In-Über: The body-soul relationship in the works of Meister Eckhart
What does “In-Über” mean? If we let an ant run on a Möbius strip (see picture), we will immediately notice that it is in and over, inside and outside, above and below.
Anyone can make a Möbius strip in no time at all by cutting a long piece of paper and gluing the two ends together to form a strip by twisting one end 180º. The paradoxical surface of the ribbon, which has only one edge and one side, expresses the relationship between body and soul in Eckhart's works best.
The relation of the “In-Über” cannot initially be limited to something specific. The “In-Über” as a formal structure within metaphysics can be transferred to the creative dynamic between being and becoming.
In Erich Przywara's Analogia Entis, the “In-Über” appears to have become a specifically philosophical concept. However, the origin of the “In-Über” lies much deeper. Around 2500 years ago, pilgrims were invited to a pillar of the Temple of Apollo at Delphi: “Know yourself / Know what you are.” The ancient poet Pindar in his “Pythian Odes” gave his readers the advice with similar words: “Become who you are.” This not only shows the imperfection and limitations of human existence, but also the possibility of overcoming these limitations.
This creative movement of the relation “In-Über” runs like a red thread through the works of Meister Eckhart. Even if he does not explicitly refer to the aforementioned structure, these moments of thought occur in paradoxes, which is Eckhart's preferred method: unity in difference. The “In-Über” can be found in the theory of knowledge, which Eckhart adopted and further developed from Aristotle, in negative theology, which is considered a more appropriate way of speaking about God than affirmative theology, as well as in the concept of unity and, last but not least, in the doctrine of creation. These areas form the foundation for the relationship between body-soul-spirit, because the place of the “In-Über” is the human being itself in all its facets.
Research objective
Thinking in paradoxes frees people from stereotypes that have crept in through dualistic conceptions, especially in recent decades, and allows them to participate in the original God-given freedom. In modern society, autonomy is increasingly being sought, freeing people from their biological “corset” and allowing them to shape their own lives. Those who experience a depersonalization crisis, for example, and need guidance in their identity development, become victims of unrestrained prophecies of progress. An anti-body view denies the unity of body and soul and leads to a dichotomy, or trichotomy, of the human person as the image of the Creator. Attaching personal dignity solely to the individual will as libero arbitrio and excluding other spiritual faculties such as memoria or intellectus drives people into immeasurable dependencies that oppress or enslave them. As a result, one's own biography is characterized by cracks, in that one remains unreconciled with the past, scattered in the present and torn in the future. The defense of body-soul unity in the relation of the “In-Über”, as found in Meister Eckhart, protects people from fantasies of power and political ideologies.
Research questions
- Where specifically are the formal structures of the “In-Über” to be found in Meister Eckhart?
- What role do detachment (Abgeschiedenheit), serenity (Gelassenheit) or unraveling (Entwerdung) play in the process of self-knowledge?
- Does a certain destructiveness arise in Eckhart's works with regard to the unity of body and soul, when the soul embraces the body and not vice versa?
- Is Eckhart sanctioning the inferiority of the body through the removal (Middle High German: lëdic) of all sensual-creative aspects of the human image?
- What can Eckhart contribute to the current debate on the modern image of man?
Research method
Source work with insights into the secondary literature of current Eckhart research and modern anthropology.
Primary sources:
- DW | Meister Eckhart, Die deutschen und lateinischen Werke, hrsg. im Auftrag der Deutschen Forschungsgemeinschaft, Abt. I: Die deutschen Werke, hrsg. v. Josef Quint, Stuttgart 1936f.
- LW | Meister Eckhart, Die deutschen und lateinischen Werke, hrsg. im Auftrag der Deutschen Forschungsgemeinschaft, Abt. II: Die lateinischen Werke, hrsg. v. J. Koch, H. Fischer, K. Weiss, K. Christ, B. Decker, A. Zimmermann, B. Geyer, E. Benz, E. Seeberg und L. Sturlese, Stuttgart 1936f.
Supervisor: Univ.-Prof. Dr. Johannes Hoff, MA
Department of Systematic Theology
Doctoral Candidate: Mag. Ioan Budulai
Ioan.Budulai(at)student.uibk.ac.at