Helmuth Plessner's (1892-1985) theory of the eccentric positionality of man and his thesis of his basic inscrutability is a concept which can throw new light upon the bodily-natural and the spiritual-historical dimension. Ralf Meyer-Hansen reconstructs this concept as an anthropology of difference and shows that Plessner's anthropological criticism of religion not only presents a challenge to theology but that this concept also stimulates a new definition of faith and doubt, autonomy and theonomy, politics and religion.

Helmuth Plessner (1892-1985) is seen as one of the most prominent representatives of philosophical anthropology. With his theory of the eccentric positionality of man and the thesis of his basic inscrutability ( homo absconditus ), he developed a concept which can throw light upon the bodily-natural and the spiritual-historical dimension. The experience of non-identity with oneself is of central importance for Plessner. As a result of the "real break" (Plessner) in human beings, experiences of freedom and power but also of ambivalence and fragmentary existence are newly permeated and illuminated. Ralf Meyer-Hansen reconstructs this concept as an anthropology of difference and shows that Plessner's anthropological criticism of religion not only presents a challenge to theology but that this concept also stimulates a new definition of faith and doubt, autonomy and theonomy, politics and religion.

Autorentext
Geboren 1977; 1997-2005 Studium der Ev. Theologie und Geschichte in Göttingen und London; 2005-08 Wissenschaftlicher Mitarbeiter am Institut für Systematische Theologie, Hamburg; seit 2011 Vikariat in der Nordkirche; 2012 Promotion.