Contributions to a New Enlightenment: The Ecological Condition

Abstract

My review essay on the outline of a reconfiguration of the trajectory and task of the humanities presented by the New Institute strives to critically situate and supplement some of the key concepts addressed by the authors. In particular, I draw attention to the question of what a humanist orientation toward futurity could mean in the context of the increasing predominance of prognostic forms of knowledge. Only after addressing the question of the temporalization of the humanities do I delve into the authors’ core concern: the configuration of a “New Enlightenment” and its claim to sever the link between reason and domination in order to escape the violent disposition of its historical predecessor. From this complex entanglement, I arrive at the foundation of a new conception of universality suggested by the authors, and endeavor to determine its processual conditions. Lastly, my essay discusses the ecological condition of humankind as a potential horizon of possibility for a modified approach to universality.