Page 411 - Stati inu obstati, revija za vprašanja protestantizma, letnik V (2009), številki 9-10, ISSN 1408-8363
P. 411
SYNOPSES, ZUSAMMENFASSUNGEN
forming part of Bloch’s open system, namely utopia and hope. In doing so, the
paper emphasizes the overall significance and inf luence of Bloch’s first wife,
Elsa von Stritzky (1883-1921), who was a Protestant, but who according to Bloch
himself not only was Luther-oriented but also – and even more so at that –
embraced a mystical frame of mind, thus corresponding to what Kierkegaard
believed to be the essence of being a Christian. The strength of Protestantism
embodied as inner strength exerted a strong inf luence on Bloch, and it is only
when the inside is comprehended in the sense of the moral-mystical intention,
that that is already the spirit of the exodus, a path toward progress, and also a
way out of the world’s delusions.
The paper makes special mention of Edvard Kocbek, who was among the
first in Slovenia to draw attention to the importance of Ernst Bloch’s views,
pointing out that in Bloch, hope is extended into “phenomenology towards
the future of the openness of the human consciousness,” and that “no other
thinker has ever managed to discover the openness of the human conscious-
ness in the direction of the future with the intensity that is to be found in
Ernst Bloch. In the utopian function his hope merges with what has not yet
been raised to the level of consciousness.” Nothing is irrevocably closed and
thus concluded, immune to progress and development, because the actual gen-
esis is not to be found at the beginning, but at the end, as the concluding thought in
The Principle of Hope has it. Being is not merely a matter having to do with the
past, and when it comes to things past, which are somehow reluctant to let go
of us, leaving us powerless due to its action, which cripples progress and does
not make it possible, the Blochian imperative advises us to take the past from
the future rather than proceeding the other way round. It is for this reason that
the paper observes that it certainly makes a lot of sense to take due account of
this particular line of thinking.
UDC 167.5:1Bloch E.
Andrej Leskovic
Bloch’s philosophy of a utopianly open world
Throughout his extensive philosophical opus Ernst Bloch (1885-1977) es-
tablishes the significance of hope and utopian thinking. Precisely this year is
the fiftieth anniversary of the publication of the last, third book of his funda-
mental and most extensive work, entitled The Principle of Hope (1954, 1955,
1959), which is a veritable encyclopaedia of hope and utopia. Here Bloch raised
hope into an all-embracing principle. Although today’s world is not sympa-
thetic to utopian conceptions such as Bloch’s, there is still a lively debate about
his philosophy around the world. In the rich treasury of culture the philoso-
pher discovers unfulfilled dreams about a better life and the hope that poverty,
409
forming part of Bloch’s open system, namely utopia and hope. In doing so, the
paper emphasizes the overall significance and inf luence of Bloch’s first wife,
Elsa von Stritzky (1883-1921), who was a Protestant, but who according to Bloch
himself not only was Luther-oriented but also – and even more so at that –
embraced a mystical frame of mind, thus corresponding to what Kierkegaard
believed to be the essence of being a Christian. The strength of Protestantism
embodied as inner strength exerted a strong inf luence on Bloch, and it is only
when the inside is comprehended in the sense of the moral-mystical intention,
that that is already the spirit of the exodus, a path toward progress, and also a
way out of the world’s delusions.
The paper makes special mention of Edvard Kocbek, who was among the
first in Slovenia to draw attention to the importance of Ernst Bloch’s views,
pointing out that in Bloch, hope is extended into “phenomenology towards
the future of the openness of the human consciousness,” and that “no other
thinker has ever managed to discover the openness of the human conscious-
ness in the direction of the future with the intensity that is to be found in
Ernst Bloch. In the utopian function his hope merges with what has not yet
been raised to the level of consciousness.” Nothing is irrevocably closed and
thus concluded, immune to progress and development, because the actual gen-
esis is not to be found at the beginning, but at the end, as the concluding thought in
The Principle of Hope has it. Being is not merely a matter having to do with the
past, and when it comes to things past, which are somehow reluctant to let go
of us, leaving us powerless due to its action, which cripples progress and does
not make it possible, the Blochian imperative advises us to take the past from
the future rather than proceeding the other way round. It is for this reason that
the paper observes that it certainly makes a lot of sense to take due account of
this particular line of thinking.
UDC 167.5:1Bloch E.
Andrej Leskovic
Bloch’s philosophy of a utopianly open world
Throughout his extensive philosophical opus Ernst Bloch (1885-1977) es-
tablishes the significance of hope and utopian thinking. Precisely this year is
the fiftieth anniversary of the publication of the last, third book of his funda-
mental and most extensive work, entitled The Principle of Hope (1954, 1955,
1959), which is a veritable encyclopaedia of hope and utopia. Here Bloch raised
hope into an all-embracing principle. Although today’s world is not sympa-
thetic to utopian conceptions such as Bloch’s, there is still a lively debate about
his philosophy around the world. In the rich treasury of culture the philoso-
pher discovers unfulfilled dreams about a better life and the hope that poverty,
409
