Nicolai Hartmann and Vasily Sesemann
The Ontological Turn and the Dialectics of Being
Abstract
The aim of this paper is to examine the parallel philosophical projects of Nicolai Hartmann (1882–1950) and Vasily Sesemann (1884–1963), whose philosophical paths began when they were both studying at the German gymnasium in St. Petersburg. Both Hartmann and his lesser-known friend Sesemann are considered representatives of the so-called "ontological turn" that occurred in twentieth-century philosophy. Starting with a brief description of the history of their mutual philosophical relationships, the author explore some of the similarities in the results of their philosophical research. Their main thesis is that Hartmann and Sesemann were not only two of the many proponents of the aforementioned "ontological turn," but that they understood and, more importantly, realized this turn in very specific ways that make their research valuable today. The authors argue that the essence of their ontological turn was an attempt to define being as a dialectical process and explain how Hartmann’s ontological analyses of spiritual being and Sesemann’s ontological analyses of mental being are related to their understanding and interpretation of Hegel's dialectics.
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