Die Teilnahme am Tutorium ist für die TeilnehmerInnen des Seminars "Key Concepts A" verpflichtend.
Hier werden die im Seminar bearbeitenden Texte und Konzepte vertiefend besprochen.
- Profesor: Wenzel Braunfels
- Profesor: Silviu-Vasile Rosu
- Profesor: Robert Yelle
Thomas Hobbes counts as one of the great philosophers of early modern
Europe, and as perhaps the greatest English political philosopher. His
masterwork, Leviathan (1651), attempted to derive the
principles of politics from first philosophy and natural reason, and
then to demonstrate the compatibility of these principles with Christian
scripture. Hobbes is credited with inventing the idea of the social
contract as the foundation of government, as well as with championing a
theory of the modern absolute state. Yet his central concern with the
relationship between religion and politics, or church and state, has
received less critical attention, and is presently being reevaluated.
Hobbes’s arguments for the state’s control of the church were made in
the context of the English Reformation and Civil War, and are reflected
in the second half of Leviathan, where he performed a radical
reinterpretation of the Bible and Christian tradition. As Hobbes was one
of the founding figures of both secularism and the modern, liberal
constitution, we cannot afford to ignore him. Yet we remain at a
disadvantage in reading him unless we add in a knowledge of his
historical context and of Reformation theology. This course will offer a
close and careful reading of Hobbes that adds back in elements of this
context that present-day readers might not be familiar with, including a
number of his textual sources, both classical and early modern. The
goal is to restore the radical edge to Hobbes’s argument, including
especially his critique of religion, that inspired and appalled many of
his contemporaries. Doing so will also reveal the relevance of Hobbes
for present debates. Students are encouraged to acquire a copy of Edwin
Curley’s edition of Leviathan. Class discussion and readings will be mainly in English. Written work may be submitted in German or English.
- Profesor: Wenzel Braunfels
- Profesor: Robert Yelle
This course will examine several topics that are of primary importance to the contemporary practice of the study of religion:
- The history of development of the study of religion during and after the Protestant Reformation and subsequent Enlightenment
- Secularization and modernization as the historical context for the social location and cultural understanding of religion
- Basic categories (e.g., ritual and the sacred) and key approaches in the study of religion such as structuralism, genealogy, political theology, and the economics of religion
- Debates over the definition of religion, including recent arguments asserting the impossibility of defining religion given the constructed and historically circumscribed nature of the category
The class will be conducted primarily in English. Written coursework may be submitted in German or English. The tutorial provides an opportunity to review and discuss the material presented in class.
- Profesor: Wenzel Braunfels
- Profesor: Robert Yelle
This course will offer students the basic methodological tools needed to
analyze mantras, spells, and related forms of magic and ritual. We will
cover theories from anthropology, linguistics, and semiotics, as well
as more general writings on magic, and examine specific magical
traditions, with an emphasis on Asian mantras as well as similar forms
in classical and more recent European traditions. Some of the more
stable constants in magic and spells, such as repetition and the use of
poetry in order to augment the efficacy of ritual speech, are found
across many traditions and therefore lend themselves well to a
cross-cultural analysis. We will also examine the critique of magic in
early modern Europe and contemporary debates over the propriety of the
use of the category of magic for scholarly analysis. Traditions covered
include Sanskrit mantras, Buddhist dharanis, the Greek Magical Papyri,
medieval Christian spells, and folk magic. Class discussion and readings
will be mainly in English. Written work may be submitted in German or
English.
- Profesor: Wenzel Braunfels
- Profesor: Robert Yelle
Sacrifice is arguably one of the oldest and most widely distributed
practices across religious traditions. Ranging from gift offerings and
shared meals to blood sacrifices, burnt offerings, and even human
sacrifices, the sheer diversity of practices encompassed under the
category of sacrifice poses a complex problem of definition, while
affording the ideal basis for an investigation of the history and
anthropology of religions. We will consider a wide range of primary and
secondary sources to illustrate how the struggle with the problem and
meaning of sacrifice has motivated historical traditions, while also
serving in recent centuries as the starting point for several important
theories of religion. Some of the issues covered are the debate over the
origins of sacrifice; the foundation sacrifice (Bauopfer); the
scapegoat (Sündenbock); the theory of sacrifice as gift exchange (do ut des);
the role of sacrificial violence; and the impact of Protestant theology
on the idea that sacrifice originated as a communal meal. Theorists
covered include Joseph de Maistre, Julius Wellhausen, William Robertson
Smith, Marcel Mauss, Walter Burkert, René Girard, and Nancy Jay. The
lecture will be conducted in English. Coursework may be submitted in
German or English.
- Profesor: Wenzel Braunfels
- Profesor: Robert Yelle