Philosophy and Social Criticism 46 (1):64-90 (2020)
Authors |
|
Abstract |
Late antique Gnosticism and Heidegger’s Existentialism are usually counted among the main theoretical targets of Hans Jonas’s philosophy of life and responsibility, since they are supposed to share the dualistic and nihilistic attitude the philosopher deemed most mistaken and pernicious. In particular, Gnosticism is commonly understood as the exact opposite of what Jonas strove to accomplish in his work. However, I think it is simplistic to relegate Gnosticism to a merely antagonistic role in the development of Jonas’s philosophy. My claim is that Gnosticism, being a non-nihilistic form of dualism, might have been a relevant source of inspiration – although not the only one – for amending the flaws of Heidegger’s Existentialism. By taking a closer look at the essay Gnosticism, Existentialism, and Nihilism, this article aims to clarify the critical and constructive role that Gnosticism might have played in shaping some of the major traits of Jonas’s thought. The first part of this essay deals with Jonas’s ‘gnostic reading’ of Heidegger’s Existentialism and highlights the positive insights drawn from such interpretative strategy. The second part focuses on three main motives in Jonas’s philosophy that may be traced back to the gnostic narrative: value objectivity and vulnerability, human responsibility and involvement in the history of being, and the sense of belonging to a wider dimension capable of providing orientation and meaning to human life.
|
Keywords | No keywords specified (fix it) |
Categories |
No categories specified (categorize this paper) |
ISBN(s) | |
DOI | 10.1177/0191453719839455 |
Options |
![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() |
Download options
References found in this work BETA
The Imperative of Responsibility: In Search of an Ethics for the Technological Age.Hans Jonas - 1984 - University of Chicago Press.
The Imperative of Responsibility: In Search of an Ethics for the Technological Age.Hans Jonas - 1984 - Human Studies 11 (4):419-429.
The Question Concerning Technology and Other Essays.Martin Heidegger & William Lovitt - 1981 - International Journal for Philosophy of Religion 12 (3):186-188.
View all 29 references / Add more references
Citations of this work BETA
Reading Heidegger Against the Grain: Hans Jonas on Existentialism, Gnosticism, and Modern Science.Daniel M. Herskowitz - 2022 - Modern Intellectual History 19 (2):527-550.
Similar books and articles
Hans Jonas' 'Gnosticism and Modern Nihilism', and Ludwig von Bertalanffy.Roberto Franzini Tibaldeo - 2012 - Philosophy and Social Criticism 38 (3):289-311.
Gnosticism and Modern Nihilism.Hans Jonas - forthcoming - Social Research: An International Quarterly.
La rivoluzione ontologica di Hans Jonas. Uno studio sulla genesi e il significato di “Organismo e libertà”.Roberto Franzini Tibaldeo - 2009 - Mimesis.
La Dernière Crise Gnostique : Pascal Et le Gnosticisme Ad Hominem.Daniel Rudy Hiller - 2018 - Philosophiques 45 (1):3-20.
The Phenomenon of Life: Toward a Philosophical Biology; [Essays].Hans Jonas - 1966 - New York: Harper & Row.
Gnosticism.Hans Jonas - 1967 - In Paul Edwards (ed.), The Encyclopedia of Philosophy. New York: Macmillan. pp. 3--336.
From Ancient Gnostics to Modern Scholars – Issues in Defining the Concept of “Gnosticism”.Victor-Alexandru Pricopi - 2013 - Revista Romaneasca pentru Educatie Multidimensionala 5 (2):41-56.
Hans Jonas's Diagnosis of Nihilism: The Case of Heidegger.Lawrence Vogel - 1995 - International Journal of Philosophical Studies 3 (1):55 – 72.
Overcoming Gnosticism: Hans Jonas, Hans Blumenberg, and the Legitimacy of the Natural World.Benjamin Lazier - 2003 - Journal of the History of Ideas 64 (4):619-637.
Gnosticism and Early Monasticism in Egypt.Frederik Wisse - forthcoming - Gnosis: Festschrift Fur Hans Jonas.
Evolution and the Meaning of Being: Heidegger, Jonas and Nihilism.Lawrence Vogel - 2018 - Continental Philosophy Review 51 (1):65-79.
Ancient Wisdom and the Modern Temper. On the Role of Greek Philosophy and the Jewish Tradition in Hans Jonas’s Philosophical Anthropology.Fabio Fossa - 2017 - Philosophical Readings 9 (1):55-60.
The Phenomenon of Life: Toward a Philosophical Biology.Hans Jonas - 1966 - Northwestern University Press.
Analytics
Added to PP index
2019-04-11
Total views
18 ( #611,110 of 2,519,631 )
Recent downloads (6 months)
1 ( #406,756 of 2,519,631 )
2019-04-11
Total views
18 ( #611,110 of 2,519,631 )
Recent downloads (6 months)
1 ( #406,756 of 2,519,631 )
How can I increase my downloads?
Downloads