Die Geburt der Philosophie bei den Griechen

Using the phenomenological methods of the founder, E. Husserl, and phenomenology’s most influential reformer, M. Heidegger, the first part of the book develops a new interpretation of the birth of philosophy: It was the centre of a comprehensive intellectual awakening among the ancient Greeks and was accompanied by the first steps of science and democracy. The guiding principle of the interpretation is the self-understanding of that originary thought, which, by distinguishing itself from the pre-philosophical human attitude, opened itself up to the whole of the world. Guided by today’s newly awakened interest in the natural life-world, the second part sketches a phenomenological explanation of the ancient European cosmology of the four elements based on ancient texts.