Hans Blumenberg Quotes
Hans Blumenberg was a German philosopher whose work ranged across the history of ideas, philosophy of science, rhetoric, and the theory of myth. His Legitimacy of the Modern Age argued, against Karl Lowith, that modernity is not a secularized Christianity but a genuine self-assertion that reoccupies the questions left open by the late medieval crisis of theology. The quotes below are attributed to Hans Blumenberg, organized by topic.
Hans Blumenberg on Knowledge
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Attributed to Hans Blumenberg:
“Curiosity is the great human motor.”
Hans Blumenberg on Mind
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Attributed to Hans Blumenberg:
“We can never speak directly about ourselves; only through metaphor.”
Hans Blumenberg on Nature
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Attributed to Hans Blumenberg:
“Distance from the absolute is the condition of being human.”
Hans Blumenberg on Time
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Attributed to Hans Blumenberg:
“The modern age is the reoccupation of positions left vacant by the medieval system.”
Hans Blumenberg on Truth
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Attributed to Hans Blumenberg:
“Myth is what is repeated.”