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Establishing the Being of Images: Master Eckhart and the Concept of Disimagination

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  28 February 2024

Wolfgang Wackernagel
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Extract

What is an image? An image, it might be said, is a kind of amity between the medium and the model it assumes. The purpose of this relationship is to reproduce the model and to become similar to it. Such a definition invites – perhaps in a purely playful way – some preliminary considerations.

Type
Research Article
Information
Diogenes , Volume 41 , Issue 162 , June 1993 , pp. 77 - 98
Copyright
Copyright © 1993 Fédération Internationale des Sociétés de Philosophie / International Federation of Philosophical Societies (FISP)

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References

Notes

1. This article is a more full treatment of a subject that I made the theme of two earlier discourses. One was given in French, for the Twenty-Second International Congress of L'Association des Sociétés de Philosophic de Langue Française, Dijon, August 29-31, 1988 (cf. L'espace et le temps. Actes du XXIIe Congrès, Paris, Vrin, 1991, pp. 149-153. This text was neither reviewed nor corrected by the author.); it was also delivered on the occasion of a colloquy organized by La Société Suisse des Professeurs de Philosophie, held in Chexbres on September 12, 1990. The other, in German, was read at Forschungsinstitut für Philosophie in Hanover on January 14, 1991. In this connection see Wolfgang Wackernagel, Ymagine denudari. Éthique de l'image et métaphysique chez Maitre Eckhart (Études de philosophie médiévale, LXVI-II), Paris, Vrin, 1991.

2. The etymology of the word Bild has not yet been fully clarified. Indeed there is a second hypothesis that ascribes a direct relationship between the Greek philos and the Sanscrit priyá (beloved, dear). On this subject see Manfred Landfester, Das griechische Nomen "philos" und seine Ableitungen, Hildesheim, Georg Olms, 1966. As for the Bild hypothesis, see Friedrich Kluge, Etymologisches Wörterbuch der Deutschen Sprache, de Gruyter, 1883, 21st edition, Berlin, Walther Mitzka 1975 (article: Philosoph). Also, Hermann Paul, Deutsches Wörterbuch, 1897, 8th edition, Tübingen, Werner Betz, Niemeyer 1981. In the Sanskrit-English Dictionary, by Monier-Williams, 1899 (Calcutta, 1976) we find the following entries: bimba (reflected image – also: vimba) and prati-mà, prati-mimite (related to mimesis?), Ved. inf. prati-mai (to imitate, copy; a creator, maker, framer; an image, likeness, symbol, etc.). The "preliminary joke" with imago constitutes a reverential wink at Ferdinand de Saussure's anagrams or paragrams. Cf. Jean Starobinski, Les Mots sous les mots, Paris, Gallimard, 1971.

3. "There is no immediately satisfactory solution to philos." Émile Benveniste, Le Vocabulaire des institutions indo-euorpéenes. I. Economie, parenté, société. Paris, Editions de Minuit, 1969, pp. 367-340. This article deals for the most part with the Homeric and Mycenian context of the word. With the exception of certain German proper names (Bil(i)-frid, Bil-trud, Bili-gard, etc.), the etymology of the word Bild is not even broached. Cf. also Pierre Chantraine, Dictionnaire étymologique de la langue grecque, tome III, Paris, Klincksieck 1974, p. 1206.

4. In Old Islandic the word bild had a temporal function: the "moment" was also the instant of an image, the time it took to wink; from this meaning the words for intermittence and even breakdown were derived. Bil-röst – or bifröst – would be the via tremula, that is, the rainbow (in French: arc-en-ciel). In the Islandic Edda, bil-skirnir designates the celestial home of Thor, because of its relationship to "bolt of light"; while bil-eygr (which means unsteady eyes) is one of Odin's names. See R. Cleasby and G. Vigfusson, An (Old) Icelandic-English Dictionary, Oxford, 1874.

5. Hans-Georg Gadamer, Warheit und Methode, Tübingen, Mohr, 1960, 1975, p. 7. For the history of Bildung, see E. Lichtenstein, in J. Ritter and R. Eisler (eds), Historisches Wörteruch der Philosophie, vol. I, Bâle, Schwabe 1971, pp. 921-922.

6. On this subject, see Philippe Quéau, Le Virtuel, Vertus et vertiges, Seyssel, Champ Vallon/INA 1993, pp. 81, 89, and 209.

7. Angelus Silesius (Johannes Scheffler) Cherubinischer Wandersmann II, 54, Stuttgart, Reclam, 1984, p. 79: "Entbilde dich mein Kind/So wirst du Gotte gleich: Und bist in stiller Ruh/Dir selbst dein Himmelreich." (Disimagine yourself, my child, and you will become like a God: and in serene stillness you will be your own heavenly kingdom."

8. This is not the full extent of Master Eckhart's linguistic inventions. For instance, entbilden is often associated with überbilden, and there are also the following deriva tions : erbilden, înbilden, înerbilden, verbilden.

9. Meister Eckhart, Die deutschen und lateinischen Werke, Stuttgart, Kohlhammer (in publication since 1936). Lateinische Werke (LW) III, p. 4, no 2 (trans. A. de Libera, F. Brunner, E. Wéber, and E. Zum Brun, in L'Œuvre latine de Maître Eckhart, vol. I and VI, Paris, Cerf, 1984 and 1989. Here: Cerf, vol. 6, p. 27). On the Greek origin of philo sophical reflection, see Werner Jaeger, Die Theologie der frühen griechischen Denker, Stuggart, Kohlhammer 1953 (translated as: À la naissance de la théologie, Paris, Cerf, 1966).

10. LW II, p. 109, no 111 (trans. Fernand Brunner, Maître Eckhart. Paris, Seghers, 1969, p. 137).

11. Ibid., p. 110, n. 112 (trans. p. 138).

12. Ibid., p. 112, n. 117 (trans. p. 140).

13. Ibid. p. 110, n. 112 (trans. p. 138).

14. LW II, p. 489, n. 154 (translation unpublished).

15. Predigt 20 b, DW I, p. 346, 11-13 (trans. Jeanne Ancelet-Hustache, in Maître Eckhart, Sermons, vol. 1-3, Paris, Seuil, 1974, 1978 and 1979. Here: Anc., vol. I, p. 179).

16. LW II, p. 111, n. 115 (trans. Brunner, Seghers, p. 139).

17. Ibid., cf. also LW III, p. 583, n. 670.

18. LW II, p. 112, n. 117 (trans. Brunner, Seghers, p. 139).

19. M. de Gandillac, "'La dialectique' de Maitre Eckhart,' in La Mystique rhénane, Paris, 1963, p. 70 and pp. 89-94.

20. DW V, p. 45, n. 15 (trans. Jeanne Ancelet-Hustache, in Maître Eckhart, Les traités, Paris, Seuil, 1971. Here: Anc., Traités, p. 124).

21. Sermo XI, 2, LW IV, p. 114, n. 120 (the translation is unpublished).

22. Predigt 23, DW I, p. 393, 3-6 (trans. Anc., vol. 1, p. 199).

23. Philibert Secrétan, L'Analogie, Paris, PUF. Que sais-je? 1984, p. 19.

24. The Gospel According to St. Matthew, 7:16, Cf. LW II, p. 115, n. 122; and LW III, p. 186, n. 222. This reminds one of a phrase from The Book of Divine Consolation: "The seed of the pear tree grows in order to become a pear tree; the seed of the walnut tree grows in order to become a walnut tree; the seed of God grows in order to become God." DW V, p. 111,14-15 (trans. Anc., Traités, p. 146).

25. LW II, p. 60, n. 54 (unpublished translation).

26. "All creatures are pure nothingness." Predigt 4, DW I, p. 69, 8 (trans. Anc., vol. 1, p. 65).

27. Predigt 16 b, DW I, p. 271, 1-2 (trans. Anc., vol. 1, p. 151).

28. LW II, p. 273, n. 44 (trans. Brunner, Seghers, p. 148).

29. Predigt 9, DW I, p. 156,6-9 (trans. Anc., vol. 1, p. 104).

30. Predigt 8, DW I, p. 133, 5, 134, 5 (trans. Anc. vol, 1, p. 94).

31. Inversely, knowledge can be considered the foundation of being. On this sub ject, see Question parisienne no 1, "L'être et le connaitre sont-ils indentiques en Dieu?" LW V, p. 40, n. 4 (trans. in QP n. 2, E. Zum Brunn in Maître Eckhart à Paris. Une critique médiévale de l'ontothéologie, Paris, PUF, 1984, p. 179).

32. Predigt 71, DW III, p. 219, 10-220, 3 (trans. Anc., vol. 3, pp. 76-77).

33. Ibid., p. 224, 2-3 (trans. p. 78).

34. Ibid. p. 228, 8-9 (trans. p. 79).

35. Ibid., p. 222,11-223 (trans. pp. 77-78).

36. Cf. LW II, pp. 18-19, n. 13, LW III, pp. 608-613, n. 692-698. W. Wackernagel, Ymagine denudari …, op. cit. pp. 134-139 and pp. 150-153.

37. Predigt 71, DW III, p. 224, 6-7 (trans. Anc., vol. 3, p. 78). Cf. also Predigt 72: "The soul knows only the One. It is beyond any image." DW III, op. 246, 2 (trans. Anc., vol. 3, p. 84). Novalis, in his Tenth Spiritual Song, also combines the person of Mary with a certain idea of Entbildung: "I see you in a thousand images/Mary, so wonderfully conceived/Yet no one can describe you/When my soul contemplates you/I only know that the noise of the world/Like a dream inside me is carried away/And an unutterably sweet sky/Sleeps eternally in my heart."

38. DW V, p. 114, 11-14 (trans. Anc., Traités, p. 148). To my knowledge, Eckhart's interpretation of The Song of Solomon is unique in its kind. Quint gives no informa tion about its origin in his critical apparatus.

39. Ibid., p. 116, 12-17 (trans. p. 150).

40. Ibid., p. 112, 19-21 (trans. p. 147). On this subject, see St. Augustine, De vera religione, c. 26, n. 49 – PL 34, 143, s.:"Sextam omnimodae mutationis in aeternam vitam, et usque ad totam oblivionem vitae temporalis transeuntem in perfectam for mam, quae facta est ad imaginem et similitudinem Dei."

41. Ibid., p. 111, 18, 133, 5 (trans. p. 146, p. 147).

42. Ibid., p. 113,18-20 (trans. pp. 147-148).

43. Cf. DW V, note 30, p. 126.

44. Plotin, Enneade V 3, 17. In English the phrase has been translated as "Cut away everything!" On this subject, see Pierre Hadot, Exercises Spirituels et philosophie antique, Paris, Etudes Augustiniennes 1987 (second edition), pp. 185-188; also Werner Beierwaltes, Selbsterkenntnis und Erfahrung der Einheit. Plotins Enneade V 3, Frankfurt, Klostermann 1991.

45. DW V, p. 61, 1 (trans. Anc., Traités, p. 137).

46. Predigt 16 b, DW 1, pp. 270-271, 8 (trans. Anc., vol. 1, p. 150). For a more detailed defintion of the image, see LW III, pp. 19-33, n. 23-27.

47. See Burkhard Mosisch, Meister Eckhart. Analogie. Univozität und Einheit. Hamburg 1983, p. 79.

48. LW I, p. 166, n. 1 (trans. Cerf, vol. 1, p. 71).

49. Ibid., p. 166, n. 2 (trans. 71).

50. LW II, p. 281, n. 52 (trans. Brunner, Seghers, p. 153). For other aspects of the theme of analogy, see the preface of Alain de Libera, in Eckhart. Traités et sermons, Paris, Flammarion, note 1, p. 28.

51. LW I, pp. 166-167, n. 3 (trans. Cerf, vol. 1, p. 73).

52. In this regard see Alois Dempf, Meister Eckhart, Eine Einführung in sein Werk. Fribourg-en-Brisgau. Bâle. Vienna. Herder 1960.

53. Hegel used the myth of Argus to assert that images are like retrospective eyes. Cf. Gottfried Boehm, "Bildsinn und Sirtnesorgane," in Anschaung als ästhetische Kategorie, Neue Hefte für Philosophie 18/19, Göttingen, 1980, p. 120.

54. On this subject, see notably: Peter Koslowski, Die Prüfungen der Neuzeit. Über Postmodernität, Philosophie der Geschichte, Metaphysik, Gnosis. Peter Engelmann (ed), Vienna, Passagen 1989, p. 84.

55. See, among others: John D. Caputo, "Heidegger and Meister Eckhart," in The Mystical Elements in Heidegger's Thought, Athens, Ohio, Ohio University Press, 1978, pp. 140-202. Werner Beierwaltes, Identität und Differenz, Frankfurt, Klostermann, 1980, pp. 130-143. A. Charles-Saget, "Aphairesis et Gelassenheit, Heidegger et Plotin," in Rémi Brague et Jean-François Courtine (eds), Herméneutique et ontologie. Hommage a Pierre Aubenque (Épiméthée), Paris, PUF, 1990, pp. 323-344.

56. Eckehart A. Marenholtz: Das glîchnisse Meister Eckharts: Form, Inhalt und Funktion. Kleine Studie zur negativen Metaphorik, Bern, Peter Lang, 1981.

57. If, with Eckhart, we agree that the soul's deepest experience is first of all dis imaginative, then this obviously changes our assumptions about active imagination. Jung's ideas about active imagination are most fully developed in his memoirs. Cf. Aniela Jaffé (ed), Erinnerungen, Träume, Gedanken von C. G. Jung, Olten, Freiburg, Walter-Verlag, 1988 (sixth edition), pp. 182-196.

58. For a summary of the numerous attempts at linking Master Eckhart with Eastern philosophy, see Niklaus Largier, "Master Eckhart und der Osten," in Heinrich Stirnimann and Ruedi Imbach (eds), Eckhardus Theutonicus, homo doctus et sanctus. Nachweise und Berichte zum Prozess gegen Meister Eckhart, Freiburg, Universitätsverlag, 1992, pp. 185-204.

59. Predigt 16 b, DW I, S. 268, 12-14 (trans. Anc. Vol. 1, p. 150). The mystic's cer tainty is, etymologically speaking, a certainty "with closed eyes" (from the verb myô, "to close one's eyes," "to be quiet"). On the theme of western mysticism during the Middle Ages, see: Alois Maria Haas, Sermo Mysticus, Studien zur Theologie und Sprache der deutschen Mystik, Freiburg, Universitätsverlag, 1979; Alain de Libera, Introduction à la mystique rhénane. D'Albert le Grand à Maître Eckhart, Paris, O.E.I.L., 1984; Georgette Epiney-Burgard and Émile Zum Brunn, Femmes Troubadours de Dieu, Turnhout, Brepols, 1988; Kurt Ruh, Geschichter der abandlândsichen Mystik, vols. 1 and 2 (vols. 3 and 4 in preparation), Munich, Beck, 1990 and 1993.

60. Symbiosophy – or "the wisdom of living together" – takes up questions con nected with new universalist approaches to our contemporary situation. Encompassing numerous disciplines, it stresses all that concerns the preservation and blossoming of the diversity of the human, animal and vegetable kingdoms; this includes the safeguarding of the most elementary creatures, that is, all the interde pendent links of "the golden chain of beings" (cf. the catena aurea of Macrobe and Homer).