Johannes Eckhart on the “Other”

Abstract

The “other” and the means of communication with it, constitute one of the important philosophical questions of our time. In the present paper, I shall try to revisit this problem according to the views of Johannes Eckhart, the medieval philosopher, and mystic, and in addition to investigating to development of the concept of the “other” in mystical literature, I will demonstrate the ways in which his views can help to solve a contemporary inquiry. I will elucidate how Eckhart’s conception of the “self”, emphasizes the importance of the “Other” in his thought. Then, after introducing the features and the two types of the “Other”, namely real and imaginary, the type of communication with each of them will be discussed. What Eckhart is really concerned with is the communication with the “Real Other”, i.e. the Godhead, which he deems impossible through philosophical knowledge and only achievable through mystical concepts such as love, detachment and becoming a child of God. In the end, we shall see how through identity with the Godhead, one comes to know himself and how the Godhead becomes the governor of his actions and his communication with “Others”.

Keywords

• the other
• the self
• love
• detachment
• godhead