Hans Blumenberg facts for kids

Hans Blumenberg (born July 13, 1920, in Lübeck – died March 28, 1996, in Altenberge) was a German philosopher and historian of ideas. He is known for his unique way of thinking about how we use language, especially metaphors. He believed that understanding the hidden meanings in our everyday words can help us get closer to the truth.

Blumenberg created a special way of studying ideas called "metaphorology." This idea suggests that the deepest truths are often found not in complex theories, but in the simple metaphors and common phrases we use every day. His later books, like Care Crosses the River, explored how human life can be understood through these everyday expressions. He looked at small, seemingly unimportant stories from history and literature to find big ideas. Blumenberg's ideas are often surprising and full of interesting hints, sometimes even a bit ironic. Most importantly, he warned against believing in one single "revealed truth" and instead celebrated the beauty of a world that is always changing and full of different ideas.

A Life of Learning

Hans Blumenberg finished high school in 1939 with top honors. He was the only student in his class to receive a special "Distinguished" grade. However, because his mother was Jewish, he was labeled a "half-Jew" by the Nazis. This meant he could not continue his studies in theology, which he had planned to do.

Instead, from 1939 to 1941, he studied philosophy at universities in Paderborn and Frankfurt. He was forced to leave these studies later. Back in Lübeck, he had to work at a company called Drägerwerk AG. In 1944, Blumenberg was held in a Nazi concentration camp, but he was released thanks to Heinrich Dräger, the head of the company. At the end of World War II, he was hidden by the family of his future wife, Ursula.

Blumenberg deeply disliked the years he felt were "stolen" from him by the Nazis. His friend Odo Marquard said that after the war, Blumenberg tried to make up for lost time by sleeping only six times a week! This idea of a short life and limited time often appeared in his writings, especially in his book The Legitimacy of the Modern Age.

After 1945, Blumenberg continued his studies in philosophy, Germanistics, and classical philology at the University of Hamburg. He earned his first degree in 1947 from the University of Kiel, writing about the origins of ontology (the study of being) in the Middle Ages. In 1950, he completed his postdoctoral degree with a paper on the crisis of Edmund Husserl's Phenomenology. His teacher during these years was Ludwig Landgrebe.

During his career, Blumenberg was a member of the Senate of the German Research Foundation. He was also a professor at several universities in Germany and helped start a research group called Poetics and Hermeneutics.

His Important Work

Blumenberg's work was mostly about the history of ideas. He was known for his deep knowledge of philosophy and theology, and for his clear and precise writing.

Absolute Metaphors

In his early book, Paradigms for a Metaphorology (1960), he explained his idea of "absolute metaphors." These are powerful metaphors, like "the naked truth," that are a basic part of how we think and talk about philosophy. Blumenberg believed these metaphors cannot be fully explained by simple concepts or logic. Instead, they help us understand reality as a whole, which is important for how humans think and act.

He said that "absolute" metaphors are hard to change into simple terms. But this doesn't mean they can't be replaced or improved over time. Even these strong metaphors have their own history. He explored this idea further in books about light as a metaphor for knowledge, ships and navigation as metaphors for existence (in Shipwreck with Spectator), and books and reading as metaphors for understanding the world (in The Legibility of the World).

Modern Times and History

Blumenberg often studied the period between the late Middle Ages and the early Renaissance. In books like Legitimacy of the Modern Age and The Genesis of the Copernican World, he looked at how ideas changed during this time.

He disagreed with the idea that modern thinking is just a simpler version of old religious ideas. Instead, Blumenberg believed that the Modern Age was a completely new time. It brought back human curiosity and challenged the strict religious rules of the past. He argued that the modern world, with its belief in progress, came from a new way for people to believe in themselves and their culture, separate from Christian traditions.

Myth and Human Nature

In his later works, like Work on Myth, Blumenberg explored the idea that humans are fragile and need certain ideas to help them face the "Absolutism of Reality," which is the overwhelming power of the world. He saw myths and metaphors as ways for humans to understand and deal with this reality.

He believed that while metaphors started as ways to explain things, they sometimes took on a life of their own. This can happen when people try to explain a metaphor so much that they forget its original purpose. Blumenberg showed how important "absolute metaphors" are for a culture's main ideas, such as the metaphor of light meaning truth in ancient philosophy.

He also warned that while it's good to understand how myths work, we shouldn't think we can get rid of all myths completely. Blumenberg concluded that even with all our scientific knowledge, we still often rely on the images and ideas that come from our own minds.

Works

Hans Blumenberg wrote many important books, including:

• (1966) The Legitimacy of the Modern Age
• (1975) The Genesis of the Copernican World
• (1979) The Legibility of the World
• (1979) Work on Myth
• (1986) Lifetime and world time
• (1987) Care Crosses the River
• (1993) St Matthew Passion

Works in English translation

Many of Blumenberg's books have been translated into English, making his ideas available to more readers:

• The Readability of the World. (2022)
• St. Matthew Passion. (2021)
• History, Metaphors, Fables: A Hans Blumenberg Reader. (2020)
• Lions. (2018)
• Rigorism of Truth: "Moses the Egyptian" and Other Writings on Freud and Arendt. (2018)
• The Laughter of the Thracian Woman: A Protohistory of Theory. (2015)
• Care Crosses the River. (2010)
• Paradigms for a Metaphorology. (2010)
• Shipwreck with Spectator: Paradigm of a Metaphor for Existence. (1996)
• The Genesis of the Copernican World. (1987)
• The Legitimacy of the Modern Age. (1985)
• Work on Myth. (1985)

See also

In Spanish: Hans Blumenberg para niños