Pokusy rozumu. Romantyzm w tradycjach europejskiej Nowoczesności – na przykładzie Niemiec i Polski
The temptations of reason. Romanticism in the traditions of European Modernity - on the example of Germany and Poland

Author(s): Rainer Adolphi
Subject(s): Philosophy
Published by: Wydawnictwa Uniwersytetu Warszawskiego
Keywords: modernisation; Germany and Poland’s neighborhood; transition 1989/1990; charismatic situation; romanticism; „Sonderweg”; cultural identities; reciprocal comprehension; intellectual-as-a-romanticis
Summary/Abstract: Germany’s and Poland’s historical and experiential being side by side and, at the same time, juxtaposed with cultural and political differences makes the content of this chapter. The transformations of 1989/90 led to a new situation in which different cultures could finally hear each other and confront their identities. The sudden increase in the importance of „culture” – which in public debates, attempts at a new self-determination, and in science, replaced the term „society”/„civil society” – also was expression of these changes. The new, reciprocal attentiveness rediscovered what had been common for a long time, namely „Europe”. 1989 was a unique event, which I refer to as a charismatic situation. At the same time, various forms of „romanticism” were revived, above all in its kathartic and perfecting function – but also other forms, which were similarly manifested in Polish and German context. In my chapter, I discuss these, with explicit reference to the ideas of Marek Siemek.

• Details
• Contents