Thursday, August 14, 2008

Hamann's Writings Online (in German)

Following up on yesterday's post, I thought I would point interested readers to this online resource where one can find Hamann's writings in German, and a number of other important texts relating to Hamann's work. For example, there are important excerpts on Hamann from the writings of Goethe, Schlegel, Hegel, Kierkegaard, and Dilthey. Enjoy!

2 comments:

Danny said...

I am sure you are familiar with this, but in case you are not, John Betz will be publishing his book on Hamann this fall entitled: After Enlightenment: The Post-Secular Vision of J.G. Hamann

Here is the blurb (Blackwell) and table of contents:

After Enlightenment: The Post-Secular Vision of J. G. Hamann is a comprehensive introduction to the life and works of 18th-century German philosopher, J. G. Hamann, the founding father of what has come to be known as Radical Orthodoxy.

Provides a long-overdue, comprehensive introduction to Haman's fascinating life and controversial works, including his role as a friend and critic of Kant and some of the most renowned German intellectuals of the age
Features substantial new translations of the most important passages from across Hamann's writings, some of which have never been translated into English
Examines Hamann's highly original views on a range of topics, including faith, reason, revelation, Christianity, biblical exegesis, Socrates, theological aesthetics, language, sexuality, religion, politics, and the relationship between Judaism and Christianity
Presents Hamann as the 'founding father' of a distinctly post-modern, post-secular theology and, as such, as an alternative to the 'postmodern triumvirate' of Nietzsche, Heidegger, and Derrida
Considers Hamann's work as a touchtone of modern Jewish-Christian dialogue, in view of debates with his friend Moses Mendelssohn
Explores Hamann's role as the visionary founder of a 'metacritical' movement that radically calls into question the basic principles of modern secular reason, and thus reprises the debate between those defending Hamann's views and those labeling him the bête noir of the Enlightenment

TopTable of Contents
Introduction
Notorious Darkness: Reading Sibylline Leaves
A Brief History of Scholarship
Hamann and Modern Theology
A Brief Guide to the Present Book

Part I: The Making of a Christian Socrates
1. Life and Writings (1730-88)
The Making of a Man of Letters
Hamann's Conversion
Hamann's Falling Out with Berens
Hamann's Relationship with Kant
2. The London Writings: On the Glory of Trinitarian Condescension
Night Thoughts
Glory "In the Rags" of Scripture
Biblical Meditations
Reflections on Church Hymns
Fragments and Prophecies
3. A Typological Re-Reading of Socrates: On Faith, Reason, and History
The Prophet and the Idol
From Socratic Irony to Christian Humor
Toward a Philosophy of History
From Socratic Ignorance to Christian Wisdom
Converting Hume: Knowledge "By Faith Alone"
Two "Love Letters" to Kant

Part II: Crusades of a Philologist
4. Life and Writings (1760-74)
Against the Purification of Language
The Magi and "The Knight of Faith"
Crusades of a Philologist
On "Solomon of Prussia" and High School Drama
The Hamann-Herder Connection
New Apology of the Letter h and Other Writings
5. Toward a Christological Poetics: A New Aesthetics of Scripture and Creation
Cloverleaf of Hellenistic Letters: On the Style of Scripture
Aesthetica in nuce: On the Language of Creation
The Dithyrambs of a Christian Dionysus
The Perception of All Things in Christ
Toward a Christological Poetics
6. Correcting a Disciple: Hamann and Herder on the Origin of Language
Hamann's Review of Herder's Preisschrift
The Return of Aristobulus
Philological Ideas and Doubts
The Crusading Knight's Last Will and Testament
The Mystery of Language: The Alpha and Omega

Part III: Masks and Mystery Writings
7. Life and Writings (1775-80)
Hierophantic Letters
Family Life: Portrait of a Christian Sensualist
Two Mites: On the Tabernacle of Language
8. The Sibyl Speaks: On the Protological and Eschatological Mystery of Marriage
The Mystery of Marriage: A Verum Signaculum Creatoris
Essay of a Sibyl on Marriage
Aprons of Fig Leaves: On Reason's Inveterate Shame
9. Fragments of an Apocryphal Sibyl: On Natural and Apocalyptic Religion
Doubts (about Reason) and Ideas (about the Mystical Body of Christ)
Konxompax: An Apocryphal Letter to Lessing

Part IV: Metacritique: Of Reason, Natural Religion, and Secular Politics
10. Life and Writings (1780-84)
Hamann's "Twins" of 1784
Hamann and Jacobi
Divestment and Transfiguration
"Metacritical Tubs"?
11. Hamann's Metacritique of Kant: Deconstructing the Transcendental Dream
Transcendental "Mystique": The First Review of the Critique of Pure Reason
The Metacritique: A Brief History of the Purisms of Reason
The "Genealogical Priority" of Language
Language as a Sacrament
12. Metacritical Politics: On Mendelssohn's Jerusalem and the Modern Secular State
Background: A Synopsis of Mendelssohn's Jerusalem
Golgotha and Scheblimini: By a Preacher in the Desert
Built upon Sand: The Babel of Modern Natural Rights
Defending Judaism against Secular Reason: Or the Real Content of the Real Jerusalem
Prospect for Jewish-Christian Dialogue

Part V: A Final Journey: Hamann's Last Will and Testament
13. Life and Writings (1785-88)
The Münster Circle
The "Dictators of Pure Reason"
Portrait of a Christian: Greatness in Knechtsgestalt
Una Sancta Ecclesia
Hamann's Cryptic Final Testament
The Journey Home

Conclusion: After Postmodernity: Hamann before the Postmodern Triumvirate
Hamann and Postmodernity
Hamann before Nietzsche
Hamann before Heidegger
Hamann before Derrida
A Concluding Postscript to Postmodernity
Index

John R. Betz is Associate Professor of Theology at Loyola College, Maryland. He has published several articles on Hamann, including Hamann's London Writings and Hamann's significance to Kierkegaard

Gabriel Gottlieb said...

Thanks for the heads up danny. I had not heard about this book yet. It certainly sounds quite interesting.