Mutmaßung, or: For a Return to The Courage to Use One’s Own Understanding

TY - JOUR

T1 - Mutmaßung, or

T2 - For a Return to The Courage to Use One’s Own Understanding

AU - Ruda, Frank

PY - 2024

Y1 - 2024

N2 - I will present in the following three distinct reflections that are all linked to a fundamentally Kantian diagnosis of a problem, notably that there is a lack of courage in the present world. The first part of the present article addresses (versions of) this historical diagnosis. The second part addresses the ideological and critical consequence of the historical diagnosis, and the third part presents a systematic rethinking of what is at stake with both the historical and the ideological components. The first part will reconstruct a diagnosis of the contemporary historical moment of decay. This is a diagnosis that claims we are living in the end times because there is a lack, or a suspension, of courage. This will not allow us to say what precisely courage is. Nevertheless, it will allow us to point out that, whatever it might be, we need it. The second part will allow us to say what courage cannot and should not be. And this will necessitate an elaboration of the link between the concept of freedom and that of courage. Finally, the systematic and conceptual part will describe what kind of courage might confirm Kantian requirements.

AB - I will present in the following three distinct reflections that are all linked to a fundamentally Kantian diagnosis of a problem, notably that there is a lack of courage in the present world. The first part of the present article addresses (versions of) this historical diagnosis. The second part addresses the ideological and critical consequence of the historical diagnosis, and the third part presents a systematic rethinking of what is at stake with both the historical and the ideological components. The first part will reconstruct a diagnosis of the contemporary historical moment of decay. This is a diagnosis that claims we are living in the end times because there is a lack, or a suspension, of courage. This will not allow us to say what precisely courage is. Nevertheless, it will allow us to point out that, whatever it might be, we need it. The second part will allow us to say what courage cannot and should not be. And this will necessitate an elaboration of the link between the concept of freedom and that of courage. Finally, the systematic and conceptual part will describe what kind of courage might confirm Kantian requirements.

M3 - Article

SN - 0555-2419

SP - 23

EP - 41

JO - Problemi

JF - Problemi

IS - 7

ER -