Las realidades en que vivimos (Pensamiento Contemporaneo / Contemporary Thought)

by Hans Blumenberg

La cultura de nuestro tiempo ha concedido a la cuestión de la metaforicidad una extraordinaria importancia, al considerar que lo que podemos saber acerca de nosotros mismos encuentra su mejor expresión en determinadas metáforas. Aunque la idea ya había sido destacada en los albores de este siglo por autores como Ortega o Bergson, tal vez haya sido Hans Blumenberg quien con mayor eficacia la ha desarrollado, elevándola al rango de metodología propia. Metodología brillante y sugestiva que en algunos momentos se podría considerar allegable a la de Benjamin, con quien entre otras cosas comparte la distancia respecto a la filosofía tradicional (incluso con los autores, como Heidegger o Wittgenstein, con los que más dialogan). Es esta peculiar ubicación en el seno del pensamiento contemporáneo, esta capacidad para convertirse en interlocutor de autores en principio alejados de su perspectiva –e incluso alejados entre sí: sería el caso de filósofos tan distintos como Davidson o Valéry--, lo que convierte la lectura de los textos de Blumenberg en un ejercicio intelectual sumamente interesante, en especial para quienes echen en falta auténticas miradas originales sobre esta época.

176 pages, Paperback

First published November 4, 1999

About the author

Hans Blumenberg (1920-1996) was a prominent German philosopher, known for his work in intellectual history and phenomenology. He is best remembered for his development of "metaphorology," a method that investigates the role of metaphors in shaping human thought, particularly in philosophy and culture. Blumenberg's most famous works include The Legitimacy of the Modern Age (1966) and The Genesis of the Copernican World (1975), where he explored the historical and philosophical implications of metaphors and their transformative effects on human understanding.
Born in Lübeck, Germany, Blumenberg's career spanned several prestigious academic positions, including professorships at the University of Hamburg, University of Gießen, and University of Münster. His intellectual contributions deeply influenced fields such as philosophy, literary studies, and history of ideas. He was particularly concerned with how philosophical concepts were deeply intertwined with metaphors and how these shaped the intellectual trajectories of entire periods, like the Renaissance or the Enlightenment.
Blumenberg's work focused not only on philosophy but also on the philosophy of technology, language, and aesthetics, drawing from a broad range of sources, including phenomenology, historical analysis, and myth theory. His exploration of "absolute metaphors" — ideas that transcend their original metaphorical contexts and become integral to philosophical and cultural systems — marked a major contribution to postwar German thought.