Widerstand und Friede: Aufsätze zur Politik. Mit einer DVD des Dokumentarfilms: Ernst und Karola Bloch. Die Tübinger Zeit

by Ernst Bloch

Widerstand und Friede - die zentrale Frage der außerparlamentarischen Opposition, gestellt in einer der berühmtesten und wichtigsten Reden Ernst Blochs: Wie kann Widerstand gewaltfrei geleistet werden?
Mit DVD: Dokumentarfilm von Helga Reidemeister aus dem Jahr 1982 über das Leben und politische Wirken von Ernst Bloch und seiner Frau Karola nach ihrer Ausreise aus der DDR 1961; ca. 45 Min.

112 pages, Paperback

Published April 20, 2008

About the author

Ernst Bloch was one of the great philosophers and political intellectuals of twentieth-century Germany. Among his works to have appeared in English are The Spirit of Utopia (Stanford University Press, 2000), Literary Essays (Stanford University Press, 1998), The Utopian Function of Art and Literature: Selected Essays (1987), and The Principle of Hope (1986).

Reviews

[Matt · Rating 4 out of 5]

Resistance and Peace is a collection of political essays and speeches by Ernst Bloch, of whom I shamefully knew next to nothing before I read this little book. Except for one (1919) the pieces in this collection are dated from before (1937/38) and after the war (1954/1962-67; the book was first published in 1968). With his strong opinions on the situation of humankind in general and on the relationship of the oppressors vs the oppressed in particular, Bloch kicks in open doors, although I don’t see myself as a Marxist (or any other -ist). Here’s one philosopher who is speaking his mind, without beating around the bush, and he does so in an (almost) totally comprehensible way. Bloch had a Marxist basic attitude, but without being ideologically deadlocked. Is it still relevant what Bloch has to say? I would say yes – with upward tendency now that all them fascist vermin come creeping up from under their rocks.

So, yeah, Bloch – my hopefully soon-to-be favorite philosopher of (neo-)marxist inclination.
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This special edition of the book (Suhrkamp, 2008) comes with a DVD that contains a 45 min documentary by Helga Reidemeister about Ernst Bloch and his (third) wife Karola Bloch (née Piotrkowska) about the couple’s time in Tübingen. When this was filmed in 1982 Ernst Bloch was dead for five years, and you can tell by the way his wife is talking about him, sometimes with a broken voice, how special he must have been. It's quite touching. There’s also some original footage of Bloch speaking with his students in Tübingen, of a private meeting with him and Rudi Dutschke on a beach, of Bloch figuring out how to play Mack the Knife on piano (hilarious) and lots of other stuff. This portrait of Bloch the man is a great companion to Bloch the fighting philosopher we learn about from his essays.



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