Axel Hutter - Narrative Ontology

9 Part Two Time and Meaning 4 The Well of the Past Ontology of Egoism Self-Respect Descent into Hell Wandering The Abyss of Time Desperation of Passing Time Memento Mori Promise and Expectation Time that Cannot Be Enumerated The Feast of the Narrative Notes 5 How Abraham Discovered God Where to Begin? The Adventure of Self-Knowledge In the Image of God Self-Knowledge and Knowledge of God The Courage for Monotheism Not the Good, but the Whole God’s History? Model and Succession Theology of Narration Notes 6 What Are Human Beings, that You Are Mindful of Them? Higher Echelons Human Reason and Language Evil On the Economy of Morality The Narratable World of What Happens Who Narrates? The Novel of the Soul Very Serious Jokes In Praise of Transience Notes

10 Part Three The Stories of Joseph 7 The Future Self-Love Wit in Language Ambiguity of the Talent Knowledge of the Future? Being on One’s Way Sympathy Certainty of Death The Dreamer of Dreams The Catastrophe 8 The Dying Grain The Oracle The Simile of the Dying Grain Joseph’s Awakening Compassion The Illusory Character of Individuality The Truth of Illusion At the Empty Grave The Other Simile History in Becoming Notes 9 Only a Simile Joseph in Egypt Historical and Narrative Attentiveness Laban’s Realm Huya and Tuya Egypt as Symbol The Sphinx Interpreting Dreams Pharaoh Letter and Spirit of Understanding Interpretation of God Historical and Narrative Truth Play and Allusion Notes

11 Conclusion Making Present Diagnosis of Time Nihilism as Human Self-Belittlement Abraham’s Legacy Notes

12 References

13 Index

14 End User License Agreement

1 Cover

2 Table of Contents

3 Title Page

4 Copyright

5 Epigraph

6 Foreword

7 Preface

8 Introduction

9 The Art of Self-Knowledge

10 Begin Reading

11 Conclusion

12 Making Present

13 References

14 Index

15 End User License Agreement

1 iii

2 iv

3 v

4 vii

5 viii

6 ix

7 1

8 3

9 4

10 5

11 6

12 7

13 8

14 9

15 10

16 11

17 12

18 13

19 14

20 15

21 16

22 17

23 18

24 19

25 20

26 21

27 22

28 23

29 24

30 25

31 26

32 27

33 28

34 29

35 30

36 31

37 32

38 33

39 34

40 35

41 37

42 39

43 40

44 41

45 42

46 43

47 44

48 45

49 46

50 47

51 48

52 49

53 50

54 51

55 52

56 53

57 54

58 55

59 56

60 57

61 58

62 59

63 60

64 61

65 62

66 63

67 64

68 65

69 66

70 67

71 68

72 69

73 70

74 71

75 72

76 73

77 74

78 75

79 76

80 77

81 78

82 79

83 80

84 81

85 82

86 83

87 84

88 85

89 86

90 87

91 88

92 89

93 90

94 91

95 92

96 93

97 94

98 95

99 96

100 97

101 99

102 101

103 102

104 103

105 104

106 105

107 106

108 107

109 108

110 109

111 110

112 111

113 112

114 113

115 114

116 115

117 116

118 117

119 118

120 119

121 120

122 121

123 122

124 123

125 124

126 125

127 126

128 127

129 128

130 129

131 130

132 131

133 132

134 133

135 134

136 135

137 136

138 137

139 138

140 139

141 140

142 141

143 142

144 143

145 144

146 145

147 146

148 147

149 148

150 149

151 150

152 151

153 152

154 153

155 154

156 155

157 156

158 157

159 158

160 159

161 160

162 161

163 162

164 163

165 164

166 165

167 166

168 167

169 168

170 169

171 170

172 171

173 173

174 174

175 175

176 176

177 177

178 178

179 179

180 180

181 181

182 182

183 183

184 184

185 185

186 186

187 187

188 188

189 189

190 190

191 191

192 192

193 193

194 194

195 195

196 196

197 197

198 198

199 199

200 200

201 201

202 202

203 203

204 204

205 205

206 206

207 207

208 208

209 209

210 210

211 211

212 212

213 213

214 214

215 215

216 216

217 217

218 218

219 219

220 220

221 221

222 222

223 223

224 224

225 225

226 226

227 227

228 228

229 229

230 230

231 231

232 232

233 233

234 234

235 235

236 236

237 237

238 238

239 239

240 240

241 241

242 242

243 243

244 244

245 245

246 246

247 247

248 248

249 249

250 250

251 251

252 252

253 253

254 254

255 255

256 256

257 257

258 258

259 259

260 260

261 261

262 262

263 263

264 264

265 265

266 266

267 267

268 269

269 271

270 272

271 273

272 274

273 275

274 276

275 277

276 278

277 279

278 287

279 288

280 289

281 290

282 291

283 292

284 293

285 294

286 295

287 296

288 297

Axel Hutter

Translated by Aaron Shoichet

polity

Originally published in German as Narrative Ontologie © Mohr Siebeck GmbH & Co. KG Tübingen, 2017

This English edition © Polity Press, 2022

Polity Press

65 Bridge Street

Cambridge CB2 1UR, UK

Polity Press

101 Station Landing

Suite 300

Medford, MA 02155, USA

All rights reserved. Except for the quotation of short passages for the purpose of criticism and review, no part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system or transmitted, in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording or otherwise, without the prior permission of the publisher.

ISBN-13: 978-1-5095-4393-9

A catalogue record for this book is available from the British Library.

Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data

Names: Hutter, Axel, 1961- author. | Schoichet, Aaron, translator.

Title: Narrative ontology / Axel Hutter ; translated by Aaron Schoichet.

Other titles: Narrative Ontologie. English

Description: English edition. | Cambridge, UK ; Medford, MA, USA : Polity Press, [2021] | “Originally published in German as Narrative Ontologie, Mohr Siebeck GmbH & Co. KG Tübingen, 2017.” | Includes bibliographical references and index. | Summary: “An original work of philosophy that highlights the connection between self-understanding and narrative form”-- Provided by publisher.

Identifiers: LCCN 2021016361 (print) | LCCN 2021016362 (ebook) | ISBN

The publisher has used its best endeavours to ensure that the URLs for external websites referred to in this book are correct and active at the time of going to press. However, the publisher has no responsibility for the websites and can make no guarantee that a site will remain live or that the content is or will remain appropriate.

Every effort has been made to trace all copyright holders, but if any have been overlooked the publisher will be pleased to include any necessary credits in any subsequent reprint or edition.