Etty Hillesum and the Flow of Presence: A Voegelinian Analysis

Etty Hillesum and the Flow of Presence: A Voegelinian Analysis is a 2008 book by Dutch philosopher Dr. Meins G. S. Coetsier, staff member of the Etty Hillesum Research Centre (EHOC), director of the Centre of Eric Voegelin Studies (EVS) at Ugent and founder of the Flow of Presence Academy (FPA).

Eric Voegelin

Coetsier's reﬂections on the German

Germany

Germany , officially the Federal Republic of Germany , is a federal parliamentary republic in Europe. The country consists of 16 states while the capital and largest city is Berlin. Germany covers an area of 357,021 km2 and has a largely temperate seasonal climate...

philosopher and political scientist Eric Voegelin

Eric Voegelin

Eric Voegelin, born Erich Hermann Wilhelm Vögelin, was a German-born American political philosopher. He was born in Cologne, then Imperial Germany, and educated in political science at the University of Vienna. He became a teacher and then an associate professor of political science at the...

entered his philosophical journey during his stay in Ireland

Ireland

Ireland is an island to the northwest of continental Europe. It is the third-largest island in Europe and the twentieth-largest island on Earth...

. Voegelin’s philosophy

Philosophy

Philosophy is the study of general and fundamental problems, such as those connected with existence, knowledge, values, reason, mind, and language. Philosophy is distinguished from other ways of addressing such problems by its critical, generally systematic approach and its reliance on rational...

of experience

Experience

Experience as a general concept comprises knowledge of or skill in or observation of some thing or some event gained through involvement in or exposure to that thing or event....

and symbolization touched Coetsier's search for meaning

Meaning (existential)

In existentialism, meaning is understood as the worth of life. Meaning in existentialism is unlike typical conceptions of "the meaning of life", because it is descriptive. Due to the method of existentialism, prescriptive or declarative statements about meaning are unjustified. Meaning is only...

. He was struck by Voegelin’s rearticulation of the experience

Experience

Experience as a general concept comprises knowledge of or skill in or observation of some thing or some event gained through involvement in or exposure to that thing or event....

of the In-Between (Plato: metaxy
Metaxy
Metaxy or metaxu is defined in Plato's Symposium via the character of the priestess Diotima as the "in-between" or "middle ground". Diotima, tutoring Socrates, uses the term to show how oral tradition can be perceived by different people in different ways...

), the central locus for the recapture of reality historically lost to consciousness

Consciousness

Consciousness is a term that refers to the relationship between the mind and the world with which it interacts. It has been defined as: subjectivity, awareness, the ability to experience or to feel, wakefulness, having a sense of selfhood, and the executive control system of the mind...

. The existential authenticity of the language symbols that Voegelin uses challenged Coetsier to write a book on the ﬂow of presence. Meditating on Voegelin’s philosophical symbols helped him to realize that the experience

Experience

Experience as a general concept comprises knowledge of or skill in or observation of some thing or some event gained through involvement in or exposure to that thing or event....

of such attunement to the ﬂow of presence is the key to being human

Human

Humans are the only living species in the Homo genus...

Etty Hillesum

During his stay in Dublin, Coetsier studied the works of Etty Hillesum

Etty Hillesum

Esther "Etty" Hillesum was a young Jewish woman whose letters and diaries, kept between 1941 and 1943 describe life in Amsterdam during the German occupation...

, a young Dutch

Netherlands

The Netherlands is a constituent country of the Kingdom of the Netherlands, located mainly in North-West Europe and with several islands in the Caribbean. Mainland Netherlands borders the North Sea to the north and west, Belgium to the south, and Germany to the east, and shares maritime borders...

woman

Woman

A woman , pl: women is a female human. The term woman is usually reserved for an adult, with the term girl being the usual term for a female child or adolescent...

. Considering his own Dutch nationality

Nationality

Nationality is membership of a nation or sovereign state, usually determined by their citizenship, but sometimes by ethnicity or place of residence, or based on their sense of national identity....

and the historical background and sufferings of some of his family members during World War II

World War II

World War II, or the Second World War , was a global conflict lasting from 1939 to 1945, involving most of the world's nations—including all of the great powers—eventually forming two opposing military alliances: the Allies and the Axis...

, he has tried to make his philosophical approach to her work as “real” as possible. Coetsier visited Etty’s family home in Deventer

Deventer

Deventer is a municipality and city in the Salland region of the Dutch province of Overijssel. Deventer is largely situated on the east bank of the river IJssel, but also has a small part of its territory on the west bank. In 2005 the municipality of Bathmen Deventer is a municipality and city in...

, Amsterdam

Amsterdam

Amsterdam is the largest city and the capital of the Netherlands. The current position of Amsterdam as capital city of the Kingdom of the Netherlands is governed by the constitution of August 24, 1815 and its successors. Amsterdam has a population of 783,364 within city limits, an urban population...

, where she studied; Camp Westerbork in the Netherlands

Netherlands

, where she was detained; and Auschwitz in Poland

Poland

Poland , officially the Republic of Poland , is a country in Central Europe bordered by Germany to the west; the Czech Republic and Slovakia to the south; Ukraine, Belarus and Lithuania to the east; and the Baltic Sea and Kaliningrad Oblast, a Russian exclave, to the north...

, where she was imprisoned and murdered. In the light of his research

Research

Research can be defined as the scientific search for knowledge, or as any systematic investigation, to establish novel facts, solve new or existing problems, prove new ideas, or develop new theories, usually using a scientific method...

journeys and of those visits to Auschwitz and Westerbork and as a result of having had the privilege of reading and studying the original diaries

Diaries

As a proper noun, Diaries, the plural of diary, can refer to:*Diaries: 1971-1976, an 1981 documentary by Ed Pincus*Diaries 1969–1979: The Python Years, a 2006 book by Michael Palin...

of Etty Hillesum

Etty Hillesum

Esther "Etty" Hillesum was a young Jewish woman whose letters and diaries, kept between 1941 and 1943 describe life in Amsterdam during the German occupation...

in the Dutch language

Dutch language

Dutch is a West Germanic language and the native language of the majority of the population of the Netherlands, Belgium, and Suriname, the three member states of the Dutch Language Union. Most speakers live in the European Union, where it is a first language for about 23 million and a second...

in the Jewish historical museum (JHM)of Amsterdam

Amsterdam

, he has gradually become aware of how Etty Hillesum brought “mind

Mind

The concept of mind is understood in many different ways by many different traditions, ranging from panpsychism and animism to traditional and organized religious views, as well as secular and materialist philosophies. Most agree that minds are constituted by conscious experience and intelligent...

” and “heart

Heart

The heart is a myogenic muscular organ found in all animals with a circulatory system , that is responsible for pumping blood throughout the blood vessels by repeated, rhythmic contractions...

” together in a personal attunement to the ﬂow of presence.

Acknowledgments
Abbreviations
INTRODUCTION___ Spiritual Filter
ONE____________ Etty Hillesum
TWO____________ The Letters and Diaries
THREE__________ Eric Voegelin
FOUR___________ Etty Hillesum in the Flow of Presence
CONCLUSION
Bibliography
Index

Vision

Etty Hillesum and the Flow of Presence: A Voegelinian Analysis revisits the core of valuable materials of two major thinkers of the twentieth century, Eric Voegelin

Eric Voegelin

and Etty Hillesum

Etty Hillesum

Esther "Etty" Hillesum was a young Jewish woman whose letters and diaries, kept between 1941 and 1943 describe life in Amsterdam during the German occupation...

. It contributes to a new understanding of familiar material by treating it in an original and thought-provoking manner. This study blends the thought and life experiences of two mystical thinkers in one overall vision for the twenty-first century. Prof. Dr. Macon Boczek writes: "Coetsier devotes the opening chapter to Etty Hillesum’s life. He follows this with a chapter on her letters and diaries. He then devotes a further chapter to the thought of Eric Voegelin and in the final chapter, shows the remarkable coincidence of her spiritual experiences with Voegelin’s own." The major contribution of Voegelin's notion "the flow of presence" is that it makes the inner development of Hillesum’s mystically grounded resistance to Nazism

Nazism

Nazism, the common short form name of National Socialism was the ideology and practice of the Nazi Party and of Nazi Germany...

transparent. The theory of Voegelin’s analytic of experience

Experience

Experience as a general concept comprises knowledge of or skill in or observation of some thing or some event gained through involvement in or exposure to that thing or event....

and symbolization is brought to life in relation to Hillesum's work. The book thereby confirms the hermeneutical value of such an approach as well as retrieving one of the lesser known hero

Hero

A hero , in Greek mythology and folklore, was originally a demigod, their cult being one of the most distinctive features of ancient Greek religion...

es of the Holocaust. The Voegelin material is well expressed and the argument is tight as, for example, in Chapter 4 where Hillesum’s scattered meditations are comprehended within a number of the categories Voegelin has made available.

An interesting sentence from Meins Coetsier’s book on Etty Hillesum. He comments on the fact that her writing and silent meditation helped her to “tap into an area within herself that in society had mainly vanished.” Voegelin believed that the disappearance of meditation as a ‘cultural factor’ resulted in the practical ignorance of those aspects of reality touched on by myth, philosophy and mysticism. In other words the secularisation of society has deprived people, or most people perhaps, of an awareness of the depth of reality, of the spiritual dimension. He goes on to talk about a ‘perverse closure of consciousness against reality’ (p. 129). I wonder about the ‘perverse’. For some, perhaps, yes. They make a conscious decision to ignore any spiritual promptings. But for many, I think, socialisation into a secular and materialist culture has simply obscured any such awareness. The occasions when they might perhaps suspect that there is more to reality than the material surface of things are when they encounter a limit situation. Though it is also the case, as David Hay found in his Nottingham survey,[2] that many people feel that there is ‘something there’, that there is more to reality than surface appearances. But ‘a feeling’ is about as far as it goes. This is not something people generally feel they can talk about with others. Spirituality, religion, mysticism are all taboo subjects. We all have capax dei and in some exceptional people, like Etty Hillesum, awareness of it develops in spite, or maybe because of external circumstances. But in most of us it needs to be nurtured and guided.

Eric Voegelin and Etty Hillesum could help us to 'nurture and guide,' they contribute to our understanding of cathartic resistance to totalitarian crisis

Crisis

A crisis is any event that is, or expected to lead to, an unstable and dangerous situation affecting an individual, group, community or whole society...

, and to the spiritual

Spirituality

Spirituality can refer to an ultimate or an alleged immaterial reality; an inner path enabling a person to discover the essence of his/her being; or the “deepest values and meanings by which people live.” Spiritual practices, including meditation, prayer and contemplation, are intended to develop...

truth

Truth

Truth has a variety of meanings, such as the state of being in accord with fact or reality. It can also mean having fidelity to an original or to a standard or ideal. In a common usage, it also means constancy or sincerity in action or character...

emergent within such existence

Existence

In common usage, existence is the world we are aware of through our senses, and that persists independently without them. In academic philosophy the word has a more specialized meaning, being contrasted with essence, which specifies different forms of existence as well as different identity...

. Hillesum's search as presented in this book fits well within themes integral to the Voegelin literature

Literature

Literature is the art of written works, and is not bound to published sources...

Scholarly Contribution

Etty Hillesum and the Flow of Presence: A Voegelinian Analysis is the thorough reading of the symbol world of Hillesum’s interior

Interior

Coastal regions of a territory are often the most densely populated due to their greater economic productivity or colonial history. This leads to a contrast with the interior of the territory, which is sparsely populated...

journey

Travel

Travel is the movement of people or objects between relatively distant geographical locations. 'Travel' can also include relatively short stays between successive movements.-Etymology:...

. She was a remarkable witness

Witness

A witness is someone who has firsthand knowledge about an event, or in the criminal justice systems usually a crime, through his or her senses and can help certify important considerations about the crime or event. A witness who has seen the event first hand is known as an eyewitness...

both in terms of the substance of her work and of her literary formulation. Professor Boczek writes: "Etty Hillesum, as a young woman in Amsterdam, had been a secular, non-observant Jew from a troubled yet creative family. She entered adulthood in a state of psychological distress and was caught up in the twentieth century sexual revolution. Yet she was driven by a search for meaning in life. The people and events in her life, plus her rich educational and linguistic background, brought her to the “discovery of an existential interior openness to the divine.” “Here is a personal odyssey,” Coetsier writes, “a spiritual turnaround, an emotional healing, an emergence of representative consciousness, that is eminently worthy of study.” (p. 6)" Under extraordinary conditions Hillesum underwent the growth of the soul

Soul

A soul in certain spiritual, philosophical, and psychological traditions is the incorporeal essence of a person or living thing or object. Many philosophical and spiritual systems teach that humans have souls, and others teach that all living things and even inanimate objects have souls. The...

that enabled her to triumph over the totalitarian nightmare. Thereby, she found the linguistic

Natural language

In the philosophy of language, a natural language is any language which arises in an unpremeditated fashion as the result of the innate facility for language possessed by the human intellect. A natural language is typically used for communication, and may be spoken, signed, or written...

means of making this development available to succeeding generations. To follow it however we must be prepared to take the full measure of the rich symbol

Symbol

A symbol is something which represents an idea, a physical entity or a process but is distinct from it. The purpose of a symbol is to communicate meaning. For example, a red octagon may be a symbol for "STOP". On a map, a picture of a tent might represent a campsite. Numerals are symbols for...

world she developed for the task. This book, with its access to the Dutch

Netherlands

sources and the dissection of the linguistic

Natural language

universe of Etty Hillesum, contributes both to Hillesum research and Voegelinian scholarship

Scholarship

A scholarship is an award of financial aid for a student to further education. Scholarships are awarded on various criteria usually reflecting the values and purposes of the donor or founder of the award.-Types:...

. Professor Boczek argues:

Coetsier is able to employ Voegelin’s thought to analyze Hillesum for two reasons: first because Voegelin carried out extensive diagnoses of the spiritual disorder that grounds modernity as well as an exhaustive exegesis of the divine/human encounter as constitutive of human nature. And second, “the rich philosophical and religious symbolisms” in Hillesum’s less technical and more poetic Letters and Diaries make them an excellent source that both illustrates and substantiates Voegelin’s work as revealed in the “Drama of Humanity.” The nature and definition of what it is to be human emerge in these symbols, i.e., reason as a sensorium of transcendence and the metaxy as the site of the “flow of presence” with its human and divine poles. Voegelin’s theoretical apparatus can shed light on the core development Hillesum underwent in the process of writing about her rich interior life. While Voegelin offered a systematic analysis of the Greek philosophers’ insights into humanity, Coetsier demonstrates the remarkable adequacy of Voegelin’s philosophy for interpreting Etty Hillesum’s writings.

In his review of Etty Hillesum and the Flow of Presence in Theological Studies, Prof. dr. Francis T. Hannafey (Religious Studies, Fairfield University) writes:

Coetsier carefully studies the diaries and letters of Etty Hillesum, devoting special effort to a linguistic analysis of central Hillesum language symbols. Drawing extensively on the philosophy of Eric Voegelin—and particularly on his concept of "the flow of presence" (100) in the response of the human soul to the divine, C. seeks to better understand the “relationship between the life of Etty Hillesum and her writings” (193), proposing that Hillesum had an experience “that broke with the ordinary diary” (197, i.e., that pushed her beyond an ordinary form of diary writing), revealing a “symbolic form of transcendent address” (198). C. suggests that this interpretive insight can help us more fully understand Hillesum’s encounter with the “transcendent Other” (197), an encounter that eventually emerged at the center of her extraordinary life, suffering, and relationships.

C. actually offers carefully detailed analysis of both Hillesum and Voegelin. Hillesum’s writings and central Voegelinian ideas enter into creative dialogue, resulting in richer understandings of each. In places, however, the book progresses slowly, due mostly to its technical analysis and extensive quotations of Hillesum and Voegelin. This density may challenge some readers. Others might question the use of a comprehensive philosophical framework to examine diaries and letters that often break beyond linguistic analysis, at least in their spiritual and mystical dimensions.

These questions aside, C’s analysis is original, carefully researched, and highly creative. His study of the original Dutch texts is a particularly valuable contribution, placing the volume among the best English, book-length studies of Hillesum. In the end, C’s appeal to Voegelin's theory of “the flow of presence” succeeds in presenting more fully the depth and power of Hillesum’s astounding prayer-filled experience during a period of horrendous violence, evil, and suffering—a time, but also an experience, that must never be forgotten.

Synopsis

Etty Hillesum and the Flow of Presence: A Voegelinian Analysis is an account of the life, works and vision of two prominent mystical thinkers, Etty Hillesum

Etty Hillesum

Esther "Etty" Hillesum was a young Jewish woman whose letters and diaries, kept between 1941 and 1943 describe life in Amsterdam during the German occupation...

and Eric Voegelin

Eric Voegelin

, whose lives were shaped by the totalitarian Nazi-regime. This book explores how mystical attunement to the flow of presence is the key to the development of Etty Hillesum’s life and writings. Eric Voegelin’s analysis of the history of order is focused on the responses of individuals and societies to the divine presence. Etty Hillesum’s The Letters and Diaries illustrates her heroic struggle

Struggle

Struggle may refer to:* Struggle , 1999 release* Struggle, 1990 re-release of Woody Guthrie material* "Struggle", a track on Ashanti's 2008 album The Declaration* "Struggle", a song by Toots & the Maytals....

to come to terms with her personal life in the context of her gradual response to the flowing presence.

Etty Hillesum died at the age of twenty-nine in Auschwitz midway through World War II

World War II

. All her energy had been absorbed in a daily search for the meaning of her life, for an understanding of her relationships

Interpersonal relationship

An interpersonal relationship is an association between two or more people that may range from fleeting to enduring. This association may be based on limerence, love, solidarity, regular business interactions, or some other type of social commitment. Interpersonal relationships are formed in the...

with others, and for an insight into the ultimate purpose of each individual’s contribution to the well being and maintenance of the human

Human

Humans are the only living species in the Homo genus...

spirit

Spirit

The English word spirit has many differing meanings and connotations, most of them relating to a non-corporeal substance contrasted with the material body.The spirit of a living thing usually refers to or explains its consciousness.The notions of a person's "spirit" and "soul" often also overlap,...

.

Eric Voegelin’s philosophical symbol "the flow of presence" ("the intersection of time with the timeless") is designed to “catch’’ changes and shifts in the mode of human responsiveness to the divine presence and it is especially helpful in clarifying what is taking place in the soul

Soul

of Etty Hillesum

Etty Hillesum

Esther "Etty" Hillesum was a young Jewish woman whose letters and diaries, kept between 1941 and 1943 describe life in Amsterdam during the German occupation...

. Her response to the flow of presence while she was undergoing significant breakthroughs in her spiritual

Spirituality

life in the context of a period of overwhelming social disorder

Disorder

Disorder may refer to :* Chaos, unpredictability and in the metaphysical sense, it is the opposite of law and order* Civil disorder, one or more forms of disturbance caused by a group of people...

, amounts to a testament of great courage

Courage

Courage is the ability to confront fear, pain, danger, uncertainty, or intimidation...

. It is an inspiration and an affirmation of the indestructible wonder of life. In one of his final conclusions Coetsier writes: “The complexity of the human condition will require the ability to be human in transcending our immediate and simply given context through an attunement to the flow of presence.” Etty Hillesum

Etty Hillesum

Esther "Etty" Hillesum was a young Jewish woman whose letters and diaries, kept between 1941 and 1943 describe life in Amsterdam during the German occupation...

and Eric Voegelin

Eric Voegelin

have provided a welcome antidote to the restless and wandering spirit of a complex and turbulent era and this book guides the reader to the heart of their mystical thought.

With the current explosion of interest in inter-religious dialogue

Dialogue

Dialogue is a literary and theatrical form consisting of a written or spoken conversational exchange between two or more people....

, peace

Peace

Peace is a state of harmony characterized by the lack of violent conflict. Commonly understood as the absence of hostility, peace also suggests the existence of healthy or newly healed interpersonal or international relationships, prosperity in matters of social or economic welfare, the...

studies, Judaism

Judaism

Judaism ) is the "religion, philosophy, and way of life" of the Jewish people...

, the holocaust, gender studies

Gender studies

Gender studies is a field of interdisciplinary study which analyses race, ethnicity, sexuality and location.Gender study has many different forms. One view exposed by the philosopher Simone de Beauvoir said: "One is not born a woman, one becomes one"...

and mysticism

Mysticism

Mysticism is the knowledge of, and especially the personal experience of, states of consciousness, i.e. levels of being, beyond normal human perception, including experience and even communion with a supreme being.-Classical origins:...

, it is an attempt to respond to the signs of the times. Accompanying the treatment of Voegelin’s and Hillesum’s writing, this book includes an extensive bibliography of international scholarship on both authors.

Works on Hillesum

Allewijn, Herrianne et al. ‘Een voorbeeld voor de eeuwigheid? Over de huidige waardering voor de dagboeken van Etty Hillesum.’ In Werkschrift voor Leerhuis & Liturgie 4, no.2/3 (Nov. 1984): 164-173.
Bakker, Sybe. ‘De innerlijke gebieden’. Over het dagboek en de brieven van Etty Hillesum.’ In Vuurproeven over literatuur. Barneveld: De Vuurbaak, 1992.
Barry, SJ, William A. ‘Mysticism in Hell.’ In God’s passionate desire and our response, Ch. 10, pp. 81–89. Notre Dame, Indiana: Ave Maria Press, 1993.
Bendien, Hans. ‘Zelfverwerkelijking’. In Men zou een pleister op vele wonden willen zijn. Reacties op de dagboeken en brieven van Etty Hillesum, edited with an introduction by Jan Geurt Gaarlandt. Amsterdam: Balans, 1989.
________. ‘Mythe-vorming over de heiligheid van Etty Hillesum’. De Gids 153, no. 3 (1990): 170-181.
Bloom, Harold. A Scholarly Look at The Diary of Anne Frank, edited with an introduction by Harold Bloom. Philadelphia : Chelsea HousePublishers, 1999. See especially ‘Growing up banished: a reading of Anne Frank and Etty Hillesum’ by Yasmine Ergas.
Boas, Henriëtte. ‘Etty Hillesum in niet-joodse en joodse ogen.’ In Neveh Ya’Akov: Jubilee volume presented to Dr. Jaap Meijer on the occasion of his seventieth birthday, edited by Lea Dasberg and Jonathan N. Cohen. Assen: Van Gorcum, 1982.
Brandt, Ria van den. ‘“Ik heb hem gebracht de schriften van Meister Eckhart.”’ Het Eckhartbeeld van Etty Hillesum.’ De Gids 153, no. 13:182-191.
Brandt, Ria van den & Smelik, Klaas A.D. Etty Hillesum in facetten. Nijmegen: Uitgeverij Damon, 2003.
________. ‘Wachten jullie op mij?’ Etty Hillesum in beeld. Nijmegen: Uitgeverij Balans, 2003.
Brenner, Rachel Feldhay. Writing as Resistance: Four Women Confronting the Holocaust: Edith Stein, Simone Weil, Anne Frank, Etty Hillesum. Pennsylvania: Pennsylvania State University Press, 1997.
Burnier, Andreas. Mystiek en magie in de literatuur. Leiden: Martinus Nijhof, 1988.
Costa, Denise de. ‘Ceçi n’est pas une cigarette: een detaillistische lezing van Etty Hillesum.’ Lover: literatuuroverzicht voor de vrouwenbeweging 18, no. 3 (1991):140-145.
________. Anne Frank and Etty Hillesum: Inscribing spirituality and sexuality. Translation by Mischa F. C. Hoyinck and Robert E. Chesal. New Brunswick, New Jersey, and London: Rutgers University Press, 1998.
________. Met Pen en Penseel: Levenskunst van Anne Frank, Etty Hillesum en Charlotte Salomon. Etty Hillesumlezing door Denise de Costa op vrijdag 28 November 2003. Deventer: Thieme Deventer, 2003.
Dongen, Marian van. ‘Tegenstelling in eenheid. Erotiek en mystiek in het werk van Etty Hillesum.’ Lust & Gratie 22 (Summer 1989): 8-23.
Downey, Michael. ‘A Balm for all Wounds: The Spiritual Legacy of Etty Hillesum.’ In Spirituality Today. Vol. 40, no. 1 (Spring 1988): pp. 18–35.
Dresden, Sem. ‘Etty Hillesum: identiteit als opgave en oplossing.’ De Gids 153, no. 3 (1990): 159-169.
Ergas, Y. ‘Growing up Banished: A Reading of Anne Frank and Etty Hillesum, in: M. Randolph Higonnet, ed. Behind the Lines: Gender and the Two World Wars. New Haven: Yale University Press, 1987.
Fens, Kees. ‘Naar een Woestijn van medemensen.’ In Men zou een pleister op vele wonden willen zijn: Reacties op de dagboeken en brieven van Etty Hillesum. Edited by J. Geurt Gaarlandt. Amsterdam: Balans, 1989.
Frank, Evelyne. Avec Etty Hillesum : Dans la quête du bonheur, un chemin inattendu. Une lecture d'une vie bouleversée et des lettres de Westerbork, Genève: Labor et Fides, 2002. (ISBN 978-2-8309-1047-6)
Gaarland, J. Geurt, ed. Men zou een pleister op vele wonden willen zijn: Reacties op de dagboeken en brieven van Etty Hillesum. Amsterdam: Balans, 1989.
Gaillardetz, Richard R. ‘Etty Hillesum: Suffering and Sexuality, Reflections on Passionate Living.’ In Spirituality 6 (May–June, 2000): 148-52.
Hop-Dijkhuis, Siemy, ed. Etty Hillesum‚’43-‚’93. Teksten van lezingen gehouden in de Herdenkingsweek November 1993 te Deventer. Deventer: Boekhandel Praamstra, 1995.
Hulst, J. W. Van. Treinen naar de hel. Amsterdam, Westerbork, Auschwitz: een aantal beschouwingen die verbamd houden met het dagboek en de brieven van Etty Hillesum. Amsterdam: Buijten & Schipperheijn, 1983.
Jorna, Ton and Costa, Denise. Van Aandacht en Adem tot Ziel en Zin: Honderd woorden uit het levenbeschouwend idioom van Etty Hillesum. Utrecht: Kwadraat, 1999.
Jorna, Ton; Costa, Denise and Holt, Marijn ten. De Moed hebben tot Zichzelf: Etty Hillesum als inspiratiebron bij levensvragen. Utrecht: Kwadraat, 1999.
King, Peter. Dark Night Spirituality, Thomas Merton, Dietrich Bonhoeffer, Etty Hillesum, Contemplation and the New Paradigm. London: SPCK, 1995.
Lagrou, Els. Etty Hillesum, 1914-1943. Een historisch-biografische studie. Master’s thesis in Modern History, Faculty of Arts and Philosophy, Catholic University of Leuven (Louvain). Belgium, 1985.
Maas, Frans. Spirituality as Insight, Mystical Texts and Theological Reflections. Leuven – Paris – Dudley, MA: Peeters, 2004.
Meijer, Jaap. Als Maggied vergeten: Doctor Levie Hillesum 1880-1943: De vader van Etty. Heemstede: privately printed, 1992a.
________. De Odyssee van een joods docent. Dr Levie Hillesum 1911-1924. Heemstede: privately printed, 1992b.
Minco, Marga. ‘De kroniekschrijfster van onze lotgevallen.’ In Men zou een pleister op vele wonden willen zijn: Reacties op de dagboeken en brieven van Etty Hillesum. Edited by J. Geurt Gaarlandt. Amsterdam: Balans, 1989.
O'Connor, Elizabeth. ‘The Thinking Heart.’ In Sojourners (October, 1985): pp. 40–42.
Okken, Riet. De kracht van de bestemming. Deventer: Ankh-Hermes, 1988.
Oord, Gerrit van, ed. L’esperienza dell’Altro: Studi su Etty Hillesum. Rome: Sant’Oreste, 1990.
Pleshoyano, Alexandra. ‘Etty Hillesum: A Theological Hermeneutic in the Midst of Evil.’ In Oxford Journals, Humanities, Literature and Theology. Vol. 19. No. 3. (September 2005): pp. 221–237.
Reitsma, Anneke. ‘Ik bloei van binnen met de dood to bloem.’ Pp. 99–132 in Men zou een pleister op vele wonden willen zijn: Reacties op de dagboeken en brieven van Etty Hillesum. Edited by J. Geurt Gaarlandt. Amsterdam: Balans, 1989
________. ‘“Men moet zichzelf het vaderland zijn”: Over Etty Hillesum en de innerlijke noodzaak van haar schrijverschap.’ Periodiek Parodos 31 (April 1992): 29-37.
Reve, Karel van het. ‘Het Korte Leven van Etty Hillesum.’ In Men zou een pleister op vele wonden willen zijn: Reacties op de dagboeken en brieven van Etty Hillesum. Edited by J. Geurt Gaarlandt. Amsterdam: Balans, 1989
Scholtens, Wim R. ‘Søren Kierkegaard en Etty Hillesum, een vergelijking.’ In Men zou een pleister op vele wonden willen zijn: Reacties op de dagboeken en brieven van Etty Hillesum. Edited by J. Geurt Gaarlandt. Amsterdam: Balans, 1989.
Schrijvers, P. H.. ‘Een filosoof in bezettingstijd: Over Seneca’s brieven en het dagboek van Etty Hillesum.’ In De mens als toeschouwer: Essay over Romeinse literatuur en Westeuropese tradities. Amsterdam: Ambo, Atheneum-Polak, 1986.
Sieves, Joseph. ‘“Aiutare Dio”: riflessioni su vita e pensiero di Etty Hillesum.’ Nuova Umanità 3/4 (May-Aug. 1995): 113-127
Smelik, Johanna F. ‘Het “zusje” van Etty Hillesum.’ Interview by Anke Manschot. Opzij (July/Aug. 1993): 118-121.
Smelik, Klaas A. D. ‘Reacties op Etty Hillesum.’ In Men zou een pleister op vele wonden willen zijn: Reacties op de dagboeken en brieven van Etty Hillesum. Edited by J. Geurt Gaarlandt. Amsterdam: Balans, 1989.
______. “Etty Hillesum.” In: G. Abramson, The Blackwell Companion to Jewish Literature: From the Eighteenth Century to the Present, 335-336. Oxford, Blackwell, 1989.
______. “Le edizioni dell’di Etty Hillesum.” In: Gerrit Van Oord, L’esperienza dell’ Altro: Studi su Etty Hillesum, 121-25. Sant’ Oreste (Roma), 1990.
______. “L’immagine di Dio in Etty Hillesum.” In: Gerrit Van Oord, L’esperienza dell’ Altro: Studi su Etty Hillesum, 161-68 + 195-196. Sant’ Oreste (Roma) 1990
______. “Invalshoeken in het onderzoek naar de nagelaten werken van Etty Hillesum.” Praktische Humanistiek 9, no. 1 (1999): 52-58.
______. “Het godsbeeld bij Etty Hillesum.” Rondom het Woord 26, no. 2 (1984): 82-88.
______. “Etty Hillesum veertig jaar na de Bevrijding.” OJEC periodiek no.2 (April 1985): 3-4.
______. “Reacties op Etty Hillesum.” Rondom het Woord 27 (1985): 65-70.
______. “Etty Hillesum.” In: A. Bakker e.a. (red.), Bewogen grensgangers: 52 overwegingen, 34-36. Hilversum: Gooi & Sticht, 1987.
______. “Geen heilige maar een begenadigd schrijfster.” Werkschrift 14, no. 1 (1994): 26-32.
______. “Una testimone in anticipo sui tempi.” Alfazeta 6, no. 60. “La resistenza esistenziale di Etty Hillesum” (1996): 28-31.
______. [samen met Manja Pach en Ton Jorna] “Huiswerk voor de eigen werkplaats” [De actualiteit van Etty Hillesum]. Rondom het Woord 42, no. 2 (2000): 5-13.
______. “Nieuwe publicaties over Etty Hillesum in haar zestigste sterfjaar.” In De Stem van het Boek 14, no. 4 (2003): 1-5.
______. “Volledig leven tot de laatste ademtocht: Etty Hillesum, heilige of martelares?” VolZin 3, no. 2 (2004): 28-32.
Snijders, Jos. Ik heb zo lief: De menselijke en gelovige groei van Etty Hillesum. Den Bosch: KBS/Averbode: Altiora, 1993.
Steeg, Maria ter. ‘De verlokking van de liefde: De geestelijke ontwikkeling van Etty Hillesum.’ Streven 61, no. 4 (April 1994): 291-303.
Swart, Loet. ‘Een verzamelplaats voor het lijden van de mensheid.’ In Tot op de bodem van het niets: Mystiek in een tijd van oorlog en crisis: 1920-1970. Edited by H. Blommenstijn. Kampen: Kok/Averbode: Altiora, 1991.
Taylor, Dennis. ‘Examined Lives.’ Boston College Magazine 52, no. 1 (Winter 1993): 33-40.
Tigchelaar, Herma. ‘Als zij spreekt is de ander veilig: Over de grenzen en mogelijkheden van taal: Een lezing van “Über Wahrheit und Lüge im Außermoralischen Sinn” van Friedrich Nietzsche en “La venue à l’écriture” van Hélène Cixous. Master’s thesis in Social Ethics, Faculty of Theology, Utrecht University, 1985.
Ypma, Sytze. ‘Voorbij het verstoorde leven: Een zelfpsychologisch lezing van het zelf beeld en godsbeeld van de ik-persoon uit “Etty, De nagelaten geschriften van Etty Hillesum, 1941-1943.” Master’s thesis in Theological Psychology, Faculty of Theology, Groningen University, 1990.

Works on Voegelin

Carmody, Denise L., and Carmody, John T. Interpreting the Religious Experience: A Worldview, Englewood Cliffs, New Jersey: Prentice-Hall, 1987.
Cooper, Barry. The Political Theory of Eric Voegelin. Toronto Studies in Theology. Vol. 27. Lewiston, New York: Edwin Mellen Press
Edwin Mellen Press
The Edwin Mellen Press, based in Lewiston, New York is a niche publisher of scholarly material and advanced research in the humanities and social sciences. They publish a variety of tomes including monographs, bibliographies, concordances, dictionaries, conference proceedings, dissertations, and...

, 1986.
________. Eric Voegelin and the Foundations of Modern Political Science, Columbia, Missouri: University of Missouri Press, 1999.
Emberley, Peter and Cooper, Barry. Faith and Political Philosophy: The Correspondence of Leo Strauss and Eric Voegelin. University Park, Pennsylvania: Pennsylvania State University Press, 1993.
Franz, Michael G. Eric Voegelin and the Politics of Spiritual Revolt: The Roots of Modern Ideology, Baton Rouge, Louisiana: Louisiana State University Press, 1992.
Heilke, Thomas W. Voegelin on the Idea of Race: An Analysis of Modern European Racism, Baton Rouge, Louisiana: Louisiana State University Press, 1990.
________. Eric Voegelin: In Quest of Reality. Lanham, Maryland: Rowman and Littlefield, 1999.
Hughes, Glenn A. Mystery and Myth in the Philosophy of Eric Voegelin. Columbia, Missouri: University of Missouri Press, 1993.
________. The Politics of the Soul: Eric Voegelin on Religious Experience, Lanham, Maryland: Rowman and Littlefield, 1999.
Keulman, Kenneth. The Balance of Consciousness: Eric Voegelin’s Political Theory. University Park, Pennsylvania: Pennsylvania State University Press, 1990.
Lawlor, Ann T. ‘Eric Voegelin’s Diagnosis of the Focus on World-Immanent Reality Consequent Upon the Atrophy of Transcendent Experience among Eighteenth and Nineteenth Century Thinkers.’ M.A. Thesis, University College, Dublin, 1992.
Lawrence, Frederick, ed. The Beginning and the Beyond: Papers from the Gadamer and Lonergan Conferences. Vol. 4 of the Lonergan Workshop. Supplementary Volume. Chico, California: Scholars Press, 1984.
McCarroll, Joseph. ‘The Advance from Compactness to Differentiation…in Eric Voegelin’s Order and History I-III.’ M.A. Thesis, University College, Dublin, 1982.
McKnight, Stephen A., ed. Eric Voegelin's Search for Order in History. 1st ed. Baton Rouge, Louisiana, and London: Louisiana State University Press, 1978.
________. and Geoffrey L. Price. International and Interdisciplinary Perspectives on Eric Voegelin. Columbia and London: University of Missouri Press, 1997.
Morrissey, Michael Patrick. Consciousness and Transcendence: The Theology of Eric Voegelin. Notre Dame, Indiana: University of Notre Dame Press, 1994.
O’Carroll, Noreen. ‘The Equivalence of Symbolic Forms: A Study in Eric Voegelin’s Theory of Experiential Equivalence Between Symbolic Forms.’ Ph.D. Dissertation, University College, Dublin, 1990.
Petrakis, Peter A. and Cecil L. Eubanks, Eric Voegelin’s Dialogue with the Postmoderns. Searching for Foundations. Columbia, Missouri: University of Missouri Press, 2004.
Porter, Jene M. Classics in Political Philosophy. 2nd ed. New York: Prentice Hall, 1997.
Purcell, Brendan. The Drama of Humanity. Towards a Philosophy of Humanity in History. Frankfurt am Main: Peter Lang, 1996.
Rhodes, James M. ‘On Voegelin: His Collected Works and His Significance’, Review of Politics 54, no 4 (Fall 1992): 621-647.
Sandoz, Ellis, ed. The Voegelinian Revolution: A Biographical Introduction. Baton Rouge, Louisiana and London: Louisiana State University Press, 1981.
________. Eric Voegelin's Thought: A Critical Appraisal. Durham, North Carolina: Duke University Press, 1982a.
________. Eric Voegelin's Significance for the Modern Mind. Baton Rouge, Louisiana and London: Louisiana State University Press, 1991.
Sebba, Gregor. ‘Prelude and Variations on the Theme of Eric Voegelin.’ Southern Review, N.S. 13 (1977): 646-676.
________. ‘Prelude and Variations on the Theme of Eric Voegelin.’ in Eric Voegelin’s Thought: A Critical Appraisal, edited with an introduction by Ellis Sandoz, pp. 3–65. Durham, North Carolina: Duke University Press, 1982.
Thompson, William M. and Morse, David L., eds. Voegelin's Israel and Revelation: An Interdisciplinary Debate. Milwaukee: Marquette University Press, 1999.

Walsh, David J. The Mysticism of Inner-Wordly Fulfilment: A Study of Jacob Boehme. Gainesville, Florida: University Press of Florida, 1983.

________. The Growth of the Liberal Soul. Columbia, Missouri: University of Missouri Press, 1997.
________. After Ideology: Recovering the Spiritual Foundations of Freedom. The Catholic University of America Press, Washington, D.C., 1990.
________. ‘Restoring the Lost Centre of Education’, in Thought (No. 231), Vol. 58, (USA: Fordham University, 1983).

Webb, Eugene. Eric Voegelin: Philosopher of History. Seattle, Washington and London: University of Washington Press, 1981.

Works by Coetsier

Coetsier, Meins G. S. 'Eric Voegelin's Philosophy of Luminous Participation in the Transcendent Ground of Being' (Ph.D. Dissertation, Dept. of Philosophy and moral sciences, Ghent University, Belgium, 2008).
Coetsier, Meins G. S. Etty Hillesum and the Flow of Presence: A Voegelinian Analysis. Columbia Missouri: University of Missouri Press, 2008. (ISBN 978-0-8262-1797-4)Google books
Coetsier, Meins G. S. God? ... Licht in het duister: Twee denkers in barre tijden: de Duitse filosoof Eric Voegelin en de Nederlands- Joodse schrijfster Etty Hillesum, in Etty Hillesum Studies: Etty Hillesum in context, red. Ria van den Brandt en Klaas A.D. Smelik, Assen: Gorcum, 2007. (ISBN 978-0-8262-1797-4)Google books
Coetsier, Meins G. S. Heaven in Hell: A Voegelinian Exploration of the Life and Writings of Etty Hillesum(prepared for delivery at the 2007 Annual Meeting of the American Political Science Association (APSA), August 30-September 2, Chicago, 2007).PDF
Coetsier, Meins G. S. Etty Hillesum and the light of faith: a Voegelinian analysis, in Modern Age, A Quarterly Review (Wilmington, DE: Intercollegiate Studies Institute (ISI), Inc.), Vol. 50, No. 3, Summer 2008.
Coetsier, Meins G. S. Etty Hillesum als hedendaagse spirituele figuur voor joden en christenen(prepared for delivery at the Postacademic formation Louvain University, "Vliebergh-Sencie Leergangen", Louvain, Belgium, 2008).
Coetsier, Meins G. S. "God, the Creative Ground of Existence" In Voegelin, Etty Hillesum and Martin Buber: A Response to Richard Dawkins' The God Delusion(prepared for delivery at the 2008 Annual Meeting of the American Political Science Association (APSA), August 28–31, Boston, 2008).PDF
Coetsier, Meins G. S.Etty Hillesum and the Experience of Reason {Voegelin, Buber & Levinas} prepared for delivery at the Visiting Speaker Series, Department of Philosophy, Seminar Room of the Moore Institute,Galway University, November 3, 2008, Galway, Ireland.
Coetsier, Meins G. S.“You Consciousness”. Towards political theory: Etty Hillesum’s experience and symbolization of the divine presence. prepared for delivery at the 2008 International Etty Hillesum Conference, Ghent University & FWO, November 24–26, Ghent, Belgium, 2008.
Coetsier, Meins G. S. A Heaven-Gram for World Politics: Hillesum, Heschel and Rilke rescuing God in exile(prepared for delivery at the 2009 Annual Meeting of the American Political Science Association (APSA), September 3–6, Toronto, 2009).PDF
Coetsier, Meins G. S. "Strijd om God: Om het behoud van de menselijke waardigheid" ("Battle for God: On Preserving Human Dignity") in Tijdschrift voor theologie, Jaargang 2009, Nummer 4.
Coetsier, Meins G. S. "Between Realities: Dawkins vs. Voegelin," in Modern Age, A Quarterly Review (Wilmington, DE: Intercollegiate Studies Institute (ISI), Inc.), Vol. 51, No. 3 & 4, Summer 2009.[Special Double Issue]
Coetsier, Meins G. S.“Etty Hillesum als hedendaagse spirituele figuur voor joden en christenen.” In Wil er iemand mijn Messias zijn? Nieuwe verlossers en hedendaagse spirituele meesters. Edited by Didier Pollefeyt & Ellen de Boeck, 145-179. Louvain: Acco, 2010.
Coetsier, Meins G. S., Klaas A.D. Smelik, and Ria van den Brandt, Eds. Spirituality in the Writings of Etty Hillesum: Proceedings of the Etty Hillesum Conference at Ghent University, November 2008 (Supplements to the Journal of Jewish Thought and Philosophy). Boston: Brill, 2010.
Coetsier, Meins G. S. No God on the Horizon? Voegelin, Buber and Bonhoeffer and the Moment of Surrender (Prepared for delivery at the 2010 Annual Meeting of the American Political Science Association (APSA), September 2–5, 2010).

Meins G. S. Coetsier

Dr. Meins G. S. Coetsier is staff member, film director and webmaster of the Etty Hillesum Research Centre (EHOC). He obtained his B.A. in philosophy

Philosophy

in 2004 and was awarded Master of Arts

Master of Arts (postgraduate)

A Master of Arts from the Latin Magister Artium, is a type of Master's degree awarded by universities in many countries. The M.A. is usually contrasted with the M.S. or M.Sc. degrees...

in Philosophy, at The Milltown Institute of Theology and Philosophy in Dublin, Ireland in 2006. In 2008, he was awarded Doctor of Philosophy

Doctor of Philosophy

Doctor of Philosophy, abbreviated as Ph.D., PhD, D.Phil., or DPhil , in English-speaking countries, is a postgraduate academic degree awarded by universities...

at Ghent University

Ghent University

Ghent University is a Dutch-speaking public university located in Ghent, Belgium. It is one of the larger Flemish universities, consisting of 32,000 students and 7,100 staff members. The current rector is Paul Van Cauwenberge.It was established in 1817 by King William I of the Netherlands...

(Department of Philosophy and moral sciences) with a study on Eric Voegelin. Coetsier is director of the Centre of Eric Voegelin Studies (EVS) at Ugent and is founder of the Flow of Presence Academy (FPA).

External links

The source of this article is wikipedia, the free encyclopedia. The text of this article is licensed under the GFDL.

Eric Voegelin

Etty Hillesum

Contents

Vision

Scholarly Contribution

Synopsis

Works on Hillesum

Works on Voegelin

Works by Coetsier

Meins G. S. Coetsier

External links