Colloquia Raurica
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Edited by:
The Colloquia Raurica are organized every two years by the Collegium Rauricum. They take place at Castelen, the country estate of the Römer-Stiftung Dr René Clavel in Augst (Augusta Raurica) near Basel. Each colloquium deals with a topical question of general interest within the humanities from a multi-disciplinary perspective, with a special focus on contributions from classical studies. The results of the colloquia are published in the series Colloquia Raurica.
Author / Editor information
Joachim Latacz, Universität Basel; Jürgen von Ungern-Sternberg, Universität Basel; Hansjörg Reinau, Basel; Peter Blome, Antikenmuseum Basel.
The normative and formal presence of classical antiquity – as a mere figure of thought or a fully elaborated body of theory – is one of the great constants in the history of Western architecture. Yet the ideas that people have associated with ancient architecture have undergone major transformations through the course of history. This volume addresses how perceptions of antiquity have evolved over different periods in European architecture.
What is the philosophical basis for human rights? What obstacles emerge in this connection, and how far has the debate progressed? Is it even possible to universalize human rights across cultures? The essays in this volume address systematic questions in this area while illuminating the multifaceted history surrounding notions of subjectivity, which stretch back to the Middle Ages and Antiquity.
1,700 years ago, the Roman emperors Constantine and Licinius granted religious freedom – also and particularly for Christianity. The religious policy of Constantine is often associated with the modern ideal of tolerance. This book inquires into the correctness and limitations of this label through a close historical study of this concept and with particular attention to the forms of religious tolerance in Late Antiquity. One important feature of this study is its focus on the reception of Constantine's religious policy from the Reformation era until modern times.
Political participation – individual citizens taking part in the body politic – is a globally accepted ideal. But opinions differ about how to put this ideal into practice, leading to a variety of forms and implementations. The essays in this volume chart the tension at different times and places, from the discovery of citizen participation in antiquity to the present.
Picture theories are today a subject of broad interest to scholars, for the relationship between concept and picture, between thought and viewing, is among the commonest themes of the history of European thought, and already in Antiquity a multitude of solutions to the problem were discussed. The aim of this book is to elucidate the peculiarity of the relationship between viewing and concept analysed by Plato and Aristotle; to compare the theories of art and poetry initially conceived about 300BC, and which reached full development under the Roman Empire; and to expound modern concepts of viewing not only with forms of reception, but also the transformation of ancient theories of visual art.
The question of origins has occupied people of all cultures and epochs. In a particular way it determines the thinking of philosophy, which in its classical understanding is concerned with seeking out first causes and principles. In this, it follows on from the line of enquiry followed by myth, which in its turn gives an account of first beginnings and causes. Outside philosophy, too, a variety of notions of origins give direction and orientation to enquiry in the sciences, in world views and religions, in theories of nature and of history. The question of origins cannot be reduced to one single question or answered with one single answer. It belongs to that circle of open questions which, according to Kant, philosophy can neither answer nor ignore. The papers presented here provide material for discussing the heterogeneity of the questions posed and reflect the tension inherent in the reference to origins as a whole.
Die Herausforderung durch "das Neue" hat sich zu Beginn des 21. Jahrhunderts noch einmal entscheidend verschärft. Bio-, Nano- und Medienwissenschaftler verkünden zum wiederholten Male Veränderungen, die das Gesicht und die Ordnung der "Welt" tiefgreifend umgestalten werden. Futurologen sprechen sogar von einer "zweiten Evolution", die sich bereits jetzt ankündige. Die Wahrnehmung des Neuen ist aber selbst eine historische Variable. Deshalb werden in diesem Bande zwei paradigmatische Typen von Gesellschaften auf ihren Umfang mit dem Neuen hin untersucht: eine traditionale, die Antike, und eine modernisierende, die Renaissance. Inhaltlich geht es in beiden Bereichen um Fragen der Kunst- und Literaturtheorie, der ästhetischen und politischen Praxis, der gesellschaftlichen Herausforderungen, die das Neue begleiten, bis hin zu dem direkten Vergleich zweier herausragender Gestalten der beiden Epochen: Augustus und Cosimo di Medici. Dabei werden in den Aufsätzen von Altertumswissenschaftlern und Spezialisten für die Renaissance Konzepte unterschiedlicher historischer Gesellschaften nach ihren mentalen Dispositionen und Methoden befragt, um Traditionsbrüche, Innovationen sowie Imaginationen "des Neuen" zu reflektieren.
