Eranos - An Alternative Intellectual History of the Twentieth Century (Hardcover)

Few people are aware that from 1933 and for a period of almost seventy years, many of the world's leading intellectuals met annually at Ascona on Lake Maggiore to give scholarly lectures about their latest insights in the fields of religion, philosophy, history, art and science, and in particular to explore religion with an emphasis on its mystical and symbolic aspects. Known as the Eranos meetings (Eranos in Ancient Greek meant banquet), participants over the years comprised a galaxy of illustrious names in many branches of the humanities and sciences: Carl Gustav Jung, Erich Neumann, Mircea Eliade, Martin Buber, Walter F. Otto, Paul Tillich, Gershom Scholem, Sir Herbert Read, Joseph Campbell, Erwin Schrodinger, Karl Kereyni, D.T. Suzuki, Adolph Portmann and many others. Based on archival material, printed sources, private letters and interviews with Eranos presenters and participants, Hakl presents the only complete study of what is arguably the single most important gathering of scholars in the twentieth century. With a masterful hand, Hakl skillfully weaves together portraits of the exceptional people involved, their significance in the world of learning, the way they interacted with each other as well as the manifold influences that the meetings exerted. While in general sympathetic to the Eranos spirit, the author does not try to hide the negative aspects of the concern with esotericism, such as the Islamicist Henry Corbin's sympathy for the reign of the Shah, nor the Eranos patron (and OSS member) Paul Mellons' massive holdings in Iranian Oil. The final chapter concerns itself with an exploration of the political implications of the Eranos phenomenon and the tendency amongesotericists towards authoritarian standpoints. The vignettes it offers of the lives and lively debates of leading twentieth century intellectuals will attract readers interested in the history of ideas, psychology, religious and cultural studies, Jewish and Islamic studies, the history of science, mysticism and the development of the new age religions.