The Readability of the World

The Readability of the World is an extended demonstration of Hans Blumenberg's metaphorological method, which explores the idea that the world presents itself as a book. It traces the evolution of this metaphor from ancient Greek cosmology to the genetic code and offers rich and original interpretations of canonical figures, revealing the longings to contain all of nature, history, and reality in a book across different cultures and time periods.

Format: Hardback
Length: 426 pages
Publication date: 15 December 2022
Publisher: Cornell University Press

The Readability of the World represents Hans Blumenberg's groundbreaking exploration of the metaphorological method he pioneered in Paradigms for a Metaphorology. Blumenberg views metaphors as symptomatic of thought patterns and feelings that evade explicit conceptualization yet remain essential, as they enable humans to navigate an overwhelming world. In this work, Blumenberg applies this method to the notion that the world presents itself as a book. The metaphor of the book of nature has played a central role in Western interpretations of reality, and Blumenberg traces its evolution from ancient Greek cosmology to the model of the genetic code. Through his interdisciplinary approach, encompassing literature, science, theology, philosophy, ancient metaphysics, and twentieth-century biochemistry, Blumenberg offers profound and original interpretations of the thinking of numerous canonical figures, including Berkeley, Vico, Goethe, Spinoza, Leibniz, Bacon, Flaubert, and Freud. By employing an anthropologically honed perspective, Blumenberg reveals a wealth of fresh insights into the enduring longing to encapsulate nature, history, and reality within a book, spanning from the Bible, the Talmud, and the Qur'an to Diderot's Encyclopedia and Humboldt's Cosmos to the ACGT of the DNA code.

Dimension: 229 x 152 x 33 (mm)
ISBN-13: 9781501766619