The Forgotten Voice of Dietrich von Hildebrand

PROGRESS REPORTSQuaestiones DisputataeA Journal on von HildebrandFourteen of the very best essays from our twomajor conferences will be published in a specialedition of Franciscan University’s QuaestionesDisputatae, dedicated to the philosophy ofDietrich von Hildebrand.The Legacy Project’s conferences in Steubenville and Romeproduced a flourishing of new essays on the philosophyof Dietrich von Hildebrand. In March 2013, a selection ofthese essays will be published in Quaestiones Disputatae,the journal of the MA Program in Philosophy at FranciscanUniversity of Steubenville.Legacy Project Director, John Henry Crosby, introducesthe volume: “Despite his own self-understanding as aphilosopher and his substantial philosophical output,Dietrich von Hildebrand is often seen, even by Catholics,as a primarily religious author. The reasons for this,however, turn out to be more complex than his authorshipof Catholic books.The ever-increasing interest in von Hildebrand’sphilosophical work—which the Legacy Project is in anuniquely privileged position both to witness and tosupport—bespeaks a growing consensus that his thoughtis not reducible to theology but is in fact eminentlyphilosophical. In a way the best evidence of vonHildebrand’s philosophical vitality are the essays containedin this very volume. Some approach von Hildebrand in astrictly philosophical manner, while others treat him asa ‘Christian philosopher,’ in the sense that they see in histhought the fecund mutual influence of faith and reason.The Legacy Project aims not just to ‘promote’ Hildebrandianideas but above all to encourage a truly philosophicalreception of his work—which is to say, a reception whichdoes not dwell primarily on items of purely scholarlyconcern but which weighs von Hildebrand’s theses,arguments, and formulations with the central question ofphilosophy, ‘is it true?’ For this reason, we invited papersfrom both distinguished and emerging scholars who werenew to von Hildebrand.In offering the papers of this volume, I hope not only toshowcase some of the finest fruits of the conferencesin Steubenville and Rome, but above all, to build onthe momentum of the von Hildebrand renaissancecurrently underway and to invite philosopherseverywhere to read von Hildebrand for the first time,or to return to von Hildebrand for a closer appraisal ofhis philosophical work.”A Thesis on Value Knowledgevon hildebrand’s “habilitationsschrift”In 2013, the Legacy Project will publish thefirst-ever English translation of Dietrich vonHildebrand’s habilitation thesis, on the subject ofValue Knowledge and Value Blindness.In German universities, there is a process called habilitation,which is somewhat similar to obtaining tenure in an Americanuniversity. Receiving habilitation means that a professoris qualified to teach for life on a particular subject, andobtaining the qualification is usually dependent upon writing aHabilitationsschrift (habilitation thesis), an independent workthat is significantly more advanced than a Ph.D. dissertation.Von Hildebrand wrote his Habilitationsschrift during WWI,while conscripted into military service. He worked longhours as an assistant to a surgeon, witnessing first-hand thegruesome tragedies—both physical and moral—of war. As thejob did not leave leisure time for writing, von Hildebrand wasforced to constrain his sleep in order to complete his thesis bynight. So exhausted did he become that, when the war ended,he was forced to postpone his teaching, as he required monthsto recover his spent energies.This thesis was finally published in 1922 in the philosophyjournal of his teacher, Edmund Husserl, with the title,Sittlichkeit und ethische Werterkenntnis (literally, Moralityand Ethical Value Knowledge). Since then, it has occasionallybeen reprinted in German, but never in English. But thatwill change in 2013, with the Legacy Project’s publication ofMorality and the Knowledge of Ethical Values.For the translation, the Legacy Project ispleased to be partnering with Dr. RobinRollinger, who is not only an experton Brentano and other philosopherswho preceded the phenomenologyinaugurated by Husserl, but also anaccomplished translator—a rare andfortunate combination! Dr. Rollinger ishappy to be “making the extraordinaryworks of this thinker availableto the reading public.”Dr. Robin RollingerANNUAL REPORT5