Harald Haarmann

Von Klicklauten und hundert Arten, 'ich' zu sagen

Die seltsamsten Sprachen der Welt

von der Frühzeit des Menschen bis zur Gegenwart

Weltgeschichte der Sprachen

Traditional scholarship on how ancient civilizations emerged is outmoded and new insights call for revision. According to the well-established paradigm, Mesopotamia is considered the cradle of civilization. Following the cliche of ex oriente lux ("light from the East") all major achievements of humankind spread from the Middle East. Modern archaeology, cultural science and historical linguistics indicate civilizations did not originate from a single prototype. Several models produced divergent patterns of advanced culture, developing both hierarchical and egalitarian societies. This study outlines a panorama of ancient civilizations, including the still little-known Danube civilization, now identified as the oldest advanced culture in Europe. In a comparative view, a new paradigm of research and a new cultural chronology of civilizations in the Old and New Worlds emerges, with climate change shown to be a continual influence on human lifeways.

Life, Culture, Science and Thought

Advancement in Ancient Civilizations

Platon zählt zu den einflussreichsten Philosophen aller Zeiten. Er beeinflusste maßgeblich Profil und Kanon der westlichen Philosophie. Die Kritik am sogenannten Platonismus wurde kontinuierlich von den Schwierigkeiten gespeist, die die Interpretation der philosophischen Schriften Platons bereitet. Gemeinhin wird er als rein rationaler Philosoph gesehen. Ein Philosoph war er in der Tat, ebenso jedoch ein Experte in der Annäherung an das Nicht-Rationale, unter anderem in Form von Mythen. So wurde er auch als 'Mythenerfinder' und 'Mythologe' bezeichnet. Platon war ein Visionär, der es wagte, das Reich des Nicht-Rationalen auf systematische und disziplinierte Art zu erforschen. Insgesamt lässt sich Platons philosophisches Vorhaben als Streben nach einer umfassenden Sicht des organischen Ganzen klassifizieren. Der Ausdruck 'Gestalt' scheint die Ganzheit am ehesten zu beschreiben. Platon kann als prominentester und auch als letzter Repräsentant der antiken Philosophie angesehen werden, der die Entwicklung einer Gestalt-Philosophie anstrebte.****************Plato is one of the most influential philosophers of all time. He decisively shaped the profile and canon of western philosophy. Criticism of what has become known as Platonism has been continuously nourished by the difficulties of interpreting this philosopher's writings. Plato is commonly viewed as a purely rational philosopher. A philosopher he was indeed, but Plato was also an expert in approaching the non-rational, in the form of mythology among others. Plato has been called a 'mythmaker' and a 'mythologist'. Plato was a visionary who dared to explore the realm of the non-rational in a systematic and disciplined way. In an overall comparison, Plato's philosophical enterprise strives for a comprehensive perspective on the organic whole. The expression 'Gestalt' seems to come closest to describing the wholeness. Plato may be considered to be the most prominent representative of classical philosophy to develop a Gestalt philosophy and also the last to do so in antiquity.

Contours of a Contextual Theory of Truth.

Plato's Philosophy Reaching Beyond the Limits of Reason

Joan Marler

There is a broad cultural region with related traditions of mythical beliefs interconnected by long-term contacts during prehistoric times. This area - called here the "Mythological Crescent" - is a zone of cultural convergence that extends from the ancient Middle East via Anatolia to southeastern Europe, opening into the wide cultural landscape of Eurasia.The very old interconnections between Eurasia and Anatolia are explored in this study for the first time. In a comparative view, striking similarities can be reconstructed for the ancient belief systems and the imagery of both regions which suggest convergent cosmological conceptualizations of high age. The beliefs and ritual practices of the indigenous peoples of Eurasia are rooted in the shamanism of the oldest cultural layers of the Palaeolithic. Although socioeconomic development in Anatolia was markedly different from cultural evolution in Eurasia, the hunters and gatherers in Anatolia who adopted sedentary lifeways did not entirely lose their ancient beliefs during the transition to plant cultivation (in the eighth millennium BCE). Archaic beliefs and imagery fused with new practices and innovations during the development of agrarian societies. One diagnostic motif which was perpetuated from the Palaeolithic to the Neolithic and beyond is represented by the production of female figurines (statuettes). Their significance for communal life has been linked to spiritual concepts of the continuity of life, the vegetation cycle, and the protection of the natural habitat of all living things as recorded in myths and historical folk art of Uralic and other peoples. The bear plays a significant role as a mythical animal in the imagery of Eurasia whereas this motif was lost in Anatolia during the transition from antiquity to the Middle Ages.

Ancient Beliefs and Imagery Connecting Eurasia with Anatolia

Introducing the Mythological Crescent

From the Japanese Case to a General Sociolinguistic Perspective

Symbolic Values of Foreign Language Use

This study documents various historical instances in the development of the concept «Common Good». The author reflects about Plato's theory of Forms, which is infused with the idea of good, as the first principle of being. Plato was not the first philosopher to address the theme of the Common Good although he was the first to construct a political theory around it. This theme has remained a central agenda for philosophers throughout the ages

Anatomy of a Concept of Timeless Significance

Plato's Ideal of the Common Good

Hans-Josef Niederehe

The first 'Kolloquium zur Wissenschaftsgeschichte der Romanistik' (Trier 1975) was held to commemorate the hundredth anniversary of the death of Friedrich Diez, the founder of Romance philology. The colloquium offered Romanists and historians of linguistics the opportunity for intense discussion, which is continued in the papers in this volume.

In Memoriam Friedrich Diez: Akten des Kolloquiums zum Wissenschaftsgeschichte der Romanistik/Actes du Colloque sur l'Histoire des Etudes Romanes/ Proc

For more than 3000 years, Indo-European languages have been spoken from India through Persia and into Europe. Where are the origins of this language family? How and when did its different linguistic branches emerge? The renowned historical linguist Harald Haarmann provides a graphic account of what we know today about the origins of Indo-European languages and cultures and how they came to be so widely disseminated. In this impressive study, he succeeds in drawing connections between linguistic findings, archaeological discoveries and the latest research into human genetics and climate history. In addition to linguistic affinities, he shows the economic, social and religious concepts that the early speakers of Indo-European languages had in common all the way from the Eastern Mediterranean to the Indus. Particular attention is devoted to the processes of assimilation with pre-Indo-European languages and civilisations. The result is a fascinating panorama of early "Indo-European globalisation" from the end of the last ice age to the early civilisations in Greece, Italy, Asia Minor, Persia and India.

On the Trail of the Indo-Europeans: From Neolithic Steppe Nomads to Early Civilisations

An Inquiry into Cultural Continuity in the Mediterranean World

Early Civilization and Literacy in Europe

Ulrich Ammon

Sprachen des europäischen Westens

Wieser Enzyklopädie

Providing a multifaceted view of modern Finland, this book describes its history, culture, language, geography, natural history and the mythology of early peoples. Topics include Fenno-Scandia inhabitants and their environment, traditional naturalism and modern environmentalism, and the salient features of "Finnishness," including an analysis of the Finnish educational system and gender equality. Finland's art, architecture and music are highlighted, along with its peace-keeping missions worldwide. The country's several ethnic groups and their languages are discussed--the Saami, Finns, Finland-Swedes, Russian-speaking peoples, Jews and Gypsies. The author examines Finland's late but rapid development in commerce and industry, with a focus on the history of Nokia Corporation, which grew from a 19th-century manufacturer of pulpwood and rubber boots to a 21st-century international digital communications company.

Modern Finland

Labgc

Unser Miteinander ist porös geworden. Es braucht Erneuerung. Anhand von Alteuropa, eine der ersten Hochkulturen der Menschheit, belegen die Autoren, wie die Gemeinschaften Alteuropas 3000 Jahre in Frieden prosperierten und eine Orientierung am Gemeinwohl allen zugute kam. Gespiegelt ins Heute kann dies den notwendigen politischen, wirtschaftlichen und gesellschaftlichen Diskurs bereichern und Orientierung geben. "Dieses Buch zeigt sehr knapp und prägnant eine wirkliche 'Umkehrung der Denkart' an, es zeigt sie nicht nur, es vollzieht sie! Das sollte ihm höchste Aufmerksamkeit sichern!" (Harald Seubert, Philosoph und Ideenhistoriker) "Es ist möglich! Die Zukunft gehört einem demokratischen Miteinander, ... Wir können - und wir müssen - Wege zu einem funktionierenden Gemeinwesen finden." (Bascha Mika, Chefredakteurin Frankfurter Rundschau)

Europa im Gestern | Alteuropa im Heute

MITEINANDER NEU-DENKEN

Contrary to a prevalent belief of the Western world, that democracy, agriculture, theater and the arts were the attainments of Classical Greek civilization, these were actually a Bronze Age fusion of earlier European concepts and Hellenic ingenuity. This work considers both the multicultural wellspring from which these ideas flowed and their ready assimilation by the Greeks, who embraced these hallmarks of civilization, and refined them to the level of sophistication that defines classical antiquity.

The Influence of Old Europe

Roots of Ancient Greek Civilization

Universalgeschichte der Schrift

Der Zeitgeist der Aufklärung, deren Vertreter die Vernunft zur Ikone erhoben, den Mythos vom unfehlbaren wissenschaftlichen Weltbild schufen und den Absolutismus des Konstativ-Faktischen predigten, hat angesichts der Vielzahl nicht messbarer Unabwägbarkeiten der Moderne (Entdeckung der dunklen Materie, der dunklen Energie, des Chaos, die Erfahrung mit dem außer Kontrolle geratenen Klimawandel, u.a.) ausgedient. Es kann heutzutage nicht mehr darum gehen, die Welt in immer aufwendigeren Begriffen zu analysieren und zu beschreiben. Vielmehr geht es darum, ihr einen Sinn zu geben, der am Menschen mit seinen Bedürfnissen und an seiner natürlichen Umwelt orientiert ist. Was wir brauchen, ist ein neuer Kompass, eine Art performative Aufklärung. Aufgabe dieses ersten Teils ist es, die Richtung für ein ganzheitliches Denken zu erkunden.

Die Verwandlung der Sophia

CONTRIBUTIONS TO THE SOCIOLOGY OF LANGUAGE brings to students, researchers and practitioners in all of the social and language-related sciences carefully selected book-length publications dealing with sociolinguistic theory, methods, findings and applications. It approaches the study of language in society in its broadest sense, as a truly international and interdisciplinary field in which various approaches, theoretical and empirical, supplement and complement each other. The series invites the attention of linguists, language teachers of all interests, sociologists, political scientists, anthropologists, historians etc. to the development of the sociology of language.

Die alten Griechen und Ägypter stehen in jedem Geschichtsbuch, aber was ist mit dem sagenhaften Goldland Punt oder dem paradiesischen Dilmun? Viele Kulturen sind heute nur noch in Sagen von exotischen Ländern oder archäologischen Zeugnissen greifbar. Harald Haarmann nimmt in seinem kurzweiligen Buch 25 dieser Stiefkinder unter die Lupe und zeigt, was uns bisher entgangen ist. Manche Kulturen werden für immer vergessen bleiben, andere haben zumindest Spuren hinterlassen, denen wir folgen können. Harald Haarmann entdeckt steinzeitliche Siedlungen am Baikalsee, geht dem Rätsel der Pelasger nach, der vorindoeuropäischen Bevölkerung Griechenlands, findet einen historischen Kern in den Geschichten von den Amazonen-Kriegerinnen vom Schwarzen Meer, erklärt die seltsame Kultur der Osterinsel, die durch hausgemachte Umweltprobleme unterging, und beschreibt die jüngst entdeckten Reste von Großsiedlungen in der südlichen Amazonas-Region, wo man bisher nur Jäger und Sammler im unberührten Urwald vermutet hat. Insgesamt zeigen die 25 Stiefkinder, dass die Menschheit mehr Optionen hatte, als wir denken. In einer Zeit, in der uns die Schattenseiten unserer eigenen Kultur bewusst werden, sollten wir uns an die verlorenen Pfade erinnern. Mit 52 Abbildungen und Karten.

Harald Haarmann

About

Books

Join the club