In classical texts (Max Weber, Sigmund Freud, Jürgen Habermas), modern societies including sciences and philosophy, their moral and economic principles are defined through the lense of the contrast to (1) magic and magical thinking and (2) to monotheistic religions as steps toward a postmetaphysical enlightnment by human reason.

We would like to reexamine these transitions and look for a form of reason which avoids the inbuilt cruelties of some parts of modernity. What kind of project could grow out of a history which reinterpretes the functions and explorations by these societal forces? What kind of reason, “phantastical reason”, is involved in the stories which live by their engagement of a specific type of fantasy? Which kind of societal practices could replace a problematic dichotomy between theory and practice? Which place can concepts such as dignity or mercy with their practical implications (stories, myth, rituals) play in the realm of this kind of reason?

Where could the idea of being humane be placed? How is this idea transcending these existing sociological realms? What does it mean to connect oneself to it? Which place and relations could perception, action and reflection intake?