publication
Univ.-Prof. DDr. Kurt Appel
All editions (GERMAN/ENGLISH/ITALIAN) - All Edited Volumes (GERMAN/ENGLISH/ITALIAN) - Tutte le Edizione (TEDESCO/INGLESE/ITALIANO)
2022
Publication by PAOLO COSTA: The Post-Secular City. The New Secularization Debate
Kurt Appel / Jakob Deibl (Eds.)
Series: Journal for Religion and Transformation in Contemporary Society - Supplementa, Volume 2
Brill Schöningh, Padderborn 2022
[Link to book]
“The Post-Secular City” is the first attempt to systematically map and assess the recent debate about secularization. “The Post-Secular City” examines the alleged shift from a “secular” to a “post-secular” dispensation from the perspective of the ongoing de-construction of the secularization “theorem” (as Hans Blumenberg called it). Accordingly, the new secularization debate is described as being polarized between the “de-constructors” and the “maintainers” of the standard thesis of secularization. This is the assumption underlying an ambitious effort to map the field, which consists of a long introduction where “secularization” is analyzed as a deeply problematic concept-of-process and of eight chapters in which several protagonists of the recent debate are discussed as crucial junctions of a multidisciplinary conversation.
TIn Praise of Mortality. Christianity and New Humanism
Kurt Appel (Ed.)
Translated by Alex Skinner, Natalie Eder, Rachel Thomas, and Carl Raschke
Reihe: Journal for Religion and Transformation in Contemporary Society - Supplementa, Volume 1
Brill Schöningh, Paderborn 2022 (peer reviewed)
ISBN 978-3-506-79124-5
DOI: doi.org/10.30965/9783657791248
[Link to Brill Publishing]
[Link to Schöningh-Verlag]
[German version: K. Appel (ed.), Price of Mortality. Christianity and New Humanism (QD 271), Herder: Freiburg 2015]
This volume shows that the vulnerability and mortality of life are the starting points of its transcendence which exceeds all representability. Only by renouncing fantasies of omnipotence of a theological, philosophical and scientific nature, human beings can advance to their destiny and introduce a New Humanism enabling a bond between all that is alive and between human beings and their transcendent dimension. This includes an understanding of time that no longer follows chronological-mechanistic constraints, a non-instrumental understanding of language that finds its dimension of depth in prayer and an understanding of God in which God is inseparably related to the openness of human existence. In traversing the arising avenues of thought, the four-part volume, written by three authors but to be read as a unity, is oriented towards a philosophy of central biblical passages, Hegel‘sThe Phenomenology of Spirit, Musil‘s Man Without Qualities, Hölderlin‘s poetry and Lacan´s psychoanalysis.
2021
Rescuing fraternity - Together. A call to faith and reflection
P. Sequeri / K. Appel / C. Casalone / D. Cornati / J. Duque / I. Guanzini / M. Neri / GC Pagazzi / V. Rosito / G. Serrano / L. Vantini (Hg.)
Afterword by Vincenzo Paglia (Human Community Series)
Published by the Pontifical Academy for Life. Libreria Editrice Vaticana: Roma 2021
Italian version: Saving brotherhood together - a call for faith and thought
Afterword by Vicenzo Paglia, Libreria Editrice Vaticana: Rome 2021
Spanish version: Save the fraternity - Together
A call to faith and thought, Libreria Editrice Vaticana: Rome 2021
English version: Saving Fraternity - Together
A call for faith and thought, Libreria Editrice Vaticana: Roma 2021
[Link to website]
In Praise of Mortality. Christianity as a New Humanism
Kurt Appel (Ed.)
Translated by Alex Skinner, Natalie Eder, Rachel Thomas and Carl Raschke
Journal for Cultural and Religious Theory, Issue 20.2 (Spring 2021), Whitestone Publishing: Stonewood 2021 (peer reviewed)
[Link to issue]
German version: K. Appel (ed.), Price of Mortality. Christianity and New Humanism (QD 271), Herder: Freiburg 2015
2020
God, where are you? Rethink prayer in times of emergency
Kurt Appel / Massimo Nardello / Andrés Torres Queiruga (Hg.)
EDB: Bologna 2020
ISBN: 9788-8-1097-6203
Prayer forces us to clarify the God we believe in. The image of an energy, of a distant cause that is at the origin of the universe, dissolves the moment one searches for a God to pray to. The image of the "omnipotent lord of heaven and earth", who from his "beyond" controls what happens among us and intervenes, raises questions in the light of experience: why does he seem to listen only to the prayers of some and many others not? What does the effectiveness of prayer depend on? The words of Jesus sound strange: "pray and it will be given to you", because they speak of a God who does not require any prior condition on the part of the one who prays, nor leaves it uncertain whether he will answer the prayer or not. God listens to the one who prays and answers his prayer. So why do so many people die despite praying to God to save them? Did God not accept the prayer? Or, rather, does he only answer the prayers of those who are particularly close to his heart? The contributions that make up our itinerary intend to address the question of God to orient the answer to these fundamental questions of human experience. The texts by Kurt Appel and Massimo Nardello were published in an abridged version in the online magazine Settimana News. The text by Andrés Torres Queiruga takes up part of chapter V of the volume I believe in a God made like this. A theologian's responses to objections about faith (EDB, Bologna 2017)
Prophecy of Francis. Trajectories of a pontificate
Foreword by Marcello Neri
Kurt Appel / Daniele Menozzi / Pierangelo Sequeri / Stella Morra / Paolo Benanti / Angelo Vincenzo Zani (Hg.)
EDB: Bologna 2020
ISBN: 9788-8-1041-3043
Francis' pontificate marks the decisive step towards a new style of realization of the Church and its mission in the light of Vatican II. A demanding step that deals with the issues that decide the destiny of humanity and the Earth at the bend of an epochal transition and which cannot ignore the faith of every believer and the active involvement of all the people of God. The contributions collected in This volume guides you through the major themes of Francis' ministry, offering guidance for a better understanding of the Gospel in our time. At the same time they allow a calibrated understanding of the resistance that is generated in the Catholic Church with respect to the Pope's intention to embark on a new season of his mission.
2019
Mercy and tenderness. Pope Francis' theological program
Kurt Appel / Helmut Jakob Deibl (Hg.)
San Paolo Editions: Mailand 2019
ISBN: 9788-8-9222-0454
[ABSTRACT German and English]
Published in German in 2016 under the title: Kurt Appel and Jakob Helmut Deibl (eds.), Mercy and Tender Love. The theological program of Pope Francis, Herder: Freiburg 2016
The pontificate of Pope Francis has triggered major upheavals in the Catholic Church with repercussions on the European and global discourse landscape. Pope Francis expressed his vision of a new social order in his apostolic letter “Evangelii Gaudium”. The volume examines the question of whether and to what extent, given the current global challenges (migration, urbanization, loss of tradition, ecological catastrophes, social and economic upheavals, theological reorientation processes), suggestions from this programmatic writing can open up new paths for the church and society in the present.
2018
The Crisis of Representation. Interdisciplinary Journal for Religion and Transformation in Contemporary Society 7
Kurt Appel / Carl Raschke (ed.)
V&R unipress: Göttingen 2018 (peer reviewed)
[LINK TO OPEN ACCESS]
The term “Crisis of Representation” rose to fame through Michel Foucault. The crisis, in the context of this issue, has not only a political and economic dimension, but a cultural, aesthetic and religious one as well. Thus, a serious inquiry into this complex and multidimensional phenomenon requires an interdisciplinary approach. The issue targets the phenomena at hand through 15 contributions – all with unique and innovative approaches to the topic. One common aim that holds the issue together is the analysis of the nature of the crisis, which helps to find suitable theoretical frameworks. On the other hand, the term itself functions as a tool that enables the analysis of specific societal developments. Contributing authors brought with them expertise from their respective fields including philosophy, political sciences, theology, Islamic studies and religious studies. This allowed for a cross-disciplinary approach on the phenomenon with special foci on politics, religions, societies and finance, as well as theoretical developments on current philosophical and post-colonial discourses.
2016
Mercy and tender love. The theological program of Pope Francis
Kurt Appel / Helmut Jakob Deibl (Hg.)
Herder: Freiburg 2016
ISBN: 9783-4-5134-9652
[ABSTRACT German and English]
The pontificate of Pope Francis has triggered major upheavals in the Catholic Church with repercussions on the European and global discourse landscape. Pope Francis expressed his vision of a new social order in his apostolic letter “Evangelii Gaudium”. The volume examines the question of whether and to what extent, given the current global challenges (migration, urbanization, loss of tradition, ecological catastrophes, social and economic upheavals, theological reorientation processes), suggestions from this programmatic writing can open up new paths for the church and society in the present.
With a foreword by Christoph Kardinal Schönborn and contributions by Kurt Appel, Eloy Bueno de la Fuente, Stan Chu Ilo, Piero Coda, Jakob Helmut Deibl, Erwin Dirscherl, Joao Manuel Duque, Ingeborg Gabriel, Carlos Maria Galli, Miguel Garcia-Baro Lopez, Isabella Guanzini, Mary Jo Iozzio, Annemarie Maier, Marcello Neri, Serena Noceti, Ikenna Okafor, Johann Pock, Hans-Joachim Sander, Johann Schelkshorn, Carlos Schickendantz, Pierangelo Sequeri, Christoph Theobald, Andres Torres Queiruga, Jan-Heiner Tück, Lucia Vantini , Roberto Vinco, Damian Wasek, Knut Wenzel, Felix Wilfred
The testament of time. The apocalyptic and its current reception (QD 278)
Kurt Appel / Erwin Dirscherl (Director)
Herder: Freiburg 2016 (peer reviewed)
ISBN: 9783-4-5102-2784
[ABSTRACT English]
This volume brings together distinguished representatives from theology and related disciplines to address the question of the end of our time and what follows it. Reference is made to the biblically based apocalyptic tradition. Particular attention is paid to current cultural and philosophical apocalyptic worlds of thought.
With contributions from Kurt Appel, Erwin Dirscherl, René Dausner, Jakob Helmut Deibl, Georg Essen, Isabella Guanzini, Branko Klun, Tobias Nicklas, Knut Wenzel, Josef Wohlmuth, Hans Schelkshorn, Andreas Müller, Luca Pedroli, Massimo Recalcati, Andreas Vonach, Christian Customs
Religious Fundamentalism. Interdisciplinary Journal for Religion and Transformation in Contemporary Society 3
Kurt Appel / Isabella Guanzini (Hg.)
V&R unipress: Göttingen 2016 (peer reviewed)
[LINK TO OPEN ACCESS]
Fundamentalism is a pressing and inescapable issue in contemporary society. Although research on religious fundamentalism has increased significantly in recent years, an interdisciplinary and systematic investigation of the theoretical foundations of fundamentalisms, their global political consequences and their significance in a globally networked society is still missing. The third issue of the Interdisciplinary Journal for Religion and Transformation in Contemporary Society deals with current forms of religious fundamentalism from an interdisciplinary and interconfessional perspective. The articles ask about the prerequisites and theoretical backgrounds of religious fundamentalism as well as about specific forms of fundamentalism in different religions. In the context of current events, Islamic fundamentalism, jihadism and the relationship between fundamentalism and the Internet are central topics. Another important issue is the challenge that fundamentalism poses to religious education. In addition, a large part of the contributions focus on the search for critical resources against religious fundamentalism, which can not least be found in the religious traditions themselves.
2015
Price of mortality. Christianity and New Humanism (QD 271)
Kurt Appel (Hg.)
Herder: Freiburg 2015
ISBN: 9783-4-5102-2715
The book examines the question of Christianity's contribution to a new humanism. It attempts to open up a view of the mortality, fragility and vulnerability of life - as starting points for its transcendence. In four passages, time, language, modern symbolic orders and prayer are analyzed in dialogue with the Bible, Hegel, Musil, Hölderlin and Lacan.
2014
Europe with or without religion? The contribution of religion to present and future Europe (Religion and Transformation in Contemporary European Society, Vol. 8)
Kurt Appel / Isabella Guanzini / Angelika Walser (Hg.)
V&R: Göttingen 2014
[ABSTRACT German and English]
The volume brings together the contributions from the international congress that the research platform RaT organized under the title “Rethinking Europe (with)out Religion” on the occasion of the end of its first three-year term in February 2013. Scientists from various disciplines, from philosophy and different theological schools to social and religious sciences and law, tackle the question of the meaning of religion in today's "(post-)secular" Europe. The contributions revolve around the question of what visions the different religions can bring to the European project and what contribution they can make to the further development of the European idea and an inclusive and pluralistic society.
2013
The ultimate purpose of creation. On the final paragraphs (§§84-91) in Kant's Critique of Judgment
Kurt Appel / Michael Hofer / Christopher Meiller / Johann Schelkshorn (eds.)
Carl Alber Verlag: Freiburg 2013
[ABSTRACT German and English]
The final paragraphs (§§ 84-91) of Kant's Critique of Judgment were not the focus of philosophical attention for a long time, even though they were as fundamental as they were controversial with the question of the (special) position of humans in nature and the perspectives of a philosophical doctrine of God Address motifs. In elaborate studies and across internal philosophical boundaries, interpretations of the passages in question are presented, relevant connections inherent in the work are discussed, and systematic and reception-historical questions arising from this are discussed. Perspectives on the traditional historical location of Kantian thought are discussed, as are relevant questions of teleology in “physical and moral” terms; Finally, in-depth analyzes - based primarily on Kant's considerations on ethical theology - also focus on the possibilities and limits of philosophical thematization of the question of God.
2012
From morality to revealed religion. A reading of Hegel's Phenomenology of Spirit II
Kurt Appel / Thomas Auinger (Hg.)
Peter Lang Publisher: Frankfurt [among others] 2012
This volume is the second part of a reading of Hegel's Phenomenology of Spirit, in which the chapters “Spirit” and “Religion” of Hegel's first major work are comprehensively commented on. This reading is based on a seminar that ran over many years and was held at the Institute of Philosophy at the University of Vienna under the direction of Professor Dr. Friedrich Grimmlinger and in which Hegel's text was read and interpreted together sentence by sentence.
Religion in Europe today. Social science, law and hermeneutic-religious-philosophical perspectives (Religion and Transformation 1)
Kurt Appel / Christian Danz / Richard Potz / Sieglinde Rosenberger / Angelika Walser (eds.)
V&R: Göttingen 2012
Despite many predictions, religion is proving to be surprisingly alive in today's secularized European societies. It therefore represents a challenge for the various humanities disciplines. In eleven articles, authors from philosophy, theology, sociology, politics, law and cultural studies as well as Jewish studies and Islamic studies examine the interactions between religion(s) and transformation processes in European societies and their Consequences on a social and individual level. The contributions to the volume are dedicated to five main areas: (1) criticism of religion and the question of God; (2) Religion in inclusion and exclusion processes; (3) Legal challenges in Europe's multi-religious societies; (4) Religious constructions of meaning and values and (5) Reception and hermeneutics of religious texts.
Giving memory to suffering. Theses on an anamnetic Christology (FS Johann Reikerstorfer)
Vienna Forum for Theology and Religious Studies
Kurt Appel / Johann Baptist Metz / Jan-Heiner Tück (eds.)
V&R: Göttingen 2012
A history- and suffering-sensitive Christology in the horizon of the new political theology Giving suffering a memory This is the title of this celebration for Johann Reikerstorfer, which was created on the occasion of his retirement and brings together different voices from companions and friends, colleagues, students. The starting point of this volume is “Theses on an anamnetic Christology”. His contributions trace a Christology within the horizon of the memory of suffering, in which a universal vision of justice that also includes the dead is to be expressed in resistance to a view of history that forgets suffering and victims.
2009
From sensory certainty to law-testing reason. A reading of Hegel's Phenomenology of Spirit
Kurt Appel / Thomas Auinger (Hg.)
Peter Lang Publisher: Vienna [among others] 2009
This volume is the first part of a reading of Hegel's Phenomenology of Spirit, in which the first three main chapters - i.e. "Consciousness", "Self-Consciousness" and "Reason" - of Hegel's first major work are comprehensively commented on. The text was created during a seminar that ran for many years at the Institute of Philosophy at the University of Vienna under the direction of Professor Dr. Friedrich Grimmlinger and in which the Hegelian text was read and interpreted together sentence by sentence.
Richard Dawkins' Gotteswahn
Kurt Appel / Rudolf Langthaler (Hg.)
Böhlau: Vienna 2009
Dawkins' bestseller "The God Delusion" is considered one of the sharpest contemporary forms of criticism of religion and an atheism based on evolutionary biology. He expressly pursues the remarkable goal of "converting to atheism." However, the objections raised by Dawkins and his discussion of the Is the God issue really valid or does it remain superficial from a scientific point of view and just ideological propaganda? In very different approaches, 15 authors from natural sciences, philosophy and theology analyze the arguments presented in Dawkins' "God Delusion" and give a critical answer to Dawkins' challenge. The book is aimed at a critical readership who wants to form their own opinion on the main controversial questions.
2008
Naturalization of the mind? Contributions to the current debate about the mind
Kurt Appel / Hubert Weber / Rudolf Langthaler / Sigrid Müller (eds.)
Königshausen & Neumann: Würzburg 2008
K. Appel / HP Weber: On the discussion about the human spirit - an introduction - L. Honnefelder: First and second nature of man: What should we orient ourselves on? – R. Langthaler: On the naturalization of the mind – O. Breidbach: Neuro-anthropology? – K. Kotrschal: Mind as adaptation? – L. Deecke: What is the mind from the perspective of brain research? - P. Giampieri-Deutsch: The knowledge of the spirit, the mental in psychoanalysis - U. Lüke: God's plan or is it all just (stupid) coincidence? Clarifications in the dispute between creation theology and evolutionary biology. – K. Appel: The myth of evolution? – HP Weber: Basic provisions of a theological speech about man – G. Marschütz: Human dignity – an outdated idea? – S. Müller: What is spirit? – Summary of discussions
2005
Faith capable of reason - faith in need of reason. Festschrift for Johann Reikerstorfer's 60th birthday
Kurt Appel / Wolfgang Treitler / Peter Zeillinger (Hg.)
Peter Lang Publisher: Frankfurt [among others] 2005
What reason does Christian faith demand in the present? And what substantive elements can this result in for today’s fundamental theology? Along these questions, the contributions to the Festschrift develop motifs that are related to the thinking of the Viennese fundamental theologian Johann Reikerstorfer. The main focus here is the memory of suffering on the one hand and the appropriation of great intellectual figures from modern intellectual history on the other - both are related to the question of the one God and his meaning for people today.