„Vergnügen im Nichtwissen“

Abstract

Recent contributions to Vladimir Jankelevitch’s philosophy of music that confine themselves to his Music and the Ineffable (1961) can lead to delusive truncations and remonstrations (“antirationalism,” “ideology”). With special emphasis on the terms “charm” and “metalogical intuition,” the essay shows that a relevant context would also need to include Jankelevitch’s treatises not directly related to music, various “life-philosophical” references, and certain forms of Russian philosophy (Losski, Frank). When these areas are taken into account, different questions arise. At the same time, peculiarities of Jankelevitch’s thinking (e. g. his apophatic method) become clearer, as in the relationship between “silence” and “engagement.”