Wolfgang SaileSchmerz und Angst als Wegmarken zur Selbstfindung und zum Mysterium des Lebens im Labyrinth der Welt

About this book deutschenglish

“Wolfgang Saile combines in his work philosophical and theological reflections on existential matters with neurological findings. This reveals the transdisciplinary diversity of his work, which is philosophically deeply rooted in the thought forms of the three great anti-classical classics: Søren Kierkegaard, Friedrich Nietzsche, and Martin Heidegger. The subtle combination of these thinkers in itself manifests great value, and Saile further enhances this with his sublime knowledge of neuroscience. His book demonstrates his ability to think scientifically as well as in terms of cultural and humanistic scholarship, with a refined sense of beauty and aesthetics. This allows him to playfully break through the 'two cultures' divide, between myth and logos. His approach does not aim at a synthesis, as this would likely be impossible...”

Foreword by Prof. Dr. H. Seubert

Rather, the two life philosophers, Nietzsche and Kierkegaard, as well as Heidegger in his continuation, are concerned with the self-discovery and unveiling of the self. Kierkegaard defines this deepest foundation of 'being human' and reflection on the world as a fragile synthesis between body, mind, and soul, which only occasionally moves in a balanced relationship. This stands in contrast to Hegel's optimistic approach, which also recognizes the importance of chemistry in his natural philosophy, mediating between (stagnant) mechanics and the organic world as self-activity, in order to arrive at the absolute - but abstract -spirit through pure thought. With 'God is dead,' Nietzsche has brought humanity back to the mortal world and can also be read as an antithesis to the spirit-philosophy of Hegel and Kierkegaard. The necessary integration of empirical data is based on Damasio's guiding principle: 'feeling thinking and thinking feeling,' combined with the gradual working through of pain and fear from the level of sensation to that of emotion, and ultimately to understanding. The 'quinta essentia' is provided by the old Zen story: 'The Ox and His Herder,' offering a deep insight into the 'absolute nothingness' as a junction point between the three thinkers, which also refers to the Kyoto School.