I think the Nobel Prize was great for him, at least he was recognized somewhat. However, he is not understood in academic circles, at least not anywhere that he needs to be or deserves to be and that is a big loss for humanity as a whole. The problem with this neglect is ultimately the advancement of human thinking, both present and future. He is dead, he doesn't care and when he was a live he didn't care. Well, when reading his Nobel Prize letter, one could tell that he appreciated the attention. However, I personally believe that academia needs to examine Hesse's ideas and works more closely, because he alone pioneered a new paradigm of human thinking: the synthesis of emotions, rationality, art and existence. He absolutely answered Sartre's stunning thesis of being as nothingness, and I might add before Sartre even said it.
Why academia and Hesse? I hate to admit it, but academia is the NFL of football leagues. It is the best collection of continuous and rigorous thinking on Earth. Collectively, academia (globally, not regionally) represents a meshing of the important ideas that drives humanity. Case in point, the Dark Ages were dark because people were just 'out of ideas'.
Sure, Hesse's thoughts can be enjoyed by the individual, as it has been since he wrote them, but that's no comparison to academia's incessant and collective minds.
Where would I put Hermann Hesse? I think he belongs in philosophy. It wouldn't take much to do it. How many novels does he have? Heck, The Glass Beads Game alone could be a course of study. Hesse is our new Plato, our new Aristotle, if only academia would open its eyes. Knock! Knock! Anyone in the Ivory Tower listening?
Maybe some of us should start a Hesse society of some kind, an independent magazine, electronic or otherwise, for the sole purpose of writing rigorous and academic-type of circulation (every time I hear myself say 'academic' I get shivers). I think this would a good beginning.
Anyone interested, please e-mail me at: Rawhide@usa.net
Best,
Duke C. Darkwolf
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Where do we place Hermann Hesse?
