Seite 17 - Einblicke 57

57 EINBLICKE 19
EINBLICKE: Herr Bormuth, Karl Jaspers‘ library has found a
new home in the Karl-Jaspers-Haus in Oldenburg, and you
are one of the people working there. What are your first im-
pressions?
BORMUTH: It‘s exciting to carry out my research with this li-
brary. It has already meant, in terms of the history of ideas,
that I have been able to trace Jaspers‘ readings of Hölder-
lin right back to their origins, so to speak. His markings and
comments in the poems hint at how he understood the phi-
losophising poet‘s work. Now, both young and more expe-
rienced scholars will have the opportunity to conduct their
research in Oldenburg, using the very sources of Jaspers‘
work.
EINBLICKE: The building already has two apartments for so-
called “Jaspers Fellows” – who will for example present their
research to the public at lecture evenings?
BORMUTH: That was the idea of the newly founded Jaspers-
Gesellschaft. We hope to be able to raise the necessary funds
through donations. Essentially we want to stimulate discus-
sion at the Jaspers-Haus about questions which, like Jaspers‘
own work, lie between disciplines and are also of interest to
wider audiences. This will mean developing formats that are
clearly understandable and stimulating. Here Jaspers also
led the way: he was able to express his ideas so clearly and
compellingly that even radio and TV approached him.
EINBLICKE: How do you plan to achieve this?
BORMUTH: Well, in time we want to offer lectures, confe-
rences and publications that bring academic discussion into
the public realm. Together with the Deutsches Literaturar-
chiv in Marbach we are thinking about how best to use the
library‘s lobby to introduce visitors – particularly school child-
ren and student groups – to Jaspers‘ books and life in a way
that is as interactive as possible. As for the lecture evenings,
the plan is to invite solidly unconventional thinkers, writers,
academics or essayists who have something to say to society
that is unfashionably substantial and provocative – frequent-
ly because their views transcend disciplinary boundaries.
EINBLICKE: Reading your CV – psychiatrist, medical ethicist,
professor of the history of ideas – you also seem to be some-
one who moves among disciplines.
BORMUTH: I did in fact start out with medicine and then I
moved into psychiatry after reading Jaspers for the first time
during my studies. I wanted to understand the inner struc-
tures and dynamics of the mentally ill – until my continued
engagement with Jaspers‘ philosophical writings led me to
ask: what is it that drives “healthy” people, what ideas about
their life and past do they develop in borderline situations?
Pointing out the limits of knowledge
What remains of Karl Jaspers today? A commitment to thinking beyond disciplinary boundaries and forging links between
academic perspectives, according to Oldenburg intellectual historian Matthias Bormuth. In the interview Bormuth talks
about the plans of the Karl-Jaspers-Gesellschaft, Jaspers‘ outsider view on science – and why it is still valuable today.
Zur Person Personal Details
Prof. Dr. Matthias Bormuth ist Heisenberg-Professor für Verglei-
chende Ideengeschichte an der Universität Oldenburg. Er promo-
vierte 2001 an der Universität Tübingen mit der medizinethischen
Arbeit „Lebensführung in der Moderne. Karl Jaspers und die Psy-
choanalyse“. 2008 folgte die Habilitation „Ambivalenz der Freiheit.
Suizidales Denken im20. Jahrhundert“. Als Stipendiat der Alexander
von Humboldt-Stiftung lehrte und forschte Bormuth in New York an
der City University und als Heisenberg-Stipendiat an der Columbia
University.
Prof. Dr. Matthias Bormuth is Heisenberg Professor for Comparative
Intellectual History at the University of Oldenburg. He obtained his
PhD in 2001 at the University of Tübingen with a dissertation on
medical ethics titled “Life Conduct in Modern Times. Karl Jaspers
and Psychoanalysis”. His habilitation “The Ambivalence of Freedom.
Suicidal Thinking in the 20th Century” followed in 2008. Bormuth
taught and researched inNewYork at City University on a scholarship
from the Alexander von Humboldt Foundation and at Columbia
University as a Heisenberg scholar.