Lyrical and Ethical Subjects

Dennis J. Schmidt is Professor of Philosophy, Comparative Literature, and German at The Pennsylvania State University at University Park. He is the author of On Germans and Other Greeks: Tragedy and Ethical Life and The Ubiquity of the Finite: Hegel, Heidegger, and the Entitlements of Philosophy.

• AcknowledgmentsIntroduction 1. Lyrical and Ethical Subjects: Straining Communicability 2. Wozu Hermeneutik?: On Poetry and the Political 3. Between the Lines: On Language, Translation, and Tradition 4. On Blank Pages, Storms, and Other Images of History: Speaking and Imagining History 5. Time Made Loud: On Language and Music 6. What We Cannot Say: On Language and Freedom 7. "Two mouthfuls of silence": On Language and Pain 8. On the Dark Side of the Moon: On Language and Deafness 9. Speaking of Nature: On Language and the Unbidden World 10. Words on Paper: On Language and Script 11. "Like a fire that consumes all before it": On Language and Image 12. Language in the Age of Modern Technicity: Speaking of Freedom and Community Once Again Appendix: "Monologue" by Novalis Notes Index

"In Lyrical and Ethical Subjects Dennis Schmidt is at his best. His sensitivity to language, his intimate knowledge of German philosophy, and his deep concern for ethical and political issues are united to give the reader an enriching and exhilarating experience." — Robert Bernasconi, The University of Memphis"Here is a book that anyone concerned with issues in hermeneutics must read. It provides real insight and stretches our previous ways of approaching issues in language in relation to history and art. Through Schmidt's probing interrogative style, the reader encounters great ideas from great philosophers in a compellingly interesting way." — James Risser, author of Hermeneutics and the Voice of the Other: Re-reading Gadamer's Philosophical Hermeneutics