Gebhard J. Selz, "Dinge und Wissen. Zu Objektepistemologien im frühen Mesopotamien", in: Markus Hilgert, Henrike Simon and Kerstin P. Hofmann (Eds.), Objektepistemologien. Zur Vermessung eines transdisziplinären Forschungsraums, Berlin: Edition Topoi, 2018, 305–324

Abstract

Based on the hypothesis that the fundamental ontological distinction between physical and secondary (mental) objects was of minor relevance in Ancient Mesopotamia, it is argued that this has major effects for understanding all sorts of epistemic actions connected to things. All such actions – manipulations – are structurally similar and the boundaries between the different kinds of objects are fuzzy. With respect to their intentionality and functionality objects should be understood as elements embedded in a semiosphere, open to collective and individual interpretations. The reduplication of such objectification processes in the ‘narratives’ of Ancient Studies clearly points to the hermeneutical limits of all historical reconstructions: they are provisional, exemplary at its best.

Published In

Markus Hilgert, Henrike Simon and Kerstin P. Hofmann (Eds.), Objektepistemologien. Zur Vermessung eines transdisziplinären Forschungsraums, Berlin: Edition Topoi, 2018