Being Is Doing With

Page 1

Piergiacomo Severini

Being Is Doing With

Freedom and Existence in Jeanne Hersch

FJE 02

Forschungen zu Karl Jaspers und zur Existenzphilosophie

Volume2

Editorial Board

Stefania Achella, Dirk Fonfara, GeorgHartmann, Dominic Kaegi, Tsuyoshi Nakayama, Filiz Peach, Czesława Piecuch, Annemarie Pieper, Harald Schwaetzer, Rainer Thurnher and Gregory J. Walters

Being Is Doing With

Freedom and ExistenceinJeanne Hersch

Piergiacomo Severini
Schwabe Verlag

This publication was funded by the Jeanne Hersch Gesellschaft.

Bibliographic informationpublished by the Deutsche Nationalbibliothek

The Deutsche Nationalbibliothek lists this publication in the Deutsche Nationalbibliografie;detailed bibliographic data are available on the Internetat http://dnb.dnb.de.

© 2023 Schwabe Verlag, Schwabe Verlagsgruppe AG, Basel, Schweiz

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ISBN Hardcover 978-3-7965-4649-5

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DOI 10.24894/978-3-7965-4650-1

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Foreword .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. 9

Acknowledgements .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. 13

List of abbreviations 17

Introduction .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. 19

Part One:The inner freedom

1. Reasons beyond logic in Herschian metaphilosophy .. .. .. .. .. .. 33

1.1 Clarifying reality. The literary deviation towards the hearth of philosophy 33 1.1.1 Les images dans l’ oeuvre de M. Bergson .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. 34 1.1.2 The original interest of Hersch’sresearch .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. 39

1.2. Enlightening existence. The discovery of freedom in the cracks of totality .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. 41

1.2.1 Debts to Jaspers’ philosophy 43 1.2.2 L’illusion philosophique .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. 51 1.2.3 The duplicity of the human. The free choice of metaphysical truth .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. 60

2. The human mission of incarnating value in Hersch’sontology .. 69

2.1 The interpretation of Kant .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. 70 2.2 L’être et la forme .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. 80

2.3 The unity of subjective life between absolute action and daily incarnation .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. 94

2.4 Adherence to necessitytowards agradual theory of freedom .. .. .. 102

Contents

Part Two: The outer conditions of liberty

3. The explicitsense of Hersch’sphilosophy:fromthe theoretical core to the paradigm of freedom .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. 111 3.1 The declination of the theoretical core between nature and freedom.. 111 3.2 The paradigm of freedom. Inner freedom, between existential freedom and ontological freedom 118 4. The socialeducation of force in Hersch’spolitics .. .. .. .. .. .. .. 123 4.1 Idéologies et réalité. Political liberty .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. 125 4.2 The intersubjective responsibility of power in the reflection on practical antinomy 137 5. The Herschian exercise of responsiblefreedom in the fight forhuman rights .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. 143 5.1 Le droit d’être un homme .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. 144 5.2 The subjective responsibility of recognition in the experience of the practical antinomy. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. . 150 5.3 The paradigm of freedom. The outer conditionsofliberty .. .. .. .. .. 164

Part Three:The practical philosophy 6. The “digestion” of science and technology at the service of the human .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. 173 6.1 Bringing back the sense of scientific activities .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. 173 6.2 Ascientific humanism to reconcile the human being and science .. 180 7. The human ‘small duration’ of history and morality .. .. .. .. .. .. 183 7.1 Instant and time of nature in thedevelopment of existence .. .. .. .. 183 7.2 An existence that innovates tradition between history and morality .. 191 8. The pedagogical practice as aformation to freedom 197 8.1 The baby human as homo docilis .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. 197 8.2 In anti-thesis to the nihilism of ‘everything is permitted’ .. .. .. .. .. 200

6 Contents

9. The concept of health between endurance and suppression of human limits .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. 207

10. Enlightening the anemia of being. Synthesis and evaluation of Hersch’spractical philosophy .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. 211

10.1 The recovery of a wozu and a wohin for the contemporary homo novus .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. 211

10.2 The doing with of an old teacher, between Socrates and Cato .. .. .. 219

10.3 The paradigm of freedom. Being is doing with .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. 222

Conclusion:Herschian tradition as the gestureofexistentialism. Data to be handed down, cracks to be innovated .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. 227

Bibliography .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. 239
Contents 7
Index of names 255 Index of subjects .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. 257

Jeanne Hersch lived in very different times.

The 20th century was characterized by technical revolutions, but digitization was not yet acommon topic in 2000, when the Genevan philosopher died. Outside thehome, people still made phone calls from aphone box mobile phones were not available to everyone. And until the 1980s, people wrote letters to each other, by hand or with atypewriter, read them and waited patiently or impatiently for the postman to deliver areply.

Jeanne Hersch followedthe Second World War and the smouldering rise of National Socialism mostly from Switzerland. She experienced the immediate impact mainly through her contacts to Heidelberg, in particular to her great teacher Karl Jaspers and his wife, who was Jewish. In 1933, as ayoung student, she was confronted with ashocking, racist scene in front of the University of Freiburg i. B., where Jeanne Hersch could hardly believe it Martin Heidegger was present as newly elected Rector.1 She also felt signs of fear and uncertainty from relatives on both her mother’sand father’sside who lived in Eastern Europe.

After 1945 camethe decades of the Cold War. Jeanne Hersch very critically followed the totalitarianism that was becoming increasingly evident behind the Iron Curtain. More than once she took aresolute stanceagainst this development in public presentations. In 1989/90 the Soviet Union ended. The Berlin Wall fell.

In the 1970s and early 1980s Jeanne Hersch took astrong interest in the youth protests in Paris, in Europe in general, and in Switzerland in particular. The rebellious young people ultimately called all social values into question, which prompted Jeanne Hersch to repeatedly ask in public whether everything in the past had really been only bad. She dared to go against the mainstream, indeed she considered this her calling. Above all, she encouraged educators,both parents and teachers, not simply to acquiesce but to engage with the rebellious young people. But her critical questions went againstthe grain. In retrospect, however, it is generally agreed that theGenevan philosopher was something of an intellectual MotherCourage2 during this period of revolution in Switzerland.

1 Schwierige Freiheit, Gespräche mit Jeanne Hersch, G. und A. Dufour-Kowalska, p. 33, Benziger Verlag 1986.

2 Georg Kohler, 2012, Internationales Symposium UZH.

Foreword

Being human and freedom – Severini’swork

Reading Jeanne Hersch’swritings today, it is fascinating to see how timelessly relevant they remain.

Jeanne Hersch’stheme was being human. Being human, which means freedom and responsibility two concepts that are inextricably linked: “Il n ’ ya pas de liberté sans responsabilité!” she said not only once, in her resolute manner. She wanted to elucidate that there is no such thing as absolute freedom, because human beings always exist in the relative. However,they have to take responsibility for their decisions.

PiergiacomoSeverini has written avery sensitive, highly differentiated work on being human and freedom in Jeanne Hersch’sthinking. Iread it with great interest and pleasure. It is worth taking thetime to examine it closely. The fact that ayoung person intensively questions what it means to be human in these allconsuming and restless times reveals maturity and makes one curious.

However, Severini’sbook did not appear out of thin air. Rather, in Italy over the last 20 years, Roberta de Monticelli3 together with her doctoral students has founded anew group working on Jeanne Hersch’sthinking. The group not only warrants to be mentionedhere, but also deserves our gratitude. In Milan, Siena, Naples and Rome, new academic founts have sprung up and today are bubbling, fostered by young people, new generations, who are working on Jeanne Hersch’ s questions of existential philosophy.4

This is also interesting because Jeanne Hersch mainly lectured in French and German and her writings are also mostly in these languages. Italian culture is now shaping theresearch on and interpretation of Jeanne Hersch’sworkina new way. The fact that the present book,which was written by Severini, an Italian-speaking academic,isnow also appearing in an Englishtranslation means that asecond bridge into another cultural sphere is being built. And since Jeanne Hersch took on various lectureships in the USA5 and Canada6 over the course of her life,anEnglishtext on Jeanne Hersch’sthinking is atrue enrichment to our globalized world. It will find its resonance.

It should be mentioned here that the art of translation is often underestimated. Yet it is of great importance, as it enlivens discourse across cultural boundaries.

3 Roberta de Monticelli, Professor emeritus, San Raffaele, Milano.

4 Ithink of names like Francesca De Vecchi, Fabrizio Chello, Roberta Guccinelli, Stefania Tarantino, Bruno Mondadori;I would also like to mention Costa Giacomo, who knew personally Jeanne Hersch.

5 1959 visiting professorship at Pennsylvania State University, 1961 visiting professorship at Hunter College at New York State University and 1978 visiting professorship at Colgate University.

6 1978 visiting professorship at Université Laval in Quebec.

10 Foreword

Women as thinkers

Severini also devotes aspecial, very impressive section in his “Introduction” to the importance of philosophical thought by women in the last century:Simone Weil, Simone de Beauvoir, Hannah Arendt, Maria Zambrano, Edith Stein and Jeanne Hersch. They, too, have helped shape theintellectual world from then until now. However,according to Severini, their specifically female thinking has received too little attention until today. He postulates aspecial intellectuality in these female philosophers, in which an enriching intentionality playsa major role. He values their sensitivityasa special gift, for which he suggests further, indepth study.

Mention is also made of the wide circle of thinkers whom Jeanne Hersch appreciated as interlocutors over thecourse of her life.This is also an interesting reference. Like all thinking, hers also developed and was enrichedbyall her encounters during her lifetime. She invited thinkers from the most diverse European regions to her holiday home in Ajaccio (Corsica), summer after summer during semester breaks. Two famous names should be mentioned here:Gaston Fessard and Czeslaw Milosz. They held discussions with her for weeks at atime and refined their argumentsina “loving struggle for the sake of truth” ,as Jeanne Hersch always quoted Karl Jaspers.

Jeanne Hersch also maintained alively correspondence written by hand or typed with artists, writers, churchdignitaries and other thinkers. These networks should not be forgotten when considering her thinking. Mention should also be made here of the intellectualdisputes she had in her younger yearswith André Oltramare, who probably helped shape her early works in particular. She engaged in aformative dialogue with Karl Jaspers, whom Jeanne Hersch revered throughouther life as her great teacher. She translated alarge part of his works into French and thus ensured access to Jaspers’ work for interested Frenchspeaking circles to this day. And Imyself experienced howshe quotedhim, word for word and without exception in German, even when she gave her lectures in French.

Fornew generations and acknowledgements

Iwould be very pleased if Jeanne Hersch’sthinking continues to inspire new generations to wonder and to ask questions. In this spirit, the Jeanne Hersch Society is supporting the publication of this impressive work by PiergiacomoSeverini.

On behalf of the Jeanne Hersch Society,I would like to thank the author of the book as well as Prof. Dr.Stefania Achella, Schwabe Verlag and theKarl Jaspers Foundation, and above all Professor emeritus Dr.Annemarie Pieper for

Fornew generations and acknowledgements 11

making it possible that with this book by Piergiacomo Severini, Jeanne Hersch’ s thinking and wonder at being human can remain relevant.

Monika Weber, President of theJeanne Hersch Society April 21, 2022

12 Foreword

Acknowledgements

It is said that one of thepeculiarcapabilities of thehuman being is cooperating, dialoguing and putting one ’sexpertise at the service of the others, so as to progress faster in knowledge. The realization of this book proves to me one more time that this is true, because the story of this book is astory of cooperation, availability, support, esteem, dialogue, thanks to aprogress in scientific research that lets us find faster the documents or materials we need and connects more easily experts and researchers from all over theworld. Iamgrateful for all the encounters and theexperiences that have helped me undertake my research. From the bottom of my heart Iwould like to say abig thank you for such avaluable cooperation network, but some specific mentions are needed.

First, this book would have not been possible without financial support. My research was supported by the University G. d’Annunzio of Chieti-Pescara, which funded my doctoral research project and allowed me anine-months stay in Zurich as Visiting PhD Student. This stay proved essential in collecting all the relevant texts and documents needed for writing this book.This book is fully funded by the Jeanne Hersch Foundation,soI have to express adouble thanks to the Foundation, for their constant endeavor to promote the dissemination of Jeanne Hersch’scontribution and the support accorded to the result of my research. Of course Iwant to thank Schwabe Verlag for publishing this book and in particular Christian Barth, for patiently and constantly assisting me in every stage of the publishing process. The financial support of the ItalianSociety of Moral Philosophy is also gratefully acknowledged: the prize the Society awarded to me in 2018 allowed me to cover some expenses during my stay in Zurich.

Second, the aforementioned cooperation network is enhanced by people that have given their technical and intellectual assistance, greatly improving the book. Iamimmensely grateful to the professors that have supervised my research:Luigi Alici provided insight and expertise throughout my university and doctoral studies, always sharing his pearls of wisdom without imposing his point of view and giving constructive feedback;Stefania Achella hassupported my doctoral research since the beginning,improving my scientific approach to research with her precise comments and being present all the time to steer me through the first steps of my academic career with her considerate guidance; Wolfgang Rother continuously provided encouragement, introducing me to the academic environment of Zurich and being always enthusiastic to assist my re-

search in any way he could. Other academicsand experts have contributed to significantly improving theresult of my research with their thoughtful comments and recommendations:Giacomo Costa, RosaRius Gatell and Stefania Tarantino, who shared with me their expertise on Jeanne Hersch;Jean Terrierand the president of the Jeanne Hersch Foundation Monika Weber, who showed me what being availablemeans, always responding positively to my requests. Aspecial thanks to Roberta De Monticelli, who has supported my doctoral research in every moment, even without aformal role it:not only was she my main reference in my reflections on Jeanne Hersch, given her indisputable expertise, she also was an inspiration to me, for her being an academic who does not sacrifice passion and practical commitment to theoretical acumen and wit. Icannot neglect to mentionthe research environments that were the ground for fruitful reflection and dialogue, in particular theDiSFiPEQ at theUniversity G. d’Annunzio of Chieti-Pescara and the Department of Philosophy at the University of Zurich. Collectingall the texts and documents by Jeanne Hersch in less than ayear would have been impossible without the help of Zurich libraries, together with the Swiss National Library of Bern and the main libraries of Bellinzona, Geneva, Lausanne and Lugano, which quickly provided all the support I needed in the kindest way possible. In this regard, my deepest gratitude goes to the Manuscripts, estates and archive materials staff at Zurich Central Library: Annett, Chris, Christian,Christine, Dorothee, Elke, Gunnar, Monica, Rainer, Thomas. They made me feel at home while consulting the Nachlass J. Hersch, always keeping me company with afriendly talk, acurious question about my research or agentle answer. When considering the technical support in collecting texts, the most relevantand continuoussupport came from Giulia Gurrieri, who collected many minorcontributions by Jeanne Hersch for me, getting through her work more efficiently than Ithought possible. Last but not least, Iwould like to thank Ada and Fulvia for helping me with the English translation of this book and Katherine Bird for copyediting it. All of the people Imentionedhelped me beyond their duty or the role imposed on them.

Third, please allow me afew more informal lines for thanking all the people who gave me emotional support during my research. Iamconvinced that existing is amatter of freedom and recognition in which othersplay acentral role. In this regard, Jeanne Hersch attributes true being to those who exist authentically. Thus, Iwant to express my gratitude to all the people that blessed me directly with their true being or provided me with examples of true being indirectly. My mind is full of faces that helped me to gain my true being which is aconstant work in progress and it would be difficult to mentioneveryone here. Nevertheless, the dearest ones are present in my life daily,inmyactions,thoughts, behavior, regardless of their physical distance or closeness, so Ihope this is asufficient proof of my gratitude. You made me abetter person and fed my wonder and

14 Acknowledgements

desire of restitution. This made it easier for me to mime Jeanne Hersch and hopefully to introduce her more adequately in this book.

Acknowledgements 15

List of abbreviations

IR J. Hersch, Idéologies et réalité: essai d’orientation politique,Plon, Paris 1956.

PA J. Hersch, “Was kann ich wissen?Was soll ich tun?Was Darf ich hoffen?” . Essai de paraphrase anachronique et inactuelle, in: Savoir, faire, espérer: les limites de la raison, Facultés universitaires Saint-Louis, Bruxelles1976.

TM J. Hersch, Temps et musique,Lefeu de nuict, Fribourg 1990.

NE J. Hersch, La nascita di Eva. Saggi eracconti,edited by J. Starobinski, translated by F. Leoni, Interlinea, Novara 2000.

IB J. Hersch, Le immagini nell’ opera di Bergson, in:H.Bergson, Lucrezio, edited by L. Boella and R. De Benedetti, Medusa Edizioni, Milan 2001.

SS J. Hersch, Storia della filosofia come stupore,translated by A. Bramati, Mondadori, Milan 2002.

IF J. Hersch, L’illusione della filosofia,translated by F. Pivano, Mondadori, Milan 2005.

EF J. Hersch, Essere eforma,translated by R. De Monticelli and F. De Vecchi, Mondadori, Milan 2006.

RO J. Hersch, G. Dufour-Kowalska, A. Dufour, Rischiarare l’ oscuro. Autoritratto aviva voce. Conversazionicon GabrielleedAlfred Dufour,translated by L. Boella and F. De Vecchi, Dalai Editore, Milan 2006.

LI F. De Vecchi, La libertàIncarnata. Filosofia, etica ediritti umani secondo Jeanne Hersch,Mondadori, Milan 2008.

It appeared to us as areal shortcoming the fact that there is still no literary and synthetic evocation that holds together in Jeanne Hersch the biographical element and the philosophical sphere because here they are inseparable evocation easily accessible to the reader. […]This praxis was experienced as asubtraction of being, as areturn… that “something” in her that the woman-philosopher “wanted to expel and pulverize”;[ ] that is part of that heavy and cumbersome baggage that she carries with her in her incarnation and that she must abandon during the journey. Born pregnant with “that thing” , that “something” that concealed, deformed aclear, almost innate consciousness of the world of causes.7

The words that Dufour-Kowalski uses to introduce his own literary evocation of the Herschian path focus on the main problem related to the reception of the Genevan’sthought:sofar, there is no study that holds together the biographical experience of the woman and the theory of the philosopher in Hersch. This gap is even moreserious when one considers that therelationshipbetween lived life and thought is fundamentalinordertounderstand the theoretical moves and the practical choices, especially with philosophers that are openly existentialist and committed to ‘living’ the ideas elaborated. Dufour-Kowalski correctly points out that Herschian praxis subtracts being, orders it and determinesittogive some connotations to subjective existence, as it happens for the sculpture that is obtained by chiseling the raw material. ConsideringHerschian thought by ignoring the practical workinwhich it has been translated, as well as judging the influential Swiss activist apart from thereasoning that supports her actions, would mean to not recognize that delivery which leads to giving birth to something new among the pains of the incarnation. This something is the evidence of an effort to ensure better conditionsfor the exercise of freedom, patiently formed both with reasoning and with the historical commitment.

If such thought and such strong evidence risk remaining largely ignored, just two decades after thedeathofthe philosopher, probably it is because Hersch preferred to be useful in the present, rather than erecting a monumentum aere perennius. On the one hand, Herschian production is extremely fragmentary:the

7 E. Dufour-Kowalski, Jeanne Hersch. Présence dans le temps,Éditions L’Age d’Homme, Lausanne 1999, p. 7. All the passages cited in this work are my translations, except those taken from editions or publications in English.

Introduction

scholar that wants to approach JeanneHersch currently has at their disposal few systematicworks that can be counted on the fingers of one hand, almost all available in French, German and Italian,and along list of short articles, reports, speeches at conferences and other minor contributions, which are essential to get into her philosophy, but rarely translated from French or, in aminimum number of cases, from German such minor contributions are scatteredaround Swiss libraries, or kept at the Nachlass J. Hersch in Zurich. On the other hand, Hersch made some unpopularpolitical choices and she lacked willingness to compromise, especially in the last years of her life, so people soon forgot such a significant figure, within and outside the philosophical reflection, both in Switzerland and in the heart of Europe, wherethe activity of the Genevan has become more widely known. Consequently, still there is no proper introduction to Hersch’scontribution,which includes the variety of her production, the reflection behind her commitments and thereal choices that followed the ideal decisions. Some research projects have tried to promote parts of Herschian thought or relaunch her writings, however there are onlytwo publications that have taken care to reconstruct the Herschian path with acertain systematization. The first is the text by Dufour-Kowalski, which highlights her overall profile, but remains a short literary work that is not sufficiently organic and deep from aphilosophical point of view. The second is De Vecchi’sstudy, La libertà incarnata,which is the most complete and articulate philosophical treatment of Hersch, tracing the evolution of the concept of freedom in the Swiss thinker. It ends up sacrificing what is not in the interest of working out a gradualist theory of freedom,while still remaining central in the experience of the Genevan.

In this context, the present work aims at deriving aparadigm of freedom from Herschian evidence, followingthe purpose of Dufour-Kowalskitoalways hold experience and theory together, while outlining a realist existentialism that questions the degree of subjective freedom, according to De Vecchi’sinterpretation. In this way, it will be possible to retrace the entire itinerarychosen by Hersch to guarantee better conditionsfor the exercise of freedom, enhancing both the theoretical formal indications and the practical examples of contents. This thematic and methodological choice, which is faithful to the intention of the Genevan, will also allow to define Hersch the gesture of existentialism and thus to grasp the originality of her contribution to the existentialist landscape. Finally, such apath could build up that introductiontoJeanne Hersch among texts, reasoning and commitments whose absence was noted.

In part one, the principal debts to Hersch’sreferencethinkers will be explained, and the metaphilosophical phase, between Les images dans l’ oeuvre de M. Bergson and L’illusion philosophique,will be traced together with the ontological investigationthat seeks apossible unity of life, between the commitment to the metaphysical truth of L’illusion philosophique and the mission of incarnation of L’être et la forme. Thus the theoretical foundations of Herschian thought will

20 Introduction

emerge, whereby existence is made through agradual incarnation of subjective inner freedom,between existential freedom and ontological freedom. In part two, the analysis of freedom will be extendedtoits use in everyday life, in relation to other subjects, through areflection on politics and human rights, calling into question political liberty and responsible freedom. Idéologies et réalité,the last fullbodied text written by the Genevan, and Le droit d’être un homme,a collection of fragments that witness the fundamental exigence that is the universal basis of human life,will be the main references to investigate the outer conditions of liberty. In part three, space will be given to the practicalphilosophy that embodies the philosophical practice that emergedinthe firsttwo chapters, and the real commitments of the second half of Hersch’slife will be deepened, with dual attention to thetheoretical application and the consequent practical answers to the pressing problems of that time. It will thus be possibletoadd some exemplary contents to the paradigm of freedom, concluding that existence is aresponsible actualization of the capacity for freedom, for which beingisdoing with.

At the end of this study, the reader should have atool to orient themselves in the heterogeneous Herschian path and be able to insert the different aspects of her thought within acoherent and organic reflection. On first investigation, the fragmentation of acommitment that has been more concerned with action than with the systematization of acquired knowledge and the theoretical indications developed is certainly evident. However, after amore careful and deeper analysis, it becomes possibletoappreciate Herschian activities as thedifferent petalsthat make up the flower of freedom unique.Ina certain sense, the present work tries for the first time to stop and admire this flower of freedom, in acontemporary terrain that is uneven and constantly threatened by infertility, sometimes for the dryness of sense, or for an excessive stimulation inhibiting the growth of a healthy existence. To enjoy the beauty of the flower, you cannot uproot, dissect or detach only afew petals. It is necessary to lend your freedomto the object, as the Herschian mime would say, and to be accompanied in its discovery, before being able to intervene subjectively and deciding what to preserve or how to evaluate this experience. Asubjective kenosis that, as far as possible, lets what we are faced with speak and that gives back the unity of Herschian evidence, to which the Genevan herself did not bother to give prominence, being only concerned with being presentinher own time.

Introducingappropriately and giving visibility to aphilosophy who still does not have aproper resonance:those are the goals of the paradigm of freedom that will result in the conclusions of the three parts. Aparadigm as aformal proposal that is able to dialogue with contemporary and past problems and authors, to be deepened with the theoretical indications and to be credited with the practical examples offered by the Genevan. The paradigm of freedomand the presentation of all its necessary elements seem to be the best leitmotif to include as many parts as possible of Hersch, but some matters that Ideemed irrelevant were over-

Introduction 21

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