Augenblick: The Concept of the 'Decisive Moment' in 19th- and 20th-Century Western Philosophy

Front Cover
Routledge, Apr 8, 2016 - Philosophy - 208 pages
Augenblick, meaning literally 'In the blink of an eye', describes a 'decisive moment' in time that is both fleeting yet momentously eventful, even epoch-makingly significant. In this book Koral Ward investigates the development of the concept into one of the core ideas in Western existential philosophy alongside such concepts as anxiety and individual freedom. Ward examines the whole extent of the idea of the 'decisive moment', in which an individual's entire life-project is open to a radical reorientation. From its inception in Kierkegaard's works to the writings of Jaspers and Heidegger, she draws on a vast array of sources beyond just the standard figures of 19th and 20th century Continental philosophy, finding ideas and examples in photography, cinema, music, art, and the modern novel.
 

Contents

Of Time and The Eternal Søren Kierkegaards Moment Øieblik
its place in Friedrich Nietzsches concept
Karl Jaspers pure eye of the fleeting moment
Martin Heideggers Augenblick as moment of vision and the Redemption
Henri CartierBressons Images à la Sauvette Images on the Run and the Image
A Decisive Epoch and the Existential Moment der Augenblick der Existenz in
Conclusion
Index
Copyright

Other editions - View all

Common terms and phrases

About the author (2016)

Koral Ward teaches at Murdoch University, Western Australia. She also has an art practice which focuses on text: in writing, performance, installation and situational works.

Bibliographic information