God cannot be helped or When philosophers talk about love
In the summer of 2021 the German publishing house Piper circulated a new edition of an important book of Hannah Arendt, edited by the Munich philosopher Thomas Meyer (LMU). Important, because it is based on her first publication, her dissertation on Augustin. It is about nothing less than love!
And I may anticipate straight away - 'Der Liebesbegriff bei Augustin' is a wonderful, timeless text of this Heidegger student, in which her crystal clear, subtly dense, thoughtful stringent analysis can be witnessed. Until this book was published in 1929, Arendt has been working at the chair of Karl Jaspers on this rather bulky topic of love in the thinking of Augustin.
Why one of the most prominent rebells amongst philosophers was inflamed by a Roman bishop of the fourth century, might require a colored hint. Eventually one should not hastily be put off by the Augustinian Church Father status for a philosophical, domestic use of this rich edifice of ideas.
Dream no. 3, Regensburg, 2021 © Dr. Christine Lehr
This use for Arendt consists of a structural for and against of Augustinian arguments, regarding the topic of intersubjectivity per se - love. The color photograph she creates with her book on Augustin also talks about the 'Doppelheit' (twofold aspect of existing) of human beings between isolation and society.
On the back of the photograph she already notes later thought figures, like the term for world, vita socialis and responsibility. So it quickly becomes apparent, why after 1600 years the colors of the photo do not fade. It is also of remaining interest, when Arendt questions those structural analyses with regard to ethical foundations.
The one, who now is inflamed too, and wants to know, why God cannot be helped, be recommended my video about this.
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