Practical Knowledge of the Soul

by Eugen Rosenstock-Huessy

""When Thomas Paine 'These are the times that try men's souls, '"" Rosenstock-Huessy noted, Paine ""did not mean men's bodies or men's minds. And we know it."" In this book devoted to knowledge of that mysterious entity, ""soul,"" which neither philosophers nor psychologists will have anything to do with, Rosenstock-Huessy gives soul essential, practical meaning. Without recourse to anything mystical or transcendental or merely poetic, he assures us of the reality of the individual soul for healthy human beings, and connects it to his larger work on an entirely new grammar that elevates to primacy the imperative and vocative forms of speech. Rosenstock-Huessy makes us aware, as few other writers can do, of the limitations inherent in the structure of the natural and social sciences, how much is blindly left out for the sake of adhering strictly to materialist and quantitative methods. In any lifetime there are profound transformations of one's soul, which a correct analysis of grammar, true to human experience, helps us recognize and appreciate. As he states here, ""The grammar of the soul is not an ineffectual luxury. . . . The disclosure of the miraculous world of the soul by a grammar based on the primal forms will create an applied study of the soul that should assume its place next to the modern era's technical natural science."" ""Rosenstock-Huessy was a prophet who, like many great prophets, failed in his own time, but whose time may now be coming."" --Harold J. Berman ""I was influenced enough by Rosenstock-Huessy to write a now forgotten book on his theme Respondeo etsi mutabor, 'I respond although I will be changed.' The motto would be on my coat-of-arms if I had one."" --Martin E. Marty ""Rosenstock-Huessy continually astonishes one by his dazzling and unique insights."" --W. H. Auden Eugen Rosenstock-Huessy (1888-1973) was a historian and social philosopher who, along with his friend Franz Rosenzweig, and Ferdinand Ebner and Martin Buber, was a major exponent of speech-thinking (sprachdenken). The central insight of speech-thinking is that speech or language is not merely, or even primarily, a descriptive act, but a responsive and creative act, which forms the basis of our social existence. The greater part of Rosenstock-Huessy's work was devoted to demonstrating how speech, as distinguished from mere chatter, through its unpredictable fecundity, expands our powers and unites humankind through time and space. Born in Berlin, Germany, into a non-observant Jewish family, he converted to Christianity in his late teens. In 1914 he married Margit Huessy. Rosenstock-Huessy served as an officer in the German army during World War I, and much of his later thinking was shaped by reflection on the catastrophe of the war. His distinguished academic career teaching medieval law in Germany was disrupted by the rise of Nazism. Immediately upon Adolf Hitler's ascent to power in 1933, Rosenstock-Huessy emigrated to the United States, initially teaching at Harvard University and then at Dartmouth College, where he taught from 1935 to 1957. A prolific author, two of his major works in English are Out of Autobiography of Western Man (originally published in 1938), and the Christian Or the Modern Mind Outrun (originally published in 1946), both of which are sold by Wipf and Stock in re-print editions.

Genres: Philosophy

66 pages, Mass Market Paperback

First published August 1, 2013

About the author

Eugen Rosenstock-Hüssy (July 6, 1888 – February 24, 1973) was a historian and social philosopher, whose work spanned the disciplines of history, theology, sociology, linguistics and beyond. Born in Berlin, Germany into a non-observant Jewish family, the son of a prosperous banker, he converted to Christianity in his late teens, and thereafter the interpretation and reinterpretation of Christianity was a consistent theme in his writings. He met and married Margrit Hüssy in 1914. In 1925, the couple legally combined their names. They had a son, Hans, in 1921.

Rosenstock-Huessy served as an officer in the German army during World War I. His experience caused him to reexamine the foundations of liberal Western culture. He then pursued an academic career in Germany as a specialist in medieval law, which was disrupted by the rise of Nazism. In 1933, after Adolf Hitler became Chancellor of Germany, he emigrated to the United States where he began a new academic career, initially at Harvard University and then at Dartmouth College, where he taught from 1935 to 1957.

Although never part of the mainstream of intellectual discussion during his lifetime, his work drew the attention of W. H. Auden, Harold Berman, Martin Marty, Lewis Mumford, Page Smith, and others. Rosenstock-Huessy may be best known as the close friend of and correspondent with Franz Rosenzweig. Their exchange of letters is considered by scholars of religion and theology to be indispensable in the study of the modern encounter of Jews with Christianity. In his work, Rosenstock-Huessy discussed speech and language as the dominant shaper of human character and abilities in every social context. He is viewed as belonging to a group of thinkers who revived post-Nietzschean religious thought.

Reviews

[Lucas Dorminy · Rating 3 out of 5]

This was a difficult read for me. I cannot say that I fully understand every sentence that I read, but in the closing chapters you got a real sense of the previous arguments coming together. It is a work you must be patient through.

He argues for a third way of understanding the human soul which is grammatical in nature - as opposed to Psychology proper and occultism. Like every Rosenstock-Huessy work, Speech takes the lead in understanding the world and the human soul. He discusses how societies and cultures have disintegrated from the fact that the "you" (second person) has disappeared from life. Psychology starts with the "I" rather than the "you" which hinders our understanding of the soul (which is communal). Life is more than material and more than spiritual self-discovery; life, according to ERH, is about transformation from glory to glory through community and trial. This point really shines throughout his work.

There is much to appreciate about this little work that cannot be explored in a review. But, I recommend it to anyone already familiar with Rosenstock-Huessy's works.

Interesting quote:
"Communities of souls... emerge rejuvenated from every catastrophe they live through together, which is why misfortunes alone show whether communities of souls do exist and where they do. New communities manufactured out of whole cloth after the [1918 German Revolution], be they orders, fellowships, or parties, will be blown away by the first catastrophe. This just goes to show that up to now, people have only been able to picture the ABC's of communal life in terms of the common will of a group of 'I's (people in the first person), or in terms of the communal existence of things (people in the third person)."

[Bennett · Rating 5 out of 5]

Tough but a goldmine of insight into RH's understanding of the soul, as well as the spirit and body of humanity.