Resonance, critique, and disenchantment. A modern story

Abstract

The aim of the essay is to inspect the critical force of the concept of resonance. The argument is developed in three steps. First, a critical stance based on an anthropology of resonance is argued to be suitable for fostering a transformative alliance between reason and emotion and, as a result, for changing our way of conceiving of and handling the ever-puzzling relationship between self and world. Second, in order to criticize a form of life for being inhospitable to resonance, a specific and widespread brand of disenchantment is challenged. Third and last, H. Rosa’s anti-cynical bend of mind is claimed to be a revival of philosophical romanticism.