N.2/2024 Karl Löwith e la Storia delle Idee
Uno sguardo da oltre Reno:
Merleau-Ponty lettore di Karl Löwith
Manlio Iofrida
Published in December, 2024
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A View from Beyond the Rhine: Merleau-Ponty Reading Karl Löwith.
Abstract
The comparison between Löwith and Merleau-Ponty is first placed in the
historical context in which the two authors developed their reflection: the Second
World War, the Holocaust and Hiroshima, the affirmation of the consumer society.
We then proceed to show how Merleau-Ponty, faced with the crisis of philosophy
and modernity after Hegel, configures a much less pessimistic and nihilistic response
than that of Löwith: on the theme of philosophy as on that of ontology and history,
he is convinced that all these concepts, rather than being definitively overcome, can
be enriched and made more complex, opening the European tradition to an encounter with the cultures of ex-colonial countries. Subsequently, to confirm this interpretation, comparisons are also established with other authors (Schelling, Croce, Kracauer) and the theme of history as a plexus of arrow and circle in Merleau-Ponty is explored in depth, clearly distancing him from Löwith’s position.
Keywords
Nihilism, Nature, History, Löwith, Merleau-Ponty.
DOI
10.53129/gcsi_02-2024-16