-
1. On Historicism and Eternity: Reflections on the 100th Birthday of Franz Rosenzweig
- NYU Press
- Chapter
- Additional Information
1 On Historicism and Eternity: Reflections on the 100th Birthday of Franz Rosenzweig In honoring Fran z Rosenzwei g o n this centenary occasion , i t is appropriate t o as k wha t i t i s i n hi s wor k tha t bring s u s together . I s thi s gathering, fo r al l of it s special an d genuin e poignancy, yet another for m of wa r reparations , th e honorin g o f a long-dea d Jewis h thinke r b y hi s native Germa n cit y nearl y 4 0 year s afte r th e Shoah, o r i s i t somethin g else? And if something else, what els e can it be? That i s to say, there ar e many wh o woul d conten d tha t Rosenzweig' s philosophica l an d theo logical contribution wa s forever burie d in the rubble of Nazism, anothe r minor casualt y o f Germany' s obscen e onslaught agains t th e Jewish peo ple . Fo r i t ca n an d ha s bee n argued , tha t Rosenzweig' s relation s t o Hegel, t o Idealism , t o Germany , t o th e Galut, t o Christianity , t o Zion ism , were al l s o deepl y th e product o f hi s lat e 19th-earl y 20t h centur y German contex t that the destruction o f that Sitz im Leben eliminate s th e viability, th e authenticity , th e concretenes s o f hi s thought. Stil l more, i t is reasonable t o sugges t that his style is, for al l its radicalness, fo r al l its strangeness, fo r al l o f it s fascination , s o thoroughl y roote d i n th e no w deeply questionabl e Germani c philosophica l traditio n emergin g ou t o f Kant an d Hege l a s to be , in places, nearly unintelligibl e today . A s such, it make s littl e sens e t o attemp t t o extrac t stil l usabl e truth s fro m hi s peculiar, i f original , metaphysica l constructions , fro m hi s abstrus e negations, fro m hi s mysteriou s grammatologica l proclamations . Le t Originally prepare d fo r th e Internationa l Congres s hel d i n Kassel , Germany , i n 198 6 i n honor o f th e 100t h anniversar y o f Rosenzweig' s birth . Reprinte d b y permission o f Verla g Karl Alber, Munich . 1 2 On Historicism and Eternity us, contend th e critics, move on instead to more certain, less vulnerable, thinkers. At times , thi s negativ e recommendatio n commend s itsel f t o me ; bu t upon studie d reflectio n I a m convince d tha t t o follo w i t woul d b e a n error o f considerabl e proportions . An d thi s because , give n th e absolut e centrality o f issue s relatin g t o histor y an d historicis m i n al l form s o f modern philosophica l an d theologica l reflection , Rosenzwei g stil l ha s much t o teac h us , i f onl y b y wa y o f hi s refusa l t o capitulat e t o th e dominant historicizin g modalitie s regnan t i n contemporar y conceptua l formulations an d deconstructions . I. History, a s reconceptualized i n historicist thought, is not only a descriptive categor y bu t a prescriptiv e normativ e ideology . I n th e movemen t from Hegel' s Phdnomenologie des Geistes t o Ranke' s essay s fo r th e Historisch-Politische Zeitschrift an d to Meinecke's 193 6 historicist classic Die Entstehung des Historismus, on e observe s a progressive unfold ing of an idea whose power has been felt everywhere in modern intellec tual life. Believed to possess almost salvific potencies by some, the historicist idea can be characterized i n Dilthey's words as follows : "Thus historical awareness of the finitude of all historical phenomena, of every human o r socia l situation , th e consciousnes s o f th e relativit y o...