Close Encounters in War Journal (Dec 2024)
From the Trenches to the Cosmos: The Great War Testimonies of Teilhard de Chardin and Ernst Jünger
Abstract
The First World War’s unprecedented and all-encompassing nature has led to reevaluating how war is understood, especially regarding its cosmic significance. Philosopher Jan Patočka argued that war could no longer be interpreted from the perspective of peace but as a “cosmic” event. This idea is reflected in the war testimonies of Teilhard de Chardin and Ernst Jünger, who each offer distinct yet complementary cosmic visions of the conflict. Teilhard de Chardin’s experiences at the front profoundly shaped his theological and philosophical ideas, particularly the spiritualization of Matter and the continuity between Matter and Spirit, as seen in his essays Cosmic Life (1916) and Nostalgia of the Front (1917). For Jünger, the inner experience of war connects the combatant to the eternal Heraclitan cosmic dynamism. This realization is evident in his works such as The War Diary 1914-1918, Storm of Steel (1920), and War as an Inner Experience (1922). Jünger’s later works, particularly At the Time Wall (1959), further develop this cosmic vision, portraying war as part of a larger spiritual and prophetic vision. In the first section of the essay, the privileged status of the war testimonies of Teilhard de Chardin and Jünger, as highlighted by the Czech philosopher, is discussed, introducing the voices of two witnesses not considered by Patočka: Henri Barbusse’s and Giani Stuparich’s. In the final section, the mythological, religious, and spiritual dimensions of the two witnesses at the heart of the essay are analyzed from a philosophical point of view, mentioning, on the one hand, the importance of the dialogue between Jünger and Heidegger – and the importance of Heidegger’s philosophy for Patočka, – and on the other hand Walter Benjamin’s criticism of Junger’s war-mongering ideas.
