An Land gehen

A year after his death, several publications on and by Michel Serres provide occasion to look back on the pathways of his intellectual development. While the anthology Das vielfältige Denken offers a valuable survey of the different stages and apects of his philosophical itinerary, the last publications of Serres himself, most notably Relire le relié, open up a new perspective on its destination. His radical interpretation of (Christian) religion seems to offer a means of releasing the tension between two driving forces of his endavour: his unwavering optimism, as expressed in Petite poucette and C'était mieux avant!, and his lifelong rejection of any form of blind faith in (technological) progress.

Michel Serres: Was genau war früher besser? Ein optimistischer Wutanfall. Aus dem Französischen von Stefan Lorenzer. Edition Suhrkamp, Berlin 2019: Suhrkamp.76 S. (= FB). – Michel Serres: Relire le relié. Paris 2019: Le Pommier. 288 S. (= RR). – Reinhold Clausjürgens/Kurt Röttgers (Hrsg.): Michel Serres. Das vielfältige Denken. Oder: Das Vielfältige denken. (Zeitgenössische Perspektiven europäischer Philosophie 1). München 2020: Wilhelm Fink. 240 S. (= VD).