Wolfgang Saile„Das Sein zum Tode“ oder „Die Krankheit zum Tode“. Ende der Wissenschaft, Anfang der Religion?

About this book deutschenglish

Wolfgang Saile writes this book as a distillation, a concentration, but also as an elevation to a new level of reflection following his dissertation. In it, he presents a completely new attempt at a synthesis of humanities and natural science approaches to the great questions of humanity, which may find a parallel in the great philosopher of the 20th century, Karl Popper, but in many respects goes beyond him. Due to his own experience of pain and suffering, especially caused by the unexpected early death of his young wife, many open questions arose that prompted him to ascend the philosophical Olympus. Additionally, he breaks into intellectual new territory by dealing, from a humanities standpoint, with the biological, embryological, anatomical, and functional conditions for the emergence of thoughts and emotions, from which he generates a hierarchy of knowledge and emotionality.

Afterword by Prof. Dr. Dr. R. U. Peter

What life is, we will never be able to answer satisfactorily, because death sets a clear boundary for humanity, as does the world in which we live. This prompts Heidegger to reflect on 'being-toward-death,' and moves Kierkegaard to his final work: 'The Sickness Unto Death.' Both approaches run antithetical toward each other, as well as toward Nietzsche's mythological approach. Nietzsche follows the ancient principle: 'Die and become!' which allows the individual to recognize himself again as part of the whole with a romantic view of antiquity. For Kierkegaard, real life is stretched between the 'first death' as 'sickness unto death' and the 'second death,' which leads to eternal life or eternal death.

The distinction lies hidden in fear. For Heidegger, fear breaks open with the encounter with death, as the felt world turns away from human existence, revealing 'naked being.' Kierkegaard sees in it sin as the sickness unto death, pointing to a missing relationship with God. Nietzsche uses fear, not as a cowardly escape, but to grow into reverence for sublime nature. In a religious sense, the aforementioned Zen story opens a path to the self. This is also helped by existentially lived grief, if it is used as a mirror to oneself and as a way to process the lived relationship.