Human Power and Powerlessness. An Exposition of the existential anthropology in the published and unpublished works of K.E. Løgstrup

The project focuses on supplying the first comprehensive study of Løgstrup's philosophical anthropology, for the first time drawing on the newly digitized posthumous manuscripts (2017). In his analyses into human existence, we find a highly original understanding of human nature and the dynamics of interpersonal human life. A key issue in Løgstrup’s conception is that although we as human beings have the power to do a great many things, we are in a fundamental sense powerless when it comes to enabling our own lives to flourish. This means that we cannot make ourselves happy, and at the same time it carries the implication that if we do not acknowledge this fundamental human impotence it will inevitably lead to self-reproach and other forms of negative self-encircling attention. The result can be seen in the alarming prevalence of depressions, anxiety and the perpetual search for 'the right way to live'. The project aims at, (1) exploring Løgstrup’s posthumous manuscripts (approximately 70.000 pages) and (2) making Løgstrup’s existential anthropology a new and significant voice in today’s debates on culture, society, and human nature. This will lead to a series of translations of Løgstrup’s main works in cooperation with Oxford University Press, a monograph in English and a selection of posthumous material. Also, as part of the scope of internationalization, the project period includes research visits at Tsinghua University, Beijing; University of Sheffield; and Vrije Universiteit Brussel.
The project is cofinanced by The Carlsberg Foundation and Aarhus University, School of Culture and Society