COVID-19 and Polyglot Peace: A Grammatical Understanding of Our Present Predicament

The challenge of the COVID-19 pandemic, it is argued in this contribution, can only be met by a common effort of responsibility by all nation states across the world. That is what the COVID-19 pandemic has in common with the upcoming climate crisis and with the social and economic problems of the emerging world society in general. This contribution, however, is not focused on direct and effective methods and solutions. Such measures and methods can only meet their objectives within the framework of a new understanding. It requires a new way of ordering the world, a new type of man, a new way of speaking with and to each other. A new mindset and attitude are required. This, it is proposed, will be a mindset shaped by the grammatical method or, more commonly called, the dialogical philosophy of Rosenstock-Huessy and a circle of friends. It is the aim of the grammatical method to find the right rhythm, sequence and alternation of the different values and institutions of different societies and cultures. This can put the analytical methods and measures for the COVID-19 crisis within the broader framework of a history of salvation. We have to understand where each of our traditions is coming from, and how we are challenged to find a common destination. The COVID-19 crisis turns such mutual understanding and a sense of common purpose into a true imperative. Therefore the potential of the grammatical method to meet that requirement is explored with a special focus on the understanding of language by Rosenstock-Huessy and Levinas.

The double wave of German and Jewish nationalism: Martin Buber’s intellectual conversion

The paper provides an analysis of Martin Buber’s intellectual conversion and shows how it facilitates a deeper understanding of the phenomenon of nationalism. Buber, who is today known mainly as a key representative of dialogical philosophy, was in the 1910s part of the double wave of German and Jewish nationalism which strongly affected the German-speaking Jewish public. Buber provided intellectual support for this wave of nationalism and interpreted World War I as a unique chance for the spiritual unification of European Jewry. Consequent to his conflict with Gustav Landauer Buber underwent a complex intellectual and existential transformation. He abandoned key concepts of his pre-dialogical thought and laid the foundations of his dialogical thought. He rejected his endorsement of Geman nationalism and substantially reevaluated his political positions. The analysis of Buber’s intellectual development sheds light on some important aspects of the dynamics of nationalism.

Травелоги югославских писательниц первой половины ХХ века: в поисках идентичности

The paper considers travelogues of Yugoslav female writers Alma Karlin, Jelena Dimitrijević, Isidora Sekulić, Marica Gregorič Stepančič, Marica Strnad, Luiza Pesjak. These texts created in the first half of the 20th century in Serbian, Slovenian and German are on the periphery of the literary field and, with rare exceptions, do not belong to the canon. The most famous of these authors are Sekulić from Serbia and the German-speaking writer Karlin from Slovenia. Recently, the work of Dimitrijević has also become an object of attention of researchers. Other travelogues writers are almost forgotten. Identity problems, especially national ones, are a constant component of the travelogue genre. During a journey, the author directs his attention to “other / alien” peoples and cultures that can be called foreign to the perceiving consciousness. However, when one perceives the “other”, one inevitably turns to one's “own”, one's own identity. The concept of “own - other / alien”, on which the dialogical philosophy is based (M. Buber, G. Marcel, M. Bakhtin, E. Levinas), implies an understanding of the cultural “own” against the background of the “alien” and at the same time culturally “alien” on the background of “own”. Women's travel has a special status in culture. Even in the first half of the 20th century the woman was given space at home. Going on a journey, especially unaccompanied, was at least unusual for a woman. According to Simone de Beauvoir, a woman in society is “different / other”. Therefore, women's travelogues can be defined as the look of the “other” on the “other / alien”. In this paper, particular attention is paid to the interrelationship of gender, national identities and their conditioning with a cultural and historical context. At the beginning of the 20th century in the Balkans, national identity continues actively to develop and the process of women's emancipation is intensifying. Therefore, the combination of gender and national issues for Yugoslavian female travelogues of this period is especially relevant. Dimitrijević's travelogue Seven Seas and Three Oceans demonstrates this relationship most vividly: “We Serbian women are no less patriotic than Egyptian women... Haven't Serbian women most of the merit that the big Yugoslavia originated from small Serbia?” As a result of this study, the specificity of the national and gender identity constructs in the first half of the 20th century in the analyzed texts is revealed. For this period one can note, on the one hand, the preservation of national and gender boundaries, often supported by stereotypes, on the other hand, there are obvious tendencies towards the erosion of the established gender and national constructs, the mobility of models of gender and national identification as well, largely due to the sociohistorical processes of the time.

Speech and temporality in the anthropology of dialogue: speaking in time

The article concerns the explication of anthropological concept of the philosophy of dialogue. Concepts of philosophers of dialogue are explored: Martin Buber's "sphere of between", Ferdinand Ebner's "pneumatology", Franz Rosenzweig's "linguistic thinking" and Eugen Rosenstock-Huessy "grammatical method". Changes in the perception of language under the influence of a new concept of communication are shown. Language acquires an existential dimension, becomes a way of overcoming the loneliness of consciousness, the space of the emergence, existence and manifestation of new philosophical meanings. Search for ways of communication with others and the world in general leads to the construction of a new concept of man with a renewed concept of freedom and the meaning of life. The philosophy of dialogue opposes the model of monological thinking, which changes the perception of the anthropological foundations. The true depth of consciousness opens only in communication (according to Ebner), therefore, it is the language which determines the existence; Rosenzweig’s "new thinking" begins with the recognition of the primacy of communication between people, God and the world; Rosenstock-Huessy’s "grammatical method" provides an opportunity to analyze various conditions and problems of society on the basis of analysis of types of speech; Buber’s «dialogic communication» goes beyond the boundaries of language and becomes a definite state of consciousness. Thus, freedom and identity formation of an individual are related to the individual’s communication with Others. It is also shown that anthropological space transformation is also influenced by the perception of subjective time. The article features temporal accentuation of philosophy of dialogue and states that the theory of language is associated with the category of time, while they both influence the anthropological concept of dialogical philosophy. The philosophy of dialogue emphasizes present time, which is connected with communication held "here and now". The article shows that the past and future in the philosophy of dialogue are connected with different forms of language, different types of communication. The word and language in the philosophy of dialogue become not just categories of poetics, but anthropological categories which influence changes of ideas about freedom, personality formation, communication and sense of subjective time.

Existential-dialogical model of philosophy of education: educational-upbringing and social-spiritual communication in the context of social development

An existential-dialogical philosophy of education, mainly represented by O. Bollnow (modern «optimistic», «positive existentialism»), underlines the meaning and background of the pedagogical relationship in interpersonal relationships, the relationship between I and You. In its initial philosophical positions, it is based on the «philosophy of life» and mainly on existentialism both in the «classical» and «optimistic» versions. Supporters of this direction tend to discard the technocratic concepts which substitute for the process of education with the manipulation of person. Based on the thesis of uniqueness, the uniqueness of the individual, which is revealed in extreme situations, the supporters of this approach do not recognize the dominant role of the social environment in the formation of man. The environment, in their view, can only cause enormous damage to its moral self-development, since social institutions are aimed at the unification of personality and its behavior. Moral education, on the contrary, is intended to reveal the individual qualities and abilities of the individual, which will help to preserve the moral essence of the individual in the processes of knowledge acquisition, development of intelligence and in the education system. In the formation of a unique personality, the followers of irrationalism see an obstacle to totalitarian manifestations and dangers. In their opinion, the formation of a uniqueness, unique personality is nothing more than a process of self-development and self-education, which involves overcoming in human behavior «mass» trends, because the real education and education could not have their object exclusively in mass area. They see the tasks of education and upbringing as taking a unique personality away from the mass, «collectivist society» as a source of «false existence». But the closure of the process of education/upbringing on a separate subject, its isolation from social ties and relations dramatically limits the real possibility of forming an active personality, although the adherents of this approach proclaim this one of the main goals of education. In addition, the self-isolation of the individual increases its alienation in the world, making it increasingly vulnerable to the anti-human tendencies of global society.

Ludwig Binswanger

The article presents Ludwig Binswanger’s approaches to psychoanalysis, psychiatry, and philosophy. His clinical practice in his sanatorium in Kreuzlingen, Switzerland close to the border to Germany was essentially determined by psychoanalysis and an individualized multiprofessional approach. Sigmund Freud supported this view—the published letters between him and Binswanger are important contributions of psychoanalytic and psychiatric history. In addition, Binswanger regarded philosophy as an essential foundation of psychiatry and psychoanalysis. He knew many psychiatrists, psychoanalysts, philosophers, and poets personally and exchanged many letters with them. First, he followed the phenomenological approach of Edmund Husserl and Martin Heidegger, later he was more identified with Martin Buber’s dialogical philosophy which he developed further. The article goes deeper into Binswanger’s central concepts and shows how important they became in the contemporary discussion where neurobiological, psychoanalytic, and sociological research shows new ways for psychiatric and psychotherapeutic practice.

A critical analysis of dialogue in Levinas’ ethics

Levinas’s ethics has not been able to address the plethora of human challenges arising from the ethical quicksand and moral quandaries in our existential world. The problem of ethics in Levinas’ s philosophical cum phenomenological analysis, is the problem of human communication, social interaction, human emancipation, freedom, and existential/ metaphysical relations. Freedom has become not just a hot concept in different fields of study, but a very powerful and a driving concept. For Levinas, freedom is not just the absence of constraints or impediments but obedience to laws and even the laws of nature inclusive. This paper adopted the method of hermeneutic to critically analyze Levinas’s phenomenological ethics. This paper concludes by exposing the facts that human communication or interaction is based on understanding and the ethics of difference is part and parcel of inter-subjectivity. Dasein is always faced with the fulfilment in its lived temporality. A sharing of the world is an essential characteristics of human togetherness. Dasein, in its dialogical engagement and existential commitment is usually based on freedom, strife, world sharing and resistance. Dialogical philosophy is the foremost part of world’s cosmic law of concrete social network.

Self-Other Relationship, History and Interpretation

This paper offers a critical appraisal of Gadamer’s dialogical philosophy of the self-other relationship within the context of interpretation and historical consciousness. According to Gadamer hermeneutics is a theory of interpretation or, rather, the art of interpretation. The task of philosophical hermeneutics is to narrate an ontology of human understanding with the ethical intent of restoring to interpretation a greater sense of “integrity.” The “hermeneutic universe” belongs to the individual worldviews whose structure and content are constructed on the basis of historical precedents. Gadamer situates these precedents in historicity and the tradition of culture, which are resources for their unique interpretations. Gadamer claims that interpretative understanding encounters the other in the dialogical “play” (Spiel) of an ever-unfinished event. The self and the other belong to the horizon of historical consciousness, and it is through this common horizon that the alterity of the other comes into expression.