Transcendance et totalité. Bonhoeffer, la phénoménologie et la figure de l'homme parfait

Why resort to the thought of Dietrich Bonhoeffer to formulate a philosophical contribution to the problem of tolerance? And, moreover, in a dialogue with phenomenology? A man of thought and action, Bonhoeffer is, strictly speaking, neither a phenomenologist nor a thinker of tolerance. It is, however, legitimate to consider his struggle against totalitarianism, both theologically and politically, as a borderline case likely to raise questions about the nature and scope of tolerance itself. And this is due to the paradox experienced by Bonhoeffer, in the attempted putsch in which he participated in order to eliminate the Führer: the violation not only of the law, but of a divine commandment – « thou shalt not kill » – that Bonhoeffer justifies by virtue of his faith in God. Our reading hypothesis leads us to devote particular attention to his habilitation thesis, Akt und Sein, in which Bonhoeffer formulates an original critique of phenomenology, in particular of Heideggerian phenomenology, inspired by the theologia crucis of the Lutheran tradition: by renouncing any attempt at self-determination, man, for Bonhoeffer, can only understand himself through a radical openness to transcendence which ultimately coincides with the authentically personal dimension of man himself as well as of the relationship between man and God.