Hans Jonas and the Marburg Hermeneutics
International and interdisciplinary conference in Marburg
The conference focused on the Jewish philosopher of religion Hans Jonas (1903-1993), who studied in Freiburg, Berlin and Marburg and received his doctorate under Martin Heidegger and Rudolf Bultmann. Among his most influential works, which also attract a large international readership, is „The Principle of Responsibility“ (1979). It is impossible to imagine Jonas‘ philosophical career and thinking without the influential time he spent in Marburg in the 1920s. The recently published correspondence between Jonas and his teacher Bultmann, shows that the intellectual friendship between the two philosophers lasted a lifetime. The letters, edited by Andreas Großmann and sponsored by the Hessian State Chancellery, among others, are evidence of a fruitful philosophical-theological dialogue that originated in Marburg. (Rudolf Bultmann-Hans Jonas, Correspondence 1928-1976, Mohr Siebeck: Tübingen 2021).
The 1920s marked an era of intellectual prosperity for the University of Marburg, whose constellations of people and interacting influences are still being researched and reconstructed with great benefit today. Marburg, world-famous at the time, brought together academics such as Rudolf Bultmann, Martin Heidegger, Hans Jonas, Leo Strauß, Hannah Arendt, Gerhard Krüger, Hans-Georg Gadamer. Although this golden age came to a quick end in the 1930s due to the National Socialist takeover, the influences of this period, which was influential for Marburg's university history, and of the people mentioned can still be recognised internationally today. On the basis of this special personal and intellectual constellation, the conference Hans Jonas and the Marburg Hermeneutics aimed to discuss pioneering philosophical-theological constellations of “Marburg Hermeneutics”.
The publication of the lectures of the conference is to be published by a renowned German scientific publishing house..
Flyer with programme (pdf / 2,5 MB) (opens in new tab)
Homepage Rudolf Bultmann Institute for Hermeneutics at the Philipps Universiy of Marburg
Contact and registration: registration until 15 June 2022 to Melanie Hikade, rbi@staff.uni-marburg.de | phone.: +49 6421 28 24 288
Due to infection control regulations, the number of participants may be subject to restrictions. Admission to the conference may be based on the order in which registrations are received.
Book presentation of “Hans Jonas and the Marburg Hermeneutics” on November 28, 2023.
The volume that emerged from the Marburg conference, “Hans Jonas and the Marburg Hermeneutics” was published in the fall of 2023 by Vittorio Klostermann Publishers. On November 28, 2023, Andreas Großmann presented it at the Art Forum of the Technical University of Darmstadt. Robin Dietz participated as the reciter, and the musical accompaniment was provided by Tilman Hoppstock (Academy of Sound Art).
