GNOSIS, MODERNITY AND DIVINE INCARNATION

Abstract

The philosophical reflection about the nature of modernity and modem philosophy is as old as modernity itself. Already in the 17h century, Descartes and his contemporaries wanted to understand the (historical) significance of their innovations in the domains of science and philosophy. They contrasted their philosophical positions with medieval thought and evaluated the modem innovations as the starting point of a radically new way of thinking. In this respect, modernity and enlightenment were initially interpreted very positively. Nevertheless, the critical and negative evaluations do not seem to be much younger than these original optimistic interpretations. Up to today, these questions of interpretation and evaluation of modem thought have played a central role in philosophy and in other related domains. The contemporary modernity debate wants to uncover the modem roots of our contemporary society; it wants to situate our specific ways of thinking and it tries to understand the accomplishments and failures of modernity. A key figure within this contemporary modernity debate is the German philosopher Hans Blumenberg. In his renowned Die Legitimitiit der Neuzeit,3