Kathrin Wittler

Im englischsprachigen Raum gilt Iris Murdoch (1919–1999) längst als Klassikerin – nicht nur der Literatur, sondern auch der Philosophie. Ihr Werk inspiriert eine international aktive Interpretationsgemeinschaft und hat insbesondere der mor [...]

The paper addresses current concerns about loneliness as a public health problem by examining the rich historical semantics of the terms loneliness and solitude, whose meanings range from involuntary psychosocial isolation to voluntary temporary retreat. The findings presented here suggest that today’s discussions about the political and social dangers of loneliness would benefit from historical-semantic differentiation in a comparative perspective as well as from interdisciplinary reflection.