Ernst Troeltsch and The Study of Religion and Modernity

Third Floor Lecture Hall

William Schweiker, Edward L. Ryerson Distinguished Service Professor of Theological Ethics at the University of Chicago Divinity School

Hans Joas, Ernst Troeltsch Honorary Professor at Humboldt-Universität zu Berlin and the Committee on Social Thought at the University of Chicago

In this lecture, I offer an interpretation of Ernst Troeltsch’s book Historicism and Its Problems in three steps: 

1. Its relevance for the methodology of historiography. My central claim is that Troeltsch defends the idea that the contingent formation of new ideals in history is a fact and that no methodology failing to do justice to this fact can be adequate. I call the approach he develops an "affirmative genealogy“ of values. 

2. In philosophy of history, Troeltsch develops a position that differs both from a teleological philosophy of history, as in Hegel or Marx, and from a Kierkegaardian rupture with all philosophy of history. I call his position "existential historicism“ and ask for which other thinkers this label might be appropriate. 

3. In his "Material Philosophy of History," Troeltsch opens up the perspective of a cultural synthesis of the constitutive European traditions. But this synthesis has serious limitations due to its Eurocentrism, which must be overcome today.  

Brent Sockness, Associate Professor of Religious Studies at Stanford University

Ernst Troeltsch often spoke as if the philosophy of history and ethics were synonymous and co-extensive disciplines. This paper offers a whirlwind tour of Troeltsch’s “triply duplex” system of ethics in order to show that, although there is considerable overlap between what he envisioned for the second volume of Historicism and Its Problems and what he referred to as his “Kulturethik,” the completion of his magnum opus would not have eliminated the need to complete what Troeltsch called “my ethics."

Attendee Food Options

• Food trucks on Ellis Avenue at 58th Street, near Levi Hall
• Roux at 1055 E. 55th Street
• Many options on 57th Street, including Medici, Noodles Etc, and Seoul Taco
• Quantum Café at 5640 S. Ellis
• Plein Air Café at Woodlawn Avenue and 58th Street
• Prêt à Manger in the Reynolds Club at 57th Street and University
• Grounds of Being in the Swift Hall Basement (Cash Only)
• Where to Eat in Hyde Park - Eater Chicago

Lori Pearson, Professor of Religion at Carleton College

This lecture focuses on the theory of value found in Troeltsch’s works on philosophy of history. In these writings, Troeltsch repeatedly emphasized that everything historical is relative, and everything relative is also individual and unique, and thus a site or expression of value. Thus, the particularities of history have value, and this value, as well as its relation to a larger transcendent whole, can be discerned (at least in the mode of faith) through hypothetical empathy. These ideas proved generative for twentieth-century American theologians to think with, particularly those drawn to the idea of radical monotheism, but also served up challenges about agency and conflict that remain relevant today. 

Robert E. Norton, Professor of German at Notre Dame University

Although Ernst Troeltsch was regarded by his contemporaries as a stalwart of the democratic movement in Germany—he was, to name only one example, one of the founding members of the German Democratic Party on November 16, 1918—his reputation as a champion and defender of parliamentary democracy in Germany suffered after his death in February 1923.  In my lecture, I outline some of the historical reasons for this shift in perception of Troeltsch and of his adherence to democratic ideals, and I argue why doubts about his commitments are misplaced.

William Schweiker, Edward L. Ryerson Distinguished Service Professor of Theological Ethics at the University of Chicago Divinity School

In this lecture I want to show that the agon, the struggle, of historicism and value theory find their roots in human existence in the relation of "nature" and "spirit." Yet I will argue that any adequate ethics in our time of threats to human and non-human life requires a more robust naturalism than Troeltsch seemed to allow. This naturalism focuses on the needs and goods which must be respected and enhanced for life to flourish, "life" being a key element in Troeltsch’s own thought.