Oskar Negt/ Alexander Kluge: Kant Kommentare
Volte Expanded #12

Author and film-maker Alexander Kluge and philosopher Oskar Negt, both of whom have strong connections to the Frankfurt School, have a long history of working together. Their collaboration began with the books Öffentlichkeit und Erfahrung (1972) and Geschichte und Eigensinn (1981), continued with a number of televised discussions for dctp, and culminated in their two-volume collection of texts Der unterschätzte Mensch (2001). Their ideas and the associative, vibrant form of their books constituted a completely new departure in the realm of theory. For the book Kant Kommentare, they have once again picked up the thread of their work together, examining the philosopher in the minutest detail and reflecting both on his thinking and on his personal biography. Alexander Kluge writes: “Without Negt, my mentor, I would not have ‘excavated’ Kant so thoroughly. I was surprised by what I found. The Königsberg philosopher is an ageless, modern figure. The way he pits ‘native wit’ against ‘school wit’ is astonishing for me.”

Oskar Negt, born 1934, is a social philosopher, who taught at Universität Hannover – his work focused on issues such as learning and self-regulation. Alexander Kluge, born 1932 in Halberstadt, is a film-maker, author, television producer, philosopher, and lawyer.