Wolfram Eilenberger Explores the Lives, Times, and Work of Four Great Philosophers

 

Time of the Magicians: Wittgenstein, Benjamin, Cassirer, Heidegger, and the Decade That Reinvented Philosophy - Wolfram Eilenberger, translated by Shaun Whiteside (2020)

 

            “Philosophy…is the talk on a cereal box.  Religion…is a smile on a dog.” – Edie Brickell and New Bohemians.

            The years between the Great War and World War II were a time of intense change for everyone, and nowhere was that change more evident than in the world of philosophy, specifically academic philosophy in Germany.  During those years, the four men listed in the title of this book achieved groundbreaking and deeply original work, publishing books that changed intellectual discourse and sought to dig into the core of what philosophy is, and how it makes any sense at all.  Like some sort of philosophical Great Attractor, these four men, and their lives and work, reached a critical mass of ideas and thoughtful inquiry in Germany between wars.

            Wolfram Eilenberger weaves an engrossing narrative out of the lives of these four philosophers.  He is masterful as he describes the early days of each man, their intellectual developments, and how they managed to elicit support, both financial and emotional, as they sought to grapple with ideas and thoughts so obscure, so esoteric, and so NEW, that they left little room for normal, human behaviors.  Each of these men sought to, in their own words and through their own original thought, not only understand the big questions in life, (Why do we exist?  What does it mean to “be?”) but also even more primal questions, such as “How are we able to discern truth?” and “How can we describe the infinite with our finite tools of language and words?”  These were heady times.

            Philosophers deal with pure thought.  Their lives are spent inside their heads, only occasionally popping up out of their studies and libraries to face other philosophers and engage in discourse about their ideas.  The life of the mind is a brutal and lonely one, especially if one is truly devoted to it.  These four philosophers and their lives shine a light on how difficult it truly is to not only achieve gainful employment as a philosopher, but to also have the time and resources needed for original, groundbreaking work.  If there is anything a philosopher despises it is a lack of originality, whether in their work or in another’s.

            One thing that struck me as I read about these four eminent thinkers, is that, no matter how orderly or precise their internal thoughts and writings present them to be, they are actually a hot mess of dysfunction, distraction, and human folly.  Several of these men sought to understand what the primal source of knowledge is, with some arguing for language, others arguing for the idea that the language represents.  In several instances, their ideological constructions come crashing down due to an aspect of life, seemingly not important to most 20^th century philosophers.  That one thing is Love.  Whether as young men or in middle age, once these philosophers discover true Love, real Love that is not tied to status, or money, or anything tangible, their lives are upended.  They did not account for the power of Love to rewrite one’s mind, to reconstitute what is important and not important, and to provide its own inherent satisfaction.  In many cases, it is enough just to be in Love.  Once this happens, their worldview begins to change.  For some, Love itself becomes the biggest mystery.

            I must heap some praise upon the translator of this work, Shaun Whiteside.  Having read many German books in their English translations, I can honestly say that Mr. Whiteside’s translation work is exquisite.  Ensuring that the information provided is correct is hard enough, but Mr. Whiteside also manages to convey the humor and wit found in German literature, which far too often is lost in the translation efforts to English.  I kind of wish he had translated Werner Herzog’s memoir.

            Either way, and I have stated this before on the Book Journey, most philosophy is a slog to read.  I find myself either agog at the obtuse mental gymnastics that much philosophical work consists of, or enraged by my inability to speak directly to the authors to point out the inconsistencies, errors, or plain delusions involved in their philosophical arguments.  Philosophy means “lover of wisdom.”  Sometimes, these philosophers act as if they were the one and only arbiters of truth and wisdom, excluding any other. They are always proved wrong.  No one has an irrefutable claim on what is Truth, Beauty, or Love, although nearly everyone who thinks themselves as smart or gifted will wish to assure you that they do in fact know what Truth, Beauty, and Love are. 

            I believe that studying philosophy is valuable, and can lead one’s mind into uncharted territories of thought.  I also believe that pure thought is just one aspect of human Truth.  Physical action also brings about Truth, Beauty, and Love, and does so without a single shred of philosophical thought, just pure human bodily experience.  Our Universe is one of constant motion and change, for, in a very real sense, we are all living within a giant, ongoing, nearly eternal (to our limited human timeframe) explosion.  To believe that, out of the myriad of possible consciousnesses arisen from within our Universe, one has reached a kernel of absolute Truth, is ego of the highest order.  Modern philosophers have a very tough road ahead, as they must contend with, and understand, all of the current scientific advancements before they can truly offer original thought.  Back in the old days, that would have meant reading 10-15 Greek classics, perhaps some Arabic masterworks, and some Latin works of literature.  Today, the world of thought is so vast, so splintered, that absolute Truth is a ridiculous concept, much less an actual possibility. 

Perhaps that is the brutality that confronted these four great minds, for not only was their world ending, with the imminent rise of totalitarian fascism in Europe and the terrors of WWII, but the very idea that the world is fully comprehensible purely by thought was soon to be deemed irrelevant and erroneous.  Physics soon showed how the vast microscopic structures of our Universe defy logic and human rationality.  Physics also showed how miniscule our initial ideas about our Universe were, for the Cosmos is far vaster than anyone ever dreamed it could be.  In fact, the Universe is so big that much of it is too far away for us to see, having expanded faster than light can travel.  It is facts like these, corroborated by evidence and bolstered by theory, that drive philosophers insane, for these truths are not reachable by the Mind alone.  I posit that the future of philosophy will no longer consist of individual minds, perusing the Universe and providing their ideas, but an amalgam of minds and thought, capable of including as much of the natural world as possible, and allowing for the differences in individuals.  If philosophy is a slow and steady path towards Truth, then it must include everyone and everything for it to be valid.  Let us hope humanity never runs out of lovers of wisdom.

(Thanks go to Dietmar Froehlich, Associate Dean, and Professor of Architecture with the Gerald D. Hines College of Architecture at the University of Houston for the great recommendation.)

(This book can be purchased here: https://www.penguinrandomhouse.com/books/576741/time-of-the-magicians-by-wolfram-eilenberger-translated-by-shaun-whiteside/ )