Century ◽  
Research Project ◽  
Cultural Elements ◽  
Hierarchical Order ◽  
Cultural Processes ◽  
History Of

"Diffusion – Disjunktion – Distanz Erwin Panofskys kulturmorphologische Grundierung oder Nachdenken über Renaissanceand Renascences (1944) Der vorliegende Beitrag skizziert den ersten Teil eines Forschungsentwurfs, in dessenZentrum Erwin Panofskys Artikel Renaissance and Renascences aus dem Jahr 1944steht. Die Analyse des Textes fokussiert Panofskys historische Formel des sog. ›Disjunktionsprinzips‹zur Antikenrezeption und beleuchtet das inliegende Verständniskultureller Prozesse und Zusammenhänge. Der Blick wird auf die kulturtheoretischenImplikationen gelenkt, die in Panofskys Formel enthalten sind. Diese impliziertnämlich eine grundsätzliche Mobilität antiker Kulturelemente. Mit Nähezum ethnologischen Modell der Diffusion wird ein kulturtheoretischer Zugangzu Panofskys Arbeit ermöglicht, der bisher ebenso wenig beachtet wie ideengeschichtlichkontextualisiert wurde. Dabei wird deutlich, dass kulturelle Tradierungsich anhand diffusionistischer Erklärungsmuster mit dem Ziel formiert, einehierarchische Ordnung europäischer (Kultur‑)Epochen am Beispiel der Antikenrezeptionzu postulieren. Der Ansatz zeigt das Potenzial, welches sich im Vergleichdominanter Strömungen der deutschen Ethnologie und der Kunstgeschichte imfrühen 20. Jahrhundert verbirgt. This article sketches the first part of a research project centred on Erwin Panofsky’s article»Renaissance and Renascences« from 1944. The analysis of the text focuses on Panofsky’shistorical formula of the so-called ›principle of disjunction‹ for the reception of antiquity andsheds light on the internal understanding of cultural processes and contexts. The view is directedto the cultural-theoretical implications contained in Panofsky’s formula. This implies afundamental mobility of classical cultural elements. The proximity to the ethnological modelof diffusion enables a cultural-theoretical approach to Panofsky’s work that has so far beenignored, nor has it been contextualized in terms of a history of ideas. It becomes clear thatcultural tradition is formed on the basis of diffusionist explanatory patterns with the aim ofpostulating a hierarchical order of European (cultural) epochs using the example of the receptionof antiquity. The approach shows the potential hidden in the comparison of dominantcurrents in German ethnology and art history in the early 20th century "

A Text Worthy of Plotinus

2021 ◽  
Keyword(s):  
20Th Century ◽  
Late Antiquity ◽  
Collaborative Work ◽  
History Of Ideas ◽  
Medieval Manuscripts ◽  
History Of ◽  
First Time ◽  
Time Information

A Text Worthy of Plotinus makes available for the first time information on the collaborative work that went into the completion of the first reliable edition of Plotinus’ Enneads: Plotini Opera, editio maior, three volumes (Brussels, Paris, and Leiden, 1951-1973), followed by the editio minor, three volumes (Oxford, 1964-1983). Pride of place is given to the correspondence of the editors, Paul Henry S.J. and Hans-Rudolf Schwyzer, with other prominent scholars of late antiquity, amongst whom are E.R. Dodds, B.S. Page, A.H. Armstrong, and J. Igal S.J. Also included in the volume are related documents consisting in personal memoirs, course handouts and extensive biographical notices of the two editors as well as of those other scholars who contributed to fostering the revival of Plotinus in the latter half of the 20th century. Taken together, letters and documents let the reader into the problems – codicological, exegetical, and philosophical – that are involved in the interpretation of medieval manuscripts and their transcription for modern readers. Additional insights are provided into the nature of collaborative work involving scholars from different countries and traditions. A Text Worthy of Plotinus will prove a crucial archive for generations of scholars. Those interested in the philosophy of Plotinus will find it a fount of information on his style, manner of exposition, and handling of sources. The volume will also appeal to readers interested in broader trends in 20th century scholarship in the fields of Classics, History of Ideas, Theology, and Religion.

Public Administration in the Social Reform Movement

Public Voices ◽  
2017 ◽  
Vol 4 (3) ◽  
pp. 69
Author(s):  
M. Curtis Hoffman
Keyword(s):  
Public Administration ◽  
20Th Century ◽  
Social Reform ◽  
Structural Reform ◽  
History Of Ideas ◽  
Reform Movement ◽  
The Social ◽  
History Of ◽  
Reform Tradition ◽  
Hearts And Minds

At the start of the 20th century, social reform competed with structural reform for the hearts and minds of urban reformers. Public administration scholarship has long recognized P A's roots in the structural reform tradition. In contrast, P A's rela­tionship to the social reform tradition has remained obscure. This exploration in the history of ideas shows that social reform rejected many principles upon which public adminis­tration now rests, and advanced many alternative concepts in their stead.

Gregory Bateson and Eric Voegelin

2017 ◽  
Vol 30 (3) ◽  
pp. 86-106 ◽  
Author(s):  
Bjørn Thomassen
Keyword(s):  
20Th Century ◽  
Human Sciences ◽  
Gregory Bateson ◽  
History Of ◽  
Eric Voegelin

This article argues that two important thinkers of the 20th century, Gregory Bateson (1904–80) and Eric Voegelin (1901–85), developed a set of ideas that are of importance to the history of the human sciences. The article also argues that their ideas are, in essential ways, comparable and display similarities that have not yet been discussed within the larger history of the human sciences. The aim of the article is to show how the diagnostic terms provided by Bateson and Voegelin complement each other toward an understanding of underlying tensions and social pathologies of contemporary civilization.

scholarly journals On Something Like an Operational Virtuality

Humanities ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 10 (1) ◽  
pp. 29
Author(s):  
Alexander Wilson
Keyword(s):  
20Th Century ◽  
19Th Century ◽  
Intuitionistic Logic ◽  
Category Theory ◽  
Type Theory ◽  
Formal Theory ◽  
History Of Ideas ◽  
Homotopy Type Theory ◽  
History Of ◽  
Theoretical Thinking

We outline here a certain history of ideas concerning the relation between intuitions and their external verification and consider its potential for detrivializing the concept of virtuality. From Descartes and Leibniz onward to 19th-century geometry and the concept of “invariant” that it shares with 19th-century psychology, we follow the thread of what might be informally called an “operational” conception of the virtual, an intuition progressively developed in the 20th century from of group theoretical thinking into “functorial” thinking (in the context of category theory), and eventually intuitions for the concept of “univalence” (homotopy type theory) and its implications for the meaning of equality and identity. At each turn, skeptical arguments haunt this history’s modes of exteriorization, proof, and verification; we consider the later Wittgenstein’s worries concerning rule following and the apparent unbridgeable gap between formal theory and informal practice. We show how the development of mathematical intuitions and formalisms in the last century and the discovery of deep connection between intuitionistic logic and computation have begun to respond to some of these concerns and favour a conception of virtuality that is operational, constructive, pragmatic, and hospitible to scientific detrivialization.

scholarly journals CORPORATISM AND THE BRITISH CONSTITUTIONAL HERITAGE: EVIDENCES FROM THE HISTORY OF IDEAS

2018 ◽  
Vol 31 (64) ◽  
pp. 151-172
Author(s):  
Valerio Torreggiani
Keyword(s):  
20Th Century ◽  
History Of Ideas ◽  
The Other ◽  
Other Hand ◽  
Time Period ◽  
History Of ◽  
The One ◽  
The Given ◽  
And Diffusion

Abstract This article challenges a historiographical understanding of corporatism as an appendix of fascist ideology by examining the elaboration and diffusion of corporatist cultures in Britain during the first half of the 20th century. The case study seeks, on the one hand, to highlight the changing nature of corporatism by showing the different forms - fascist and non-fascist - that it took in Britain in the given time period. On the other hand, the article connects British corporatism with the European corporatist movement, as well as with the British constitutional heritage, underlining the close entangling of national and transnational issues.

The ethos of caring within midwifery: A history of ideas study

2016 ◽  
Vol 25 (6) ◽  
pp. 808-818
Author(s):  
Åsa Larsson ◽  
Yvonne Hilli
Keyword(s):  
20Th Century ◽  
Scientific Practice ◽  
Research Integrity ◽  
History Of Ideas ◽  
Way Of Life ◽  
Ethical Guidelines ◽  
Ethical Considerations ◽  
Cultural Goods ◽  
Caring Science ◽  
History Of

Background: The midwifery profession in Sweden has a history since the early 1700s when government training for midwives began. Midwifery is historically well described, but the idea of caring within midwifery is not described. Aim: The aim was to describe the patterns of ideas of caring as they appeared in midwifery during the first half of the 20th century. Research design: This study has a hermeneutic approach and the method is history of ideas. Sources of material are taken from the journal Jordemodern (Midwifery), textbooks for midwives, and midwifery regulations. The study has a caring science perspective according to Eriksson. Ethical considerations: This study is conducted in accordance with the ethical guidelines for good scientific practice issued by The Finnish Advisory Board on Research Integrity. The special demands on approach to the analyzed text in history of ideas have been met. Findings: Three themes were identified: Serving as a way of life, Acting in a redemptive spirit, and Having independence with heavy responsibility. The various themes are not refined, but current ideas are woven into the weave that were characteristic of midwifery during the first half of the 20th century. Conclusion: History of ideas is a fruitful method for understanding and re-finding valuable cultural goods. We can once more stress the manner of being within the midwife’s profession where inner values, ethos, shape the manner of conduct in the care of women in childbirth.

scholarly journals Sacrum i rewolucja. Leszek Kołakowski i inni

2019 ◽  
Vol 14 (2) ◽  
pp. 37-59
Author(s):  
Jan Krasicki
Keyword(s):  
20Th Century ◽  
History Of Ideas ◽  
Russian Revolution ◽  
History Of ◽  
Revolutionary Movements ◽  
The Relationship ◽  
The Revolution

The sacred and the revolution Leszek Kołakowski and othersThe author examines the relationship between the sphere of the sacred and the phenomenon of the revolution. He points to the distinctiveness of Leszek Kołakowski’s position as compared to the views articulated by other representatives of the so-called Warsaw school of the history of ideas. He claims that Kołakowski’s philosophical programme, which takes into account the sacred and mythical dimension of the socio-political diagnoses, can help us to understand the Russian Revolution of 1917 as well as other revolutionary movements and processes of the 20th century. He demonstrates that the sacred is an inherent aspect of the revolutionary mentality. Also, he argues that the ideologies which turned against religion in the name of the struggle with religious superstitions, in the end became quasi-religious. As a matter of fact, the revolutionary utopia may be perceived as a kind of crypto-religion involving such elements of the mythical thinking as a belief in the cognition of history, an assumption that the latter may be started anew, a belief in the possibility of the secular eschatology, etc.

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