Project A02

Latencies of individual morality and scenes of collective vigilance between humans and spirits in pre-modern Europe

Profile

Principal Investigators
Dr. Carolin Struwe-Rohr; Prof. Dr. Michael Waltenberger
Researchers
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Project Description
Both transcendental salvation and vigilance against the dangers of evil demand equal degrees of attention simultaneously. However, this is often neither practically nor narratively easily accomplishable. If the former is forced, characteristic latencies of unresolved moral ambivalence emerge, which the project aims to analyse based on legendary narratives. If the moral conflict is dramatised as a struggle between good and evil spirit beings, the moral imputability of the subject is eroded. We will examine these effects looking at various designs of the collective organisation of angels and devils.
Phase 1