Ever heard of orientation philosophy? This new Nashville-based foundation wants to tell you about it
A foundation launched in Nashville to raise awareness about a new philosophy — the philosophy of orientation.
The inauguration ceremony for the brand new Hodges Foundation for Philosophical Orientation took place Friday evening at 6 p.m. in The Parthenon at Centennial Park. The new foundation is underwritten by Mike Hodges, a Nashville entrepreneur and the chairman of Advance Financial, and his wife, Tina Hodges.
The aim of the new foundation is to promote orientation philosophy internationally, both among those in academia and the general public. The foundation's work will include publishing research, offering scholarships, putting on conferences and awarding academic prizes.
The event doubled as a debut for German author and philosopher Werner Stegmaier and the English translation of his book "What is Orientation? A Philosophical Investigation."
"His philosophy of orientation posits that the processes and structures of orientation precede all our thinking, perceiving, and acting and that being aware of these structures offers a more realistic view of our complex and continually shifting world," a news release announcing the event stated.
Dozens of people gathered in the upper lobby of the Parthenon, among them Sen. Marsha Blackburn. Many of those invited worked for Hodges' company Advanced Financial. It is through Hodges that many employees have gotten to know about Stegmaier.
"I have philosophical conversations with Mike all the time," said Sushanth Abishek, a software employee at Advanced Financial. Abishek said he and Hodges will have a casual 15-minute conversation about philosophy at least once a month. Though he was not aware of Stegmaier before Hodges introduced his philosophy to him, Abishek said he was excited to see what the philosopher had to say.
Stegmaier, who is the founding director of the Institute for Philosophy at the University of Greifswald in Germany and an expert on Friedrich Nietzsche's philosophy, spoke at the event on Friday
Seated in rows of chairs like pews, the event took on the atmosphere of a church service in front of the imposing statue of Athena. Stegmaier began the series of presentations, outlining his philosophy of orientation. As he continued to speak, the presentation became more like a college lecture with audience members displaying differing levels of fascination and perplexity.
Following Stegmaier were two of his students, Claudia Welz and Dr. Reinhard Mueller. Welz presented an overview of how Stegmaier's philosophy can be used in the everyday. Mueller, who translated Stegmaier's book into English, described all the plans in store for the new foundation which include a book series, summer schools and a podcast.
Hodges spoke at the end of the presentation, telling the audience about his longtime love of philosophy and fascination with Stegmaier's teachings.
"I believe stories are everything, the stories we tell ourselves, the stories we tell each other, and the stories by which we value and judge the world," said Hodges.
Hodges recounted the story of how therapy with Dr. Karl Jannasch of Nashville brought his interests in pondering and storytelling to a head. Through Dr. Jannasch he was introduced to the philosophies of Sigmund Freud, Friedrich Nietzsche and Werner Stegmaier.
His fascination with orientation philosophy led to him meeting with Mueller. He convinced Mueller to translate Stegmaier's book and came up with the idea for the foundation.
It was also at the event that a philosophical competition with $55,000 in prize money was announced. The deadline to submit is Oct. 25, 2020.
"To enter the competition, participants will submit a new, previously unpublished text that addresses how the digitization of our world changes our orientation," the news release stated.
For more information, visit the foundation's website hfpo.com.
Reach Holly Meyer at hmeyer@tennessean.com or 615-259-8241 and on Twitter @HollyAMeyer. Joseph Choi can be reached at jchoi@gannett.com or on Twitter @JosefChoi.