Questioning the Presence of the Past

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منو

" Questioning the Presence of the Past "
Thomas Kriza

Document Type	:	AL
Record Number	:	1083241
Doc. No	:	LA126870
Call No	:	‭10.1163/25892525-00101005‬
Language of Document	:	English
Main Entry	:	Thomas Kriza
Title & Author	:	Questioning the Presence of the Past [Article]\ Thomas Kriza
Publication Statement	:	Leiden: Brill
Title of Periodical	:	Secular Studies
Date	:	2019
Volume/ Issue Number	:	1/1
Page No	:	74–91
Abstract	:	This paper questions the contemporary turn towards horizons of existential meaning going back to antiquity especially in the shape of a turn to religion by pointing to crucial differences between antique conceptions of thought and their modern revivals. Pierre Hadot and Michel Foucault interpret antique thought as spiritual exercises to perfect human existence, exposing an inherent existential relevance and connection to a peculiar conception of truth. I argue that because of these ties to a truth claim deeply alien to the modern scientific world-view, antique horizons of existential meaning cannot be revived within modern frames of thought. Their contemporary presence is more likely the expression of the deeply ambivalent modern relationship to premodern horizons of existential meaning, rather than a genuine revival. This paper questions the contemporary turn towards horizons of existential meaning going back to antiquity especially in the shape of a turn to religion by pointing to crucial differences between antique conceptions of thought and their modern revivals. Pierre Hadot and Michel Foucault interpret antique thought as spiritual exercises to perfect human existence, exposing an inherent existential relevance and connection to a peculiar conception of truth. I argue that because of these ties to a truth claim deeply alien to the modern scientific world-view, antique horizons of existential meaning cannot be revived within modern frames of thought. Their contemporary presence is more likely the expression of the deeply ambivalent modern relationship to premodern horizons of existential meaning, rather than a genuine revival.
Descriptor	:	meaning of life
Descriptor	:	Michel Foucault
Descriptor	:	Pierre Hadot
Descriptor	:	spiritual exercises
Descriptor	:	stoicism
Location & Call number	:	‭10.1163/25892525-00101005‬