Not Naked but Wearing “Dress upon Dress”: Johann Georg Hamann on Truth
Not Naked but Wearing “Dress upon Dress”: Johann Georg Hamann on Truth

Author(s): Anna Żymełka-Pietrzak
Subject(s): Philosophy, Psychology, Theoretical Linguistics, Applied Linguistics
Published by: Wydawnictwa Uniwersytetu Warszawskiego
Keywords: Johann Georg Hamann; truth; incarnation; condescension; authorship
Summary/Abstract: The chapter presents a detailed analysis and interpretation of Johann Georg Hamann’s metaphor of truth clothed in dress upon dress, which was introduced in Hamann’s letter to Kant of July 27, 1759. Truth is displayed as a woman in many layers of dresses, but removing the clothing reveals a fearful ghost. This metaphor is in the chapter regarded as emblematic for Hamann’s reflection on truth and has been interpreted in the light of the author’s theologico-ethical model in which God’s truth becomes accessible to humans in communicational acts of condescension. The incarnation of Jesus Christ is the most important act of this kind, and comprises a theological matrix for human authorship. The incarnation of truth is an imitation of God’s kenotical act and is understood as service to the truth.

• Details
• Contents