Myth and the Human Sciences

Angus Nicholls is Chair of the Department of Comparative Literature at Queen Mary University of London, UK, where he teaches German and Comparative Literature. His previous books include Goethe’s Concept of the Daemonic (2006) and Thinking the Unconscious (co-edited with Martin Liebscher, 2010). He is co-editor of History of the Human Sciences and of the Publications of the English Goethe Society.

'Nicholls has written not just the definitive study of Blumenberg as a theorist of myth, but also an excellent general introduction to this prolific yet mercurial thinker. His achievement is unrivalled in situating Blumenberg in the development of German thought and drawing persuasive connections between Blumenberg and his manifold influences and ancestors, acknowledged and not.' – Joe Paul Kroll, Leibniz Institute of European History, Mainz in Modern Language Review'This book is a welcome addition to scholarship on Hans Blumenberg. It is clearly written and authoritative. It will introduce the thinking of Blumenberg to a wider audience, and acquaint readers with aspects of the intellectual context Blumenberg worked in.' – Alison Ross, Monash University in Iyyun: The Jerusalem Philosophical Quarterly 'I am fully convinced that this book will become an important tool in research and teaching, not only on the twentieth-century German philosopher Hans Blumenberg …but in the wider areas of myth and anthropology … Nicholls’ monograph is the very first comprehensive English-language introduction to Blumenberg’s theory of myth, but even compared with introductions that are available in German, it is unique in its commitment to making Blumenberg’s arguments accessible combined with an extraordinary depth of scholarship on his intellectual background … Nicholls’ remarkable familiarity not only with Blumenberg’s extensive and published and unpublished oeuvre … but also with the many discourses and disciplines with which it is interwoven, makes this book a treasure trove for anybody with an interest in philology, myth, phenomenology, anthropology, or the intellectual life in 20th century Germany.' – Tina-Karen Pusse, National University of Ireland, Galway, in History of the Human Sciences'Nicholls’ Buch ist eine verständliche und gut strukturierte Darstellung [...] der verwickelten Bezüge und anspruchsvollen Problemstellungen, mit denen sich Blumenberg im Kontext von Arbeit am Mythos beschäftigt und die auch darüber hinaus gehende, sein Gesamtwerk einbeziehende Diskussionen bietet. Da diese aber für die Leser eher selten offen an der Textoberfläche liegen, ist deren geduldige und kenntnisreiche Explikation, die Nicholls mit seinem Buch unternimmt, nicht eben wenig und für die Blumenberg-Forschung ein eindeutiger Gewinn ... Wie er [Nicholls] die politische Brisanz, die bei Blumenbergs Arbeit am Mythos und in dem erst aus dem Nachlass unter dem Titel Präfiguration veröffentlichten dazu gehörigen Manuskripten mitschwingt, behutsam und genau im Kontext der Ideengeschichte der Bundesrepublik verortet, ist schlicht brillant.' – Sebastian Lederle, Universität Wien, in Journal of Literary Theory "… a wonderful resource for readers unfamiliar with Blumenberg since much of this material summarizes current Blumenberg scholarship. Experienced Blumenberg readers will also find new insights from these chapters." – Spencer Hawkins, University of Notre Dame, in The Goethe Yearbook

• Foreword by Robert A. Segal Prologue: A Story About the Telling of Stories 1. Hans Blumenberg: An Introduction 2. Myth and the Human Sciences During the Sattelzeit 3. German Philosophy and the ‘Will to Science’ 4. Davos and After, or: The Function of Anthropology 5. Promethean Anthropologies 6. Goethe’s ‘Prometheus,’ or: On Cultural Selection 7. ‘After the Work on Myth’: The Political Reception of Work on Myth 8. Conclusion: Political Myth in the Blumenberg Nachlass