Leseempfehlungen: Warum Manager Mann mögen/ Gazakrieg: Macron will Palästina anerkennen

The novel centers around Hans Castorp, who travels to a sanatorium in Davos, Switzerland, to visit his cousin Joachim Ziemßen. Initially intended as a short visit, Hans's stay extends to seven years, during which he engages in deep philosophical discussions with other patients and staff, including the Italian humanist Settembrini and the Jesuit Naphta. The narrative explores themes of time, health, death, and the clash between the ordinary and extraordinary, set against the backdrop of Europe before World War I. The novel is known for its complex characters, allegorical elements, and its reflection on the intellectual and cultural currents of the early 20th century.

In diesem zweiten Band von 'Die offene Gesellschaft und ihre Feinde' kritisiert Karl Popper die Ideen von Georg Wilhelm Friedrich Hegel und Karl Marx. Popper argumentiert, dass die historizistischen Theorien von Hegel und Marx die Wurzeln des Totalitarismus des 20. Jahrhunderts sind. Er betont, dass Hegels historizistische Elemente zum Faschismus beigetragen haben und dass Marx' Historizismus, obwohl von humanitären Idealen motiviert, zu totalitären Konsequenzen führte. Popper plädiert für eine 'Politik der kleinen Schritte' und betont die Bedeutung der liberalen Demokratie als der einzigen Regierungsform, die institutionelle Verbesserungen ohne Gewalt ermöglicht.

Written by Thomas Mann in 1901, 'Buddenbrooks' is a panoramic novel that explores the decline of the Buddenbrook family, a prominent family of grain merchants in Lübeck. The story spans four generations, highlighting the family's struggles with adapting to modernity, the conflict between practical and artistic orientations to life, and the eventual decay of their financial and moral standing. The novel is characterized by Mann's masterful use of leitmotifs, detailed character descriptions, and a blend of objectivity and subjectivity in its narrative style. It reflects Mann's ambivalence towards the value of artistic versus bourgeois life and is heavily influenced by the philosophical ideas of Schopenhauer.