Robert Spaemann Research Articles

Moral Certainty instead of Moral Objectivity

This paper argues that although Dworkin’s aim of developing a more practical understanding of moral truth is plausible, his attempt to do that while keeping the concept of moral objectivity remains deeply problematic. Because of its opposition to everything subjective, moral objectivity stands in an inherent conflict with the practical reality that we experience as persons from a first-person perspective; therefore, Dworkin’s attempt to reconceptualize moral objectivity from within a first-person perspective is inherently contradictory. The paper suggests that we should go one step further than Dworkin and give up the concept of moral objectivity altogether. A notion of moral certainty instead of moral objectivity would satisfy Dworkin’s intention of finding a practical conception of moral truth more adequately. A brief preliminary conception of it is developed while invoking the German philosopher Robert Spaemann’s ontology of a person.

Co mohu poznat, a co jen uznat? Výchozí epistemologické problémy ve filosofii Roberta Spaemanna

The paper analyses two preliminary epistemological problems in Robert Spaemann’s philosophy that have not yet been addressed as mutually linked. The common root of both problems lies in the way Spaemann specifically applies Kant’s statement “being is not a real predicate”. The first problem concerns the criteria for distinguishing between waking and dream cognition, the second the criteria for distinguishing a living being from a simulation. The analysis shows, among other things, the broader context of Spaemann’s epistemological position, its three main characteristics, and Spaemann’s specific use of the term Anerkennung (“acknowledgement”), which he adopted from German idealism.

Repensar teleológicamente la persona: un estudio desde la filosofía de Robert Spaemann

The article aims to explain Robert Spaemann's concept of the person, a concept that cannot be separated from the teleological conception of nature. Thanks to teleology, the dualism in which philosophical anthropology had been stuck since Modernity will be overcome: if nature is teleological, there is continuity between nature and reason and not opposition, as the moderns thought. In this sense, human reason allows the transcendence of nature by recognizing existences outside of itself, which has traditionally been called benevolent love. This is a fundamental phenomenon that allows us to understand the value of the person and the specificity of personal relationships. On the other hand, based on the assumption that person is a normative term and, therefore, not descriptive, Spaemann extends personal status to every man. He thus opposes thinkers who reduce personality to those who manifest rationality and consciousness. From this point of view raised here, the value of the person is infinitely magnified and we can speak of dignity.

Values and Mobilization: Towards the Dynamics of “Sterile Excitement”

Starting with an overview of the ‘tyranny of values’ notion introduced by Carl Schmitt, this article discusses how values are converted into political goals and managed by societies. While both Schmitt and Robert Spaemann emphasized the danger of ‘automatic enactment’ of values, today in a mobilized society the situation aggravates as the differentiation between a policy system based on violence and orders, and a culture system offering common patterns for comprehending social life diminishes or disappears completely. But this danger is often overlooked by the states, particularly if the communities of states discover the community of values, and their citizens willingly offer them their support in critical situations.

Reconsidering the Political: A Realization of a Person or a Way to Depersonalization?

This paper takes on the highly problematic question whether the political is reconcilable with the conception of a person within Robert Spaemann’s philosophy. Spaemann devotes himself to detailed explication of the moral ontology of the person, however, the political ontology in his thought is only assumed but not developed and it seems to stand in deep conflict with the developed elements of person’s ontology. The aim of the paper is to investigate whether Spaemann’s notion of the political can be reconciled with the rest of the person’s ontology and if this turn to the political rather leads to depersonalization. It is argued that it is possible to develop Spaemann’s personal ontology while integrating the concept of the political within the conception of a person.

La razón desvalida. Poder y libertad en la obra de Robert Spaemann

Ratio, as a universal attribute of human being, would be the essential element to establish forms of political praxis deprived of any kind of coercion. The present article aims to introduce the reader to this controversy by means of the considerations made by the philosopher Robert Spaemann. In order to fulfill this objective, we will first explore what made Spaemann involve in the debate. Then, we will study the concept of power and freedom in Spaemann´s work. In the third section of the article, we will explain and discuss our author´s oucome to the controversy. Finally, we will offer some reflections in regard of this subject.

PATRIOTISM, IDENTITY AND DEATH. REFLECTIONS ON THE EXISTENCE OF AN INDIVIDUAL AND A POLITICAL COMMUNITY

The article reflects on the existential foundations of patriotism, identity and death. The presented considerations take into account the individual and community aspects of the analyzed issues. The preservation of eidos (essence) and the adjournment of the end are the central categories of the presented analysis. The starting point for the considerations is the myth-creating aspect of the historiography of Mistrz Wincenty, which forms the foundations of self-understanding for the Polish people. Attention is paid to the renaissance of thinking referring to myths that characterizes contemporary Western culture, described by Chantal Delsol. The concept of patriotism is analyzed using the understanding of this phenomenon proposed by Alasdair MacIntyre, and there are reference to the literature as well. The considerations reveal the tension between patriotism understood as a special kind of loyalty shown towards one’s own political community and the requirements of universalist ethics, especially liberal ones. Liberal criticism of patriotism presents it as an anachronistic attitude. It is related to the modern concept of progress. The article refers to the typology of types of progress proposed by Robert Spaemann, but referring to the division of human activities created by Aristotle. The negative effects – also in the sphere of education – of treating the category of progress as an absolute, radicalized and totalized value were emphasized; not requiring justification and equated with good. The article highlights the immanent threat to the existence of individuals and communities. Jonathan Lear’s study of the decline and rebirth of a culture created by the Native American community, the Crow tribe, is analyzed.

Between cognition and discourse: Robert Spaemann’s classical aspects of philosophizing

The German philosopher Robert Spaemann proposed a complex but incomplete concept of philosophy. It has features of a classical approach, but it is difficult to define what is classical in it. Its comparison to the contemporary version of classical philosophy developed by the Lublin School of Philosophy shows that Spaemann may be considered as a representative of a classical, though not metaphysical, manner of philosophizing. Both in philosophy, systematically perceived as a type of cognition, and history, perceived as a type of discourse, classical influences can be observed in terms of the concept of philosophy, its object, purpose, and method. Despite the tension between philosophy as the cognition and philosophy as the discourse, in his concept these two aspects cannot be reduced one to another and cannot be separate from each other. The awareness that philosophy is an endless and controversial discourse on ultimate problems does not relieve philosophers from their efforts to pursue the truth about reality. And this is how Spaemann looks at his own philosophising.

Klasyczna koncepcja postępu w ujęciu Roberta Spaemanna

W artykule zaprezentowano wybrane aspekty klasycznej koncepcji postępu w rozumieniu Roberta Spaemanna. Koncepcję tę wybitny niemiecki myśliciel rozwijał w dyskusji z innymi wizjami postępu, takimi jak modernizm, naturalizm, marksizm, transhumanizm. Wspólna jest dla nich nowożytna idea, zgodnie z którą ciągle wzmagająca się naukowa dominacja nad naturą i wskutek tego również nad człowiekiem oznacza postęp. Taka jednak wizja stoi w sprzeczności z właściwym sensem postępu. Jest on realizowany wówczas, gdy dokonuje się w harmonii z teleologiczną naturą bytów.Wedle wspomnianych wizji postęp jest procesem koniecznym i nieskończonym. Szczególną zaś rolę w określaniu jego dynamiki odgrywa współczesne przyrodoznawstwo z charakterystyczną dla niego tendencją progresywnej instrumentalizacji natury. Spaemann słusznie poddaje ją krytyce. O tym, czy rzeczywiście dokonuje się postęp, rozstrzygają odpowiednie jego kryteria. Wśród nich filozof wskazuje i rozwija kryteria metafizyczne, etyczne (zarówno w ich negatywnym, jak i pozytywnym brzmieniu) oraz teologiczne. Jego zdaniem postęp zakłada moralnie dobre ulepszenia i sytuuje bytowanie człowieka w perspektywie nadziei, motywującej nieprzerwanie do doskonalenia siebie i świata. W artykule podjęto również próbę określenia aktualności, specyfiki i oryginalności analiz niemieckiego myśliciela.

Robert Spaemann’s Ontology of the Person as a Contribution to Overcoming an Anthropological Crisis

Robert Spaemann (1927–2018) is one of the best-known German philosophers of the present. One of his most important books: Persons contains an ontology of the person that offers a synthesis of metaphysics, anthropology and ethics. The purpose of the article is to present the most important elements of this ontology and to reveal their possible relevance for current ethical problems. Spaemann‘s main achievement is a successful diagnosis of the crisis of the person in the present with the indication of the possibilities of overcoming it through an integral view of the human being.

Ethical responsibilities of man toward animal world. The vision of Robert Spaemann

The article presents the concept of moral obligations that man has towards animals proposed by Robert Spaemann. Spaemann give reasons for perceiving animal as an object of the law. His analyses present possibilities of solving basic moral questions like for example experiments on animals, animal husbandry, animal slaughter, hunting, interfering into animal's nature and our responsibility for them. Spaemann presents very original arguments for taking care of and responsibility for animals, deriving it from human dignity.

Potrzeba afirmacji człowieka jako wyzwanie dla wychowania

CEL NAUKOWY: Celem artykułu jest próba uzasadnienia tezy, zgodnie z którą współczesne wychowanie stanęło wobec szczególnego, pilnego wyzwania – mocnego oparcia się na antropologii afirmującej człowieka. Wymaga tego sytuacja z jednej strony wzmagającej się krytyki humanizmu, z drugiej – przedłużającej się pandemii koronawirusa.
 PROBLEM I METODY BADAWCZE: Metodą badawczą jest analiza współczesnej sytuacji społeczno-kulturowej i pozycji w niej człowieka i człowieczeństwa w świetle personalistycznej myśli filozoficznej D. von Hildebranda, Ch. Delsol i R. Spaemanna.
 PROCES WYWODU: Autorka wychodzi od charakterystyki obecnej sytuacji kultury dystansującej się coraz bardziej od idei humanizmu. Równocześnie zwraca uwagę na trudne konsekwencje wychowawcze sytuacji pandemii. Stawia tezę, że jedyną właściwą odpowiedzią jest afirmacja człowieka. Potrzebę takiej postawy uzasadnia, odwołując się do personalizmu chrześcijańskiego w ujęciu D. von Hildebranda, Ch. Delsol i R. Spaemanna. Wywód kończą wnioski dla wychowania.
 WYNIKI ANALIZY NAUKOWEJ: Przeprowadzona analiza prowadzi do wniosku, iż jedynie personalizm chrześcijański pozwala w pełni uzasadnić potrzebę afirmacji człowieka, wyjaśnić jej rozumienie i wskazać sposoby realizacji tej postawy.
 WNIOSKI, INNOWACJE, REKOMENDACJE: Wnioski przeprowadzonej analizy dotyczą możliwości kształcenia postawy afirmacji człowieka, wrażliwości na człowieczeństwo. Zdaniem autorki potrzebne jest kształcenie postaw wobec człowieka i świata warunkujących postawę afirmacji człowieka i świata – a to znaczy postaw uznania, zachwytu, podziwu, bezinteresowności.

Godność ludzka a prawa człowieka w ujęciu Roberta Spaemanna

The article presents Robert Spaemann’s position on two directly related issues: human dignity and human rights. While Spaemann spoke directly about human dignity on many occasions, he raised the question of human rights, rather incidentally, in several contexts, especially the question of human dignity, in order to indicate the adequate source of the ideas underlying these rights (ontological dignity), its importance in our times, and to define some ways of implementing them. These issues are discussed in the article. The considerations are devoted predominantly to the problem of human dignity as a “pra-phenomenon.” The issue of dignity in the ontic sense (especially the assertion of what it is and what kind of argumentation supports its recognition in every human being) is discussed from the point of view of contemporary debates. The author also specifies how the inviolability of dignity, in both the moral and the ontic sense, should be understood, which is a problem Spaemann did not directly address.

Reflections on the meaning of pain, suffering and death

The main aim of this paper is to define an answer, in a key time before COVID19, if it is indeed possible to do so, as to the difference between pain and suffering. In order to do so, we will refer to, although not exclusively, the reflexions of the German philosopher Robert Spaemann. To finish, the question of death will briefly be analysed.

Was There a Ritter School? A Chapter in the History of Philosophy in Germany

In recent years the so-called Ritter School has received increasing attention in debates on the history of philosophy and political ideas in postwar Germany. Indeed, some of the country’s most important scholars and public intellectuals emerged from the circle around the philosopher Joachim Ritter in Münster, including philosophers such as Hermann Lübbe, Odo Marquard and Robert Spaemann, lawyers such as Ernst-Wolfgang Böckenförde and Martin Kriele, theologian Trutz Rendtorff, historian Rudolf Vierhaus, and art historian Max Imdahl. Many of Ritter’s disciples later held professorships at German universities and helped shape the academic landscape of the Federal Republic. Some of them also worked as publicists and consultants, held public office, served on university policy committees or in the legal and ecclesiastical systems and thus had a far-reaching influence on Germany’s public life and political culture. On closer inspection, however, classifying Ritter and his disciples as a philosophical school appears extremely questionable. Members of the presumed school itself as well as contemporary researchers question the label and prefer to regard the circle as a “forum for open thinking.” The article takes a closer look at the Ritter School and investigates to what extent the personal, theoretical and institutional connections between Joachim Ritter and his disciples can be adequately understood as a philosophical school. The author first provides an overview of the origins and development of the circle as it emerged from Ritter’s Collegium Philosophicum. Ritter’s own philosophical approach is then outlined, and its reception among his disciples is traced. Finally, a more detailed exposition of the principal characteristics of a philosophical school is the basis for a differentiated examination of the customary label “Ritter School” and an assessment of its significance for the philosophical discourse of West Germany.

Unpacking Robert Spaemann's Philosophical Contribution to the Brain Death Debate.

This article presents Robert Spaemann's philosophical case that "brain death" suffices neither as a definition of death nor as the sole criterion of death.

On justifying arguments of species membership.

In the debate about the moral status of human beings at the margins of life, arguments of species membership are often considered to be the least plausible ones. Against this backdrop, this article explores two possible ways to formulate feasible arguments of species membership. The first is an (in the broadest sense of the word) Aristotelian or neo-Aristotelian argument; the second is an argument from the intrinsic logic of human rights, which Robert Spaemann refers toas a 'transcendental-pragmatic' argument. On these grounds, the article proposes a philosophical justification for an at least moderate speciesism.

Jsou všichni lidé osoby, a jestliže ano, proč?: Náčrt SKIP argumentů a argumentace Roberta Spaemanna

The question of whether all people (i.e., members of homo sapiens) are persons returns whenever some people are, in practice, excluded from the community of persons and when at the same time it is claimed that people have human dignity and basic human rights only as much as they are persons. This question is still topical, for example, for the moral evaluation of some assisted reproduction procedures and embryo­‑destructive research. The thesis that all people are persons is currently defended and justified by the SKIP-arguments. The article outlines the SKIP-arguments in propedeutic form and the argumentation of Robert Spaemann parallel to these arguments, who defends the thesis in an thoughtful way in his book Persons: The Difference between ’Someone‘ and ’Something‘. In the end, the reader will also learn about the meta-argument of tutiorism through which the advocates of this thesis usually strengthen the SKIP arguments.

Problem eutanazji w ujęciu Roberta Spaemanna

The problem of euthanasia as seen by Robert SpaemannThe main aim of the article is to present some aspects of euthanasia in the perspective of Robert Spaemann—one of the most significant contemporary German thinkers. First of all, the paradox of the right to euthanasia derived from one’s own decision is pointed out. It is illustrated by the practice of legalising these acts in the Netherlands, Belgium and Luxembourg. On the one hand, such acts are to be motivated by our personal right to self-determination, but on the other, relevant decisions are taken by a doctor. Ultimately, the law protects the doctor, not the patient. Next, the nature of two main types of euthanasia is discussed and defined: active euthanasia and passive euthanasia. Also, an attempt is made to show the inevitable consequences of the right to kill oneself by answering the question whether the right to euthanasia breeds a sense of duty. Finally, a polemic between Robert Spaemann and Peter Singer is presented, which gives us an opportunity to see the three fundamental differences between these philosophers in their views on the problem of the so-called good death.The author of the article emphasizes that the patient’s living will, introduced in Germany in 2009 Patientenverfugung, may indirectly imply consent to passive euthanasia, which is omitted in specialist literature. He then indicates the specificity of the philosophical argumentation of the eminent thinker against euthanasia. He also highlights two aspects of Spaemann’s discussion with Singer: one concerns the downward spiral argument which undermines the legitimacy of euthanasia legalisation, and the other distinguishes two ways of abandoning the treatment if a person faces death.

«Reconocido, pero no guardado». Un escrito de Thomas Buchheim sobre el problema de Dios en Robert Spaemann

El objetivo principal de este trabajo es dar a conocer en lengua castellana un texto del profesor Thomas Buchheim acerca de la «última prueba» de la existencia de Dios a partir del futurum exactum de su maestro, Robert Spaemann. Para ello se analiza en primer lugar el argumento del futurum exactum del «haber-sido». Seguidamente se exponen las objeciones contra el argumento presentado de esta forma. A continuación, la presentación del argumento a partir del futurum exactum de la verdad. Finalmente se plantean los rasgos personales de la capacidad de verdad que dan pie a considerar la necesidad de una conciencia personal para poder hablar de verdad en sentido propio.