Lions

For distinguished philosopher Hans Blumenberg lions were a lifelong obsession. Lions translated by Kári Driscoll collects thirtytwo of Blumenbergs philosophical vignettes to reveal that the figure of the lion unites two of his other great preoccupations metaphors and anecdotes as nonphilosophical forms of knowledge. Each of these short texts sparkling with erudition and humor is devoted to a peculiar leonine presenceor in many cases absencein literature art philosophy religion and politics. From Ecclesiastes to the New Testament Apocrypha Dürer to Henri Rousseau Aesop and La Fontaine to Rilke and Thomas Mann the extraordinary breadth of Blumenbergs knowledge and intellectual curiosity is on full display. Lions has much to offer readers both those already familiar with Blumenbergs oeuvre and newcomers looking for an introduction to the thought of one of Germanys most important postwar philosophers.