Excès du témoignage, déhiscence du témoin. Søren Kierkegaard, Emmanuel Lévinas, Jean-Louis Chrétien

This text articulates the concept of subjective truth developed by Søren Kierkegaard in Concluding Unscientific Postscript to Philosophical Fragments, in connection to a conception of testimony which both exceeds and reveals the possibilities of thinking and acting of the witness. This imbalance between the testimony and the witness finds an important extension in the distinction between the Saying and the Said made by Emmanuel Lévinas in Otherwise than Being, or Beyond Essence. This distinction opens up an understanding of thought as affectivity and allows witnessing to be viewed in the light of responsibility to the other. By being part of this philosophical heritage, Jean-Louis Chrétien shows how the testimony of the infinite is also phenomenalized in the experience of a chant that discovers its own modalities in this excess of beauty on the voice that tries to say it.

Der Ungewissheit antworten

Answering the Uncertainty. On the Staging of Truth and the Lust for Unambiguities in Times of Crisis Based on the observation that digital media are changing the nature of the public sphere and that disinformation is a new currency, the question of responsibility and secure knowledge is being raised again and again. There is hardly time for thorough assessments. The much too hastily written judgements of the digital world distort the overall picture because often only fragmentary information is processed. The self-critical examination of one’s own claims to meaning and validity, an argumentative questioning of the self-evident and discourse orientation are decisive educational moments in a time of collapsing contexts and the subjective truth associated with it.

Truth in Language: Textual Data Analysis

The article presents Lithuanian linguistic cultural image of truth reconstructed from textual data. Textual data consists of contemporary and archaic (folklore and paremia) texts. The picture of truth distinguished from the textual data is highly philosophical, what proves the opinion that language is the reflection of a nation’s philosophy and worldview. Contemporary Lithuanian language reflects two main semantic aspects of truth: absolutism and relativism. Absolutism views truth as eternal and unique, forming the background of peoples’ lives. This type of truth usually has its source in religion. Subjectivism views truth as subjective and relative, depending on time, circumstances and opinions. The boundary between subjective truth and lie is very vague. This type of truth is never unique and has a pragmatic aspect which is either collective or individual. However, the dialogue of different sides is very important as it can help to achieve the final, objective truth. Epistemological aspect of truth is also salient. Two main aspects concerning truth cognition are scepticism and dogmatism. Cognition and knowledge is seen as the way to achieve the truth; however, sceptical question is raised whether truth cognition is possible at all. Dogmatism accepts certain facts or dogmas as naturally true. Truth is usually presented as unpleasant, painful, dangerous and unclear; however, it is highly important. Textual data also reflect a lot of opposites of truth: lie, unknown, myth, bluff, artificiality, half-truth, benefit.

Prologue

Introduces some of the central ideas of existentialism—including subjective truth, finitude, being-in-the-world, facticity, transcendence, inwardness, and the self as becoming—as relevant to an individual living in the contemporary moment. Highlights existentialist concern both for human individuality and for commonly-shared features of the human condition. Emphasizes existentialist attention both to the despairing aspects of human life and to the affirmation of existence as worthy of wonder. Introduces a few key thinkers—Kierkegaard, Marcel, Heidegger, Sartre, Nietzsche—while also indicating the diversity of existentialism to be emphasized throughout the book. Addresses what existentialism may have to offer in the context of contemporary challenges to objective truth and communal forms of meaning.

If There's No Music Up in Heaven Then What's it For?

In this article, I advocate in favor of music as a method of conveying philosophical thought, in the process defending subjective, non-verbal feeling as a component of true philosophical discussion. I first invoke the Kierkegaardian concepts of subjective truth and the musical-erotic to support my position, then show how such a method could be employed through a case study of the Arcade Fire song “Here Comes The Night Time.” Finally, I confront and disarm the potential accusation that this method would over-intellectualize music through excessive interpretation, removing the erotic nature that empowers it.

If There’s No Music Up in Heaven Then What’s It For?

In this article, I advocate in favor of music as a method of conveying philosophical thought, in the process defending subjective, non-verbal feeling as a component of true philosophical discussion. I first invoke the Kierkegaardian concepts of subjective truth and the musical-erotic to support my position, then show how such a method could be employed through a case study of the Arcade Fire song “Here Comes The Night Time.” Finally, I confront and disarm the potential accusation that this method would over-intellectualize music through excessive interpretation, removing the erotic nature that empowers it.

“The World, More or Less” by Jean Rouaud: between novel and autofiction

This article discusses theoretical approaches to autofiction - a new form of self-writing which spread in French literature from the 80s. The analysis of the autofictional device implemented in the novel “The World, More or Less” by Jean Rouaud produces evidence of the fact that the interlocking of fictionality and reality can express a subjective truth, the complexity and the unescapable dimension of the subject as I and translate an experience of life better than a factual narrative. J. Rouaud defines autofiction through an intertextual dialogue with J.-J. Rousseau’s “Confessions”, a text implicitly included within the novel’s text.

Religious Experience

Rudolf Otto made an influential study of the non-rational element in religion, arguing that religious awe is a human universal. But he claimed that its higher forms are found in the book of Job and in Christianity, Kierkegaard’s notion of subjective truth is in danger of neglecting the objective content of faith.