Art without world: Aesthetics and literature in Günther Anders

• Grant number: 24/23889-8
• Support Opportunities: Scholarships in Brazil - Post-Doctoral
• Start date: August 01, 2025
• End date: July 31, 2028
• Field of knowledge: Humanities - Philosophy - History of Philosophy
• Principal Investigator: Lucianno Ferreira Gatti
• Grantee: Felipe Catalani
• Host Institution: Escola de Filosofia, Letras e Ciências Humanas (EFLCH). Universidade Federal de São Paulo (UNIFESP). Campus Guarulhos. Guarulhos , SP, Brazil

Abstract

Best known as the critical "philosopher of despair" of the nuclear age, Günther Anders (1902-1992) dedicated a significant part of his work to aesthetics and literature, both as a writer and as a critic of literary and art works (in most cases, by authors who were his contemporaries). This research is dedicated to understanding something like an "aesthetic theory" latent in his writings. To do so, we will try to consider it in relation to the philosophical anthropology and philosophy of culture that the author sought to develop in his early writings, and which are still resonating in the book Mensch ohne Welt (Man without a World), a collection of writings on literature and art that Anders himself organized at the end of his life, in the 1980s. We will also try to interpret his peculiar notion of "realism" in relation to his considerations on "surrealism", developed as early as the 1930s, but which have repercussions throughout his work. With the aim of disseminating Anders' work in Portuguese, a crucial part of this research will be dedicated to translating selected texts. (AU)