Markus Gabriel

Where do we come from? Are we merely a cluster of elementary particles in a gigantic world receptacle? And what does it all mean? In this highly original new book, the philosopher Markus Gabriel challenges our notion of what exists and what it means to exist. He questions the idea that there is a world that encompasses everything like a container life, the universe, and everything else. This all-inclusive being does not exist and cannot exist. For the world itself is not found in the world. And even when we think about the world, the world about which we think is obviously not identical with the world in which we think. For, as we are thinking about the world, this is only a very small event in the world. Besides this, there are still innumerable other objects and events: rain showers, toothaches and the World Cup. Drawing on the recent history of philosophy, Gabriel asserts that the world cannot exist at all, because it is not found in the world. Yet with the exception of the world, everything else exists; even unicorns on the far side of the moon wearing police uniforms. Revelling in witty thought experiments, word play, and the courage of provocation, Markus Gabriel demonstrates the necessity of a questioning mind and the role that humour can play in coming to terms with the abyss of human existence.

Why the World Does Not Exist

Dieses Buch ist ein philosophisches Handbuch, das einen Entwurf der Aufklärung gegen den Wertenihilismus unserer Zeit bietet. Markus Gabriel gibt uns eine neue Antwort auf die Hauptfrage der Philosophie: "Was ist der Mensch?" Die Krise der liberalen Demokratie und die Ausbreitung des Populismus folgen dem Muster einer Selbstabschaffung des Menschen. Der Diskurs über Künstliche Intelligenz und die hemmungslose Digitalisierung verstärken diese fatale Entwicklung noch. Doch trotz aller gegenwärtigen Rückschläge: Die Menschheit ist zu moralischem Fortschritt fähig. In seinem engagierten Buch zeigt Markus Gabriel, Deutschlands weltweit bekanntester Gegenwartsphilosoph, warum es nicht verhandelbare, universale Grundwerte gibt, die für alle Menschen gelten. Er zeigt: Wir bedürfen dringend eines innovativen Konzepts der Kooperation von Wissenschaft, Politik, Wirtschaft, um ein Gesellschaftssystem zu entwerfen, das auf moralischen Fortschritt zielt. "Einer der wichtigsten deutschen Philosophen der Gegenwart" Süddeutsche Zeitung

Universale Werte für das 21. Jahrhundert

Moralischer Fortschritt in dunklen Zeiten

El autor intenta responder un tópico ampliamente discutido en la historia del pensamiento: la naturaleza del arte. Junto con desplegar un audaz cruce entre epistemología, cultura popular y contingencia social, Gabriel sostiene que el arte ostenta un poder incontrolable. Por eso nadie, ni el observador ni el artista, están en posición de dirigir y dominar su destino. Cada obra de arte genera su propio juicio estético y, así, es capaz de juzgarse a sí misma.

El poder del arte

Warum es die Welt nicht gibt

Der Sinn des Denkens

Slavoj Zizek

A hugely important book that rediscovers three crucial, but long overlooked themes in German idealism: mythology, madness and laughter.

Subjectivity in German Idealism

Mythology, Madness, and Laughter

Markus Gabriel proposes a radical form of ontological pluralism that divorces ontology from metaphysics, understood as the most fundamental theory of absolutely everything (the world). He argues that the concept of existence is incompatible with the exist

Fields of Sense

Gibt es die menschliche Freiheit? Ist unsere gesamte Lebensform nur eine Illusion? Reicht das Vorhandensein eines Gehirns, um ein geistiges Lebewesen zu sein? Von den Naturwissenschaften ausgehend hat sich in den letzten Jahren ein Neurozentrismus herausgebildet, der auf der Annahme basiert, dass Ich gleich Gehirn ist. Markus Gabriel hingegen hegt begründete Zweifel, dass wir uns auf diese Weise selbst erkennen können. Er greift das wissenschaftliche Weltbild an und lädt ein zur Selbstreflexion anhand zentraler Begriffe wie Ich, Bewusstsein oder Freiheit mit Hilfe von Kant, Schopenhauer und Nagel, aber auch Dr. Who, The Walking Dead und Fargo. Mit seinem leidenschaftlichen Plädoyer gegen den Neurozentrismus stellt Markus Gabriel eine neue Verteidigung des freien Willens vor und gibt eine zeitgemäße Anleitung zum philosophischen Nachdenken über uns selbst - mit Verve, Humor und blitz-gescheiten Erkenntnissen.

Philosophie des Geistes für das 21. Jahrhundert

Ich ist nicht Gehirn

Graham Priest

Is it possible for reality as a whole to be part of itself? Can the world appear within itself without thereby undermining the consistency of our thought and knowledge-claims concerning more local matters of fact? This is a question on which Markus Gabriel and Graham Priest disagree. Gabriel argues that the world cannot exist precisely because it is understood to be an absolutely totality. Priest responds by developing a special form of mereology according to which reality is a single all-encompassing whole, everything, which counts itself among its denizens. Their disagreement results in a debate about everything and nothing: Gabriel argues that we experience nothingness once we overcome our urge to contain reality in an all-encompassing thought, whereas Priest develops an account of nothing according to which it is the ground of absolutely everything. A debate about everything and nothing, but also a reflection on the very possibility of metaphysics.

Everything and Nothing

Many consider the nature of human consciousness to be one of the last great unsolved mysteries. Why should the light turn on, so to speak, in human beings at all? And how is the electrical storm of neurons under our skull connected with our consciousness? Is the self only our brain’s user interface, a kind of stage on which a show is performed that we cannot freely direct? In this book, philosopher Markus Gabriel challenges an increasing trend in the sciences towards neurocentrism, a notion which rests on the assumption that the self is identical to the brain. Gabriel raises serious doubts as to whether we can know ourselves in this way. In a sharp critique of this approach, he presents a new defense of the free will and provides a timely introduction to philosophical thought about the self – all with verve, humor, and surprising insights. Gabriel criticizes the scientific image of the world and takes us on an eclectic journey of self-reflection by way of such concepts as self, consciousness, and freedom, with the aid of Kant, Schopenhauer, and Nagel but also Dr. Who, The Walking Dead, and Fargo.

Philosophy of Mind for the 21st Century

I am Not a Brain

Corine Pelluchon

Christoph Horn

Ingo Venzke

Anna Katsman

Wilhelm Krull

Anna Luisa Lippold

Welche Rolle können die Geisteswissenschaften bei der Gestaltung unserer gemeinsamen Zukunft spielen? Von welchen Werten lassen wir uns im 21. Jahrhundert leiten? Wie können wir das Potenzial der Geisteswissenschaften in einer Zeit vielfältiger Krisen nutzen? Die Autor*innen stellen sich diesen grundlegenden Fragen und verorten die Antworten in einem neuen Verständnis von Geisteswissenschaften, die ihr Denken und ihre Vorstellungskraft an Kriterien einer lebenswerten Zukunft ausrichten. Diese Geisteswissenschaften stellen sich in den Dienst allen Lebens auf unserem Planeten und sind dadurch in der Lage, neu formulierte, verbindliche Werte in die Gesellschaft hineinzutragen und der Zerstörung unserer Umwelt entschlossen entgegenzutreten.

Ein Plädoyer für zukunftsorientierte Geisteswissenschaften

Auf dem Weg zu einer Neuen Aufklärung

Anders Moe Rasmussen

This collection of essays provides an exemplary overview of the diversity and relevance of current scholarship on German Idealism. The importance of German Idealism for contemporary philosophy has received growing attention and acknowledgment throughout competing fields of contemporary philosophy. Part of the growing interest rests on the claim that the works of Kant, Fichte, Schelling, Hegel remain of considerable interest for cultural studies, sociology, theology, aesthetics and other areas of interest. In the domain of philosophy, the renaissance of innovative readings of German Idealism has taken scholarly debates beyond merely antiquarian perspectives. This renaissance has been a major factor of current efforts to bridge the gap between so-called “analytic” and so-called “continental” philosophy. The volume provides a selection of well-chosen examples of readings that contribute to systematic treatments of philosophical problems. It contains (among others) contributions by Markus Gabriel, Robert Pippin, Anders Moe Rasmussen, Sebastian Rödl.

German Idealism Today

Maurizio Ferraris

Iain Hamilton Grant

Speculations on Anonymous Materials

What role can the humanities play in shaping our common future? What are the values that guide us in the 21st century? How can we unleash the potential the humanities offer in a time of multiple crises? This volume tackles some of these fundamental questions, acknowledging and developing the changing role of academic discourse in a turbulent world. This timely book argues that the humanities engender conceptual tools that are capable of reconciling theory and practice. In a bold move, we call for the humanities to reach beyond the confines of universities and engage in the most urgent debates facing humanity today - in a multidisciplinary, transformative, and constructive way. This is a blueprint for how societal change can be inclusive and equitable for the good of humans and non-humans alike.

Towards a New Enlightenment - The Case for Future-Oriented Humanities

The challenges we face today are unprecedented, from the existential crisis of climate change to the global security threats posed by aggression in Ukraine and elsewhere. Add to this the crisis of liberal democracy and we seem to be swirling in a state of moral disarray, unsure whether there are any principles to which we can appeal today that would be anything other than particularistic. In contrast to this view, Markus Gabriel puts forward the bold argument that there are guiding moral principles for human behaviour. These guiding principles extend across cultures; they are universally valid and form the source of universal values in the twenty-first century. In developing what he calls a ‘New Moral Realism’, Gabriel breathes fresh life into the idea that humanity’s task on our planet is to enable moral progress through cooperation. It is only by achieving moral progress in a way that incorporates universal values – and thus embraces all of humanity – that we can avoid the abyss into which we will otherwise slide. Written with verve, wit and imagination, Gabriel’s call for a new enlightenment is a welcome antidote to the value relativism and nihilism of our times, and it lays out a moral framework within which we can work together – as surely we must – to deal with the great challenges we now face.

Universal Values for the 21st Century

Moral Progress in Dark Times

Fiktionen

At the centre of modern epistemology lurks the problem of scepticism: how can we know that the forms of our cognition are compatible with the world? How can we state success conditions for knowledge claims without somehow transcending our discursive and fallible nature as knowers? By distinguishing different forms of scepticism, Markus Gabriel shows how all objective knowledge relies on shared discourses and how the essential corrigibility of knowledge claims is a crucial condition of their objectivity. We should understand scepticism not so much as posing a threat, but as offering a vital lesson about the fallibility of discursive thinking. By heeding this lesson, we can begin to reintegrate the solipsistic subject of modern epistemology back into the community of actual knowers. Taking his cue from Hegel, Wittgenstein and Brandom, Gabriel shows how intentionality as such is a public rather than a private phenomenon. He concedes that the sceptic can prove the necessary finitude of objective knowledge, but denies that this has to lead us into an aporia. Instead, it shows us the limits of the modern project of epistemology. Through an examination of different kinds of sceptical paradoxes, Gabriel not only demonstrates their indispensable role within epistemological theorising, but also argues for the necessary failure of all totalizing knowledge claims. In this way, epistemology, as the discipline that claims knowledge about knowledge, begins to grasp its own fallibility and, as a result, the true nature of its objectivity. The Limits of Epistemology will be of great value to students and scholars of philosophy.

The Limits of Epistemology

Markus Gabriel re-assesses the contributions of Hegel and Schelling to post-Kantian metaphysics and the contributions of these great German Idealist thinkers to contemporary thought.

Essays in German Idealism

Transcendental Ontology

Many consider the nature of human consciousness to be one of the last great unsolved mysteries. Why should the light turn on, so to speak, in human beings at all? And how is the electrical storm of neurons under our skull connected with our consciousness? Is the self only our brain's user interface, a kind of stage on which a show is performed that we cannot freely direct? In this book, philosopher Markus Gabriel challenges an increasing trend in the sciences towards neurocentrism, a notion which rests on the assumption that the self is identical to the brain. Gabriel raises serious doubts as to whether we can know ourselves in this way. In a sharp critique of this approach, he presents a new defense of the free will and provides a timely introduction to philosophical thought about the self – all with verve, humor, and surprising insights. Gabriel criticizes the scientific image of the world and takes us on an eclectic journey of self-reflection by way of such concepts as self, consciousness, and freedom, with the aid of Kant, Schopenhauer, and Nagel but also Dr. Who, The Walking Dead, and Fargo.

Markus Gabriel

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