The Great War and Modern Philosophy.

This project aims at understanding the impact of the Great War on modern philosophy. It aims to chart an original course and establish a new standard for the philosophical study of the relation between the war and philosophy through a comparative and critical approach to a diverse array of thinkers from different philosophical movements and nations. A basic hypothesis to be explored is that the question "how did the war induce significant change in philosophy?" does not have one meaning or direction, and, hence, one kind of answer. Specifically, this project will investigate whether the diversity of philosophical effects produced by the war can be mapped as engagements with different kinds of questions that the war itself was seen as posing. The war spoke to philosophy in as many ways as philosophy understood itself, even when there was silence. This project will additionally argue that the very idea that war could reveal, challenge or legitimate cultural or philosophical meaning is itself a legacy of the distinctive war-philosophy produced during the war. These writings crystallize the concept of war that underpins the meaningfulness of asking: did the war change anything fundamental about thinking (or culture, society, etc.)? The originality of this project furthermore consists in its critical comparison of thinkers from different nationalities as well as different movements of thinking.

Keywords:First World War, Philosophy, Society, Language, Europe, Politics, Culture

Disciplines:Law, Metalaw