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The Laughter of the Thracian Woman: A Protohistory of Theory (New Directions in German Studies) UK ed. Edition

by Hans Blumenberg (Author), Spencer Hawkins (Translator)
5.0 5.0 out of 5 stars 6 ratings
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An important work by 20-century philosopher Hans Blumenberg, here translated into English for the first time, The Laughter of the Thracian Woman describes the reception history of an anecdote best known from Plato's Theaetetus dialogue: while focused on observing the stars, the early astronomer and proto-philosopher Thales of Miletus fails to see a well directly in his path and tumbles down. A Thracian servant girl laughs, amused that he sought to understand what was above him when he was not mindful of what was right in front of him.

Variants of this story recur in texts by Diogenes Laertius, Church Fathers Tertullian and Eusebius, medieval and Renaissance-era preachers, Enlightenment figures Voltaire, Montaigne, Bacon, and Kant, and later in works by Feuerbach, Nietzsche, Heidegger, and Blumenberg's own colleagues. Some of these philosophers sympathize with Thales' ambitions while others chastise his negligence. Blumenberg sees the story as a highly sought substitute for our missing knowledge of the earliest historical events that would fit the label “theory.” By retelling the anecdote, philosophers reveal their distinctive values regarding absorption in curiosity, philosophy's past, and the demand that theorists abide by sanctioned methods and procedures.

In this work and others, Blumenberg demonstrates that philosophers' most beloved images and anecdotes have become indispensable to philosophy as metaphors; that is, as representations whose meanings remain indefinite and invite frequent reinterpretation.

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  1. ISBN-10
    1623564611
  2. ISBN-13
    978-1623564612
  3. Edition
    UK ed.
  4. Publisher
    Bloomsbury Academic
  5. Publication date
    April 23, 2015
  6. Part of series
    New Directions in German Studies
  7. Language
    English
  8. Dimensions
    5.5 x 0.56 x 8.5 inches
  9. Print length
    224 pages
  10. See all details
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Editorial Reviews

Review

“This English translation of Das Lachen der Thrakerin, the original German of which first appeared with Suhrkamp in 1987, will no doubt intensify the impression among anglophone readers that Blumenberg is a decidedly historical and literary philosopher whose own thinking emerges from an almost obsessive level of engagement with the minutiae of Western intellectual history, including the genre of the philosophical anecdote ... Like many of Blumenberg's works, Das Lachen der Thrakerin demands a lot of the reader: a detailed knowledge of the Western tradition, not only of philosophy, but of letters in general, from the Presocratics to the present; and patience with an argumentative method which revels in the detours and the details, and which is thin on orienting summaries (here the highly informative Afterword and scholarly apparatus provided by Hawkins offer much historical context and orientation).” ―Modern Language Review

“In its sweeping scope and singular focus, Hans Blumenberg's The Laughter of the Thracian Woman provides a monadic history of how to read the beginning of thinking as located precisely at the nexus of storytelling and reflection, literature and philosophy. In Blumenberg's series of relentless reconstructions and analyses, the telling and re-telling of the anecdote of Thales falling into a well – over and over again, from Plato to Heidegger, accompanied by the Thracian woman's laughter – comes to form the central image for the tension within philosophy between theoretical reflection and intuitive insight.” ―Paul Fleming, Professor of German and Comparative Literature, Director, Institute for German Cultural Studies (IGCS), Cornell University, USA

“Hans Blumenberg stands as one of the most important and innovative thinkers of the twentieth century. As a philosopher, historian of science, and literary scholar, his work has made indispensable contributions to a broad range of fields across the Humanities and the Social Sciences. This impeccably nuanced translation of The Laughter of the Thracian Woman promises to enhance our understanding of Blumenberg's methodology and the theoretical premises that drive his thought, while offering key insights into the perennial tensions between theory and realism, contemplation and action, philosophical reflection and the Lebenswelt.” ―John T. Hamilton, William R. Kenan Professor of German and Comparative Literature, Chair, Germanic Languages and Literatures, Harvard University, USA

About the Author

Hans Blumenberg (1920-1996) is one of the most significant German philosophers of the twentieth century. He is the author of The Legibility of the World, Legitimacy of the Modern Age, Genesis of the Copernican World, Work on Myth, and Out of the Cave. Blumenberg co-founded the Poetik und Hermeneutik interdisciplinary research group along with Hans-Robert Jauß in 1963. He published prodigiously and left even more work behind unpublished. He died in 1996 in Altenberge.

Spencer Hawkins is an Instructor in the Cultures, Civilizations, and Ideas program at Bilkent University, Turkey.

Product details

  • Publisher ‏ : ‎ Bloomsbury Academic; UK ed. edition (April 23, 2015)
  • Language ‏ : ‎ English
  • Hardcover ‏ : ‎ 224 pages
  • ISBN-10 ‏ : ‎ 1623564611
  • ISBN-13 ‏ : ‎ 978-1623564612
  • Item Weight ‏ : ‎ 14.4 ounces
  • Dimensions ‏ : ‎ 5.5 x 0.56 x 8.5 inches
  • Customer Reviews:
    5.0 5.0 out of 5 stars 6 ratings

Customer reviews

5 out of 5 stars
5 out of 5
6 global ratings

Top review from the United States

segueartist
5.0 out of 5 stars A must for every library.
Reviewed in the United States on March 2, 2016
Verified Purchase
Fascinating, educational and enjoyable read!
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Top reviews from other countries

mrspantagruel
5.0 out of 5 stars Five Stars
Reviewed in Canada on September 18, 2015
Verified Purchase
Blumenberg voiced some unique insights into Montaigne in this book
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