This thesis analyzes three works of the GDR dramatist Heiner Müller: his early prose poem Orpheus gepflügt, his learning play Mauser, and his late piece Verkommenes Ufer Medeamaterial Landschaft mit Argonauten. It demonstrates how Müller, throughout different career stages, pragmatizes myth to further critical thinking. Ancient Greek myths and Christian symbolism play a crucial role in Müller’s strategy of calling into question the very systems that lay claim to an absolute truth. Müller both alludes to and openly employs myths to identify their inherent dialectical tension operative in everyday life as well as in secular explanatory models used to legitimize political agendas. He expands Theodor W. Adorno’s concept of negative dialectics through an emphasis on the mythical pole of the dialectical dyad “myth and enlightenment.” By drawing attention to myths inherent in civilization, Müller opens up space for the imagination and the potential of the irrational to initiate change.

Thesis advisor: Brian Dunkle / The eighteenth-century Enlightenment movement that swept across much of Europe, notably France, England and Germany, came to mean different things to different peoples, embodying different strands and currents of thought. Even with the national and cultural specificities, the common element that cut across national boundaries was the appeal to reason as the point of departure in interpreting individual and communal behavior. The Aufklärung, that is, the German strand of the Enlightenment, was particularly acute in its interaction and more pointedly, its challenge of traditional Christian orthodoxy and doctrines. Given this obvious interest in Christian thought by the Aufklärung, it is quite predictable that Joseph Ratzinger/Benedict XVI became concerned with the perspectives and positions of the Aufklärer. To Ratzinger, the Aufklärung marked an enduring criticism of revealed faith, a critique that the Church is yet to fully engage and respond to. The critique of faith by the Aufklärung has lost nothing of its freshness and attraction, two centuries later. This task of opening avenues of rational engagements with the modes of thought of the Aufklärung is not just the expedient thing to do. There is a more profound reason: Christianity, as Ratzinger has repeatedly pointed out, is a religion of the Logos, a Logos that at the fullness of time (Gal 4:4), entered history. To foster this rapport between faith and the Aufklärung, Ratzinger therefore finds a ready tool in the Johannine appropriation of the Greek concept of the Logos. In Ratzinger, one discerns a five-fold usage of the concept of logos that could be useful in creating a space of interaction and engagement with the Aufklärung: As Creative Reason, Son, Person, Unity of Love and Word. These five appropriations of logos will therefore provide avenues by which Ratzinger will engage the Aufklärung. What this dissertation seeks to achieve by way of moving the needle of knowledge is to study Ratzinger from the philosophical prism of the Aufklärung, that is, how do Ratzinger’s theological ideas, convictions and conclusions place him in dialogue and engagement with the philosophical currents of the post-Aufklärung era, especially the philosophers that emerge from Germany? This thesis therefore places Ratzinger in dialogue with notable Aufklärung figures like Kant, Hegel, Nietzsche, and Heidegger around the central Christological and Ecclesiological questions as seen in the multiple appropriation of the concept of logos by Ratzinger. Overall, one gains a deeper appreciation not only of Ratzinger’s Christo-ecclesial hermeneutical framework, but also the philosophical currents and presuppositions that shaped and contextualized the thinking of Joseph Ratzinger/Benedict XVI, especially from the prism of the dialogue between faith and reason, and the continuous relevance for such a hermeneutical framework for today’s Church, as we continue to grapple with the challenges of the autonomy of reason and science vis-à-vis the traditional claims of Christian orthodoxy. / Thesis (STD) — Boston College, 2019. / Submitted to: Boston College. School of Theology and Ministry. / Discipline: Sacred Theology.

Ziele: Das Ziel der vorliegenden Arbeit ist eine standardisierte Analyse der Patientenzufriedenheit mit dem Aufklärungsgespräch und die mögliche Einflussfaktoren, die hier eine Rolle spielen können, zu bieten. Methodik: Es wurden 189 Fragebögen bzw. Aufklärungsgespräche in den Kliniken für Anästhesie und Innere Medizin im St. Josef Krankenhaus und Chirurgie und Kinder- und Jugendpsychiatrie im Leopoldina Krankenhaus in Schweinfurt untersucht. Ergebnisse: Der Fragebogen, der verwendet wurde, war reliabel. Es zeigte sich eine schlechte Item-Selektivität. Die Kriteriumsvalidität konnte bestätigt werden jedoch nicht die diskriminante Validität. Die Patienten waren zufriedener mit Ärzten, die Deutsch als Muttersprache angaben, mit längeren Aufklärungsgesprächen und mit Fachärzten im Vergleich zu Assistenzärzten. Eine höhere allgemeine Lebenszufriedenheit war mit höherer Patientenzufriedenheit mit dem Aufklärungsgespräch assoziiert. Der moralistische Bias kann einen Störfaktor der Validität der Messungen darstellen. Zusammenfassung: Eine angemessene Gesprächdauer, die deutsche Muttersprache und der Facharztstatus des aufklärenden Arztes haben einen positiven Einfluss auf die Patientenzufriedenheit mit dem Aufklärungsgespräch. Um sicher zu stellen, welche von diesen drei Faktoren besondere Wichtigkeit besitzt, werden weitere Untersuchungen benötigt. / Objective: The aim of the present study is to provide a standardized analysis of patient satisfaction with informed consent process and the possible influencing factors that can play a role here. Methoden: 189 questionnaires/informed consent were examined in the clinics for anesthesia and internal medicine in St. Josef Hospital and surgery and child and adolescent psychiatry in Leopoldina Hospital in Schweinfurt. Results: The questionnaire used was reliable. There was poor item selectivity. The criterion validity was confirmed but not the discriminant validity. Patients were more satisfied with doctors who spoke German as their native language, with longer duration oft the informed consent process and with specialists compared to assistant doctors. Higher general life satisfaction was associated with higher patient satisfaction. The moralistic bias can represent a confounding factor in the validity of the measurements. Conclusion: An appropriate duration of the conversation, the German native language and the doctor's specialist status have a positive influence on patient satisfaction with informed consent process. Further research is needed to determine which of these three factors is particularly important.

Im Rahmen dieser Arbeit wurde der Autor des ersten zahnmedizinischen Lehrbuches in deutscher Sprache, Philipp Pfaff, im Kontext der medizinischen Aufklärung untersucht. Sein Beitrag zum fachlichen Kenntnisstand ist heterogen zu betrachten. Trotzdem entdeckte Pfaff bedeutende zahnmedizinische Behandlungsverfahren, die in leicht abgewandelter Form bis heute von großer Bedeutung sind. Er ließ sich hierbei durch seine Erfahrungen und insbesondere durch misslungene Behandlungen auch aus seinem Umfeld inspirieren und erbrachte hauptsächlich durch die Dokumentation und Veröffentlichung dieses Wissens in deutscher Sprache einen wichtigen Beitrag für die „Aufklärung der Zahnmedizin“. Der Geist der Aufklärung wurde in Pfaffs Werk vor allem durch die Leitbegriffe „Vernunft“, „Erfahrung“ und „Nützlichkeit“ deutlich. Diese zentrale Rolle des Vernunftbegriffs wird allein schon durch die Omnipräsenz der „Vernunft“ in seinem Werk deutlich. Pfaffs Selbstdarstellung entsprach in diesem Punkt dem Leitbild der Aufklärungszeit. Laut seines Werkes sollte die „Erfahrung“ ein wichtiger Leitbegriff für seine medizinische Tätigkeit sein. Vermutlich nutzte er das Argument der „Erfahrung“ standespolitisch, um sich von ungelernten Zahnbehandlern abzugrenzen und um die Bedeutung seiner Berufsgruppe auszudrücken. Um herauszufinden, inwiefern Pfaffs Biografie und sein Werk charakteristisch für die medizinische Aufklärung der nicht akademischen Heilberufe im 18. Jahrhundert war, wurde es mit den ersten deutschsprachigen Lehrbüchern der Geburtshilfe verglichen. Beide Fachbereiche durchliefen bei dem Versuch, die noch jungen Disziplinen zu etablieren, den zunehmenden Prozess der Professionalisierung und benötigten hierbei das Wohlwollen der akademischen Ärzte. / As part of this work, the author of the first dental textbook in German, Philipp Pfaff, was examined in the context of medical education. His contribution to the state of technical knowledge must be viewed as heterogeneous. Nevertheless, Pfaff discovered important dental treatment procedures that, in a slightly modified form, are still of great importance today. He was inspired by his experiences and in particular by unsuccessful treatments from those around him and made an important contribution to the “enlightenment of dentistry” mainly by documenting and publishing this knowledge in German. The spirit of the Enlightenment was particularly evident in Pfaff's work through the guiding concepts of “reason,” “experience,” and “usefulness.” This central role of the concept of reason is made clear by the omnipresence of “reason” in his work. In this respect, Pfaff's self-portrayal corresponded to the model of the Enlightenment period. According to his work, “experience” should be an important guiding concept for his medical work. He probably used the argument of “experience” for professional reasons to differentiate himself from unskilled dental practitioners and to express the importance of his professional group. In order to find out to what extent Pfaff's biography and his work were characteristic of the medical enlightenment of the non-academic health professions in the 18th century, it was compared with the first German-language textbooks on obstetrics. In an attempt to establish the still young disciplines, both departments went through the increasing process of professionalization and needed the goodwill of academic doctors.

Die Dissertation leistet einen Beitrag zur Leipziger Universitätsgeschichte des 18. Jahrhunderts. Die Arbeit befasst sich am Beispiel Leipzigs mit den lebensweltlichen Veränderungen des studentischen Habitus im urbanen Raum in einer Phase gesellschaftlicher Transformations- und Modernisierungsprozesse vor und nach 1800.

Die kulturwissenschafdiche Behandlung der Aufklärung, wie sie in den letzten Jahren verstärkt zu beobachten ist, führe ich im Wesentlichen auf drei unterschiedliche und nicht zusammenhängende Grunde zurück. Der erste ist eine weltweite Umorientierung der Forschung im Bereich der Literaturwisscnschaften, der zweite liegt in einer Befreiung vom philosophisch-normativen Potential des Begriffs selbst und der dritte hat etwas mit der Einbeziehung von Medien aller Art zu tun.

Fundação Carlos Chagas Filho de Amparo a Pesquisa do Estado do Rio de Janeiro / O presente trabalho tem por objetivo investigar a relação do pensamento de Michel Foucault com o de Immanuel Kant a partir das perspectivas encontradas em dois momentos específicos de suas obras em que localiza o pensador alemão no limiar de nossa modernidade: em As palavras e as coisas (1966) e nos textos tardios (1978 a 1984) que versam sobre a resposta dada por Kant à pergunta Was ist Aufklärung?, de 1784. Na primeira parte, analisamos tal perspectiva a partir da distinção kantiana entre o empírico e o transcendental em sua relação com a problematização do sono antropológico". Para tal, centramo-nos nos primeiros escritos de Foucault, tomando como pontos de ancoragem a Tese Complementar (1961) e As palavras e as coisas (1966). Na segunda parte, ela é abordada a partir da questão da Aufklärung em sua relação com a noção de governo, examinando a maneira pela qual Foucault vincula seu trabalho à tradição crítica de uma ontologia do presente que teria sido instaurada pelo pensador alemão. O resultado obtido através do entrecruzamento destas duas perspectivas permite reconhecer que o pensamento de Kant ocupa, para Foucault, um lugar de singularidade na história da filosofia, caracterizado pela reativação permanente de uma atitude que é em si mesma um êthos filosófico, isto é, uma crítica permanente de nosso ser histórico.

Fundação Carlos Chagas Filho de Amparo a Pesquisa do Estado do Rio de Janeiro / O presente trabalho tem por objetivo investigar a relação do pensamento de Michel Foucault com o de Immanuel Kant a partir das perspectivas encontradas em dois momentos específicos de suas obras em que localiza o pensador alemão no limiar de nossa modernidade: em As palavras e as coisas (1966) e nos textos tardios (1978 a 1984) que versam sobre a resposta dada por Kant à pergunta Was ist Aufklärung?, de 1784. Na primeira parte, analisamos tal perspectiva a partir da distinção kantiana entre o empírico e o transcendental em sua relação com a problematização do sono antropológico". Para tal, centramo-nos nos primeiros escritos de Foucault, tomando como pontos de ancoragem a Tese Complementar (1961) e As palavras e as coisas (1966). Na segunda parte, ela é abordada a partir da questão da Aufklärung em sua relação com a noção de governo, examinando a maneira pela qual Foucault vincula seu trabalho à tradição crítica de uma ontologia do presente que teria sido instaurada pelo pensador alemão. O resultado obtido através do entrecruzamento destas duas perspectivas permite reconhecer que o pensamento de Kant ocupa, para Foucault, um lugar de singularidade na história da filosofia, caracterizado pela reativação permanente de uma atitude que é em si mesma um êthos filosófico, isto é, uma crítica permanente de nosso ser histórico.

Embora a questão do esclarecimento não fosse novidade na História das Ciências, Gaston Bachelard (1884-1962) impôs-lhe várias mudanças ao demonstrar a historicidade da razão movendo-se para muito além das categorias a priori e negar uma continuidade necessária entre teorias e conceitos científicos. Por acreditar que a ciência é o local de onde emergem nossas verdades, Bachelard atribuiu à História das Ciências a tarefa de descrever as rupturas que marcaram os momentos em que o irracionalismo foi abandonado. A revolução metodológica imposta por seu trabalho e pelo etos responsável por ela deu dignidade filosófica à História das Ciências e fez com que os historiadores assumissem a postura de juízes, função que exige uma avaliação epistemológica do nosso passado científico através da sua persistência na ciência atual, razão pela qual podemos falar de uma História epistemológica. Por todas essas razões, ao escrevermos a história intelectual dessa nova disciplina pretendemos demonstrar que, não apenas a epistemologia bachelardiana se inscreve na tradição filosófica nietzschiana, como inaugurou a via de aproximação entre a história das ciências e a história social. / Although the question of enlightenment was no novelty in the History of Science, Gaston Bachelard (1884-1962) imposed several changes on it demonstrating the historicity of reason moving itself away from the idea of a priori categories and denying a necessary continuity among scientific concepts and theories. Because he believed that Science is the place where our truths emerge from, Bachelard argued that the task of History of Science was to describe the ruptures that marked the moments when irrationalism was abandoned. The methodological revolution imposed by his work and the ethos responsible for it gave philosophical dignity to the History of Science and made the historians assume the obligation of judgment, an assignment which they need to evaluate epistemologically our scientific past questioning its persistence through the actual science, reason why we can say that Bachelard inaugurated an epistemological History. For all this reasons, we think that the intellectual history of this new discipline allow us to understand the bachelardian epistemology in relation with the nietzschean tradition of critical philosophy and to demonstrate how it sets the basis for an approximation between history of science and social history.

Embora a questão do esclarecimento não fosse novidade na História das Ciências, Gaston Bachelard (1884-1962) impôs-lhe várias mudanças ao demonstrar a historicidade da razão movendo-se para muito além das categorias a priori e negar uma continuidade necessária entre teorias e conceitos científicos. Por acreditar que a ciência é o local de onde emergem nossas verdades, Bachelard atribuiu à História das Ciências a tarefa de descrever as rupturas que marcaram os momentos em que o irracionalismo foi abandonado. A revolução metodológica imposta por seu trabalho e pelo etos responsável por ela deu dignidade filosófica à História das Ciências e fez com que os historiadores assumissem a postura de juízes, função que exige uma avaliação epistemológica do nosso passado científico através da sua persistência na ciência atual, razão pela qual podemos falar de uma História epistemológica. Por todas essas razões, ao escrevermos a história intelectual dessa nova disciplina pretendemos demonstrar que, não apenas a epistemologia bachelardiana se inscreve na tradição filosófica nietzschiana, como inaugurou a via de aproximação entre a história das ciências e a história social. / Although the question of enlightenment was no novelty in the History of Science, Gaston Bachelard (1884-1962) imposed several changes on it demonstrating the historicity of reason moving itself away from the idea of a priori categories and denying a necessary continuity among scientific concepts and theories. Because he believed that Science is the place where our truths emerge from, Bachelard argued that the task of History of Science was to describe the ruptures that marked the moments when irrationalism was abandoned. The methodological revolution imposed by his work and the ethos responsible for it gave philosophical dignity to the History of Science and made the historians assume the obligation of judgment, an assignment which they need to evaluate epistemologically our scientific past questioning its persistence through the actual science, reason why we can say that Bachelard inaugurated an epistemological History. For all this reasons, we think that the intellectual history of this new discipline allow us to understand the bachelardian epistemology in relation with the nietzschean tradition of critical philosophy and to demonstrate how it sets the basis for an approximation between history of science and social history.