{"id":71321,"date":"2026-03-17T22:01:55","date_gmt":"2026-03-17T21:01:55","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/dasgoetheanum.com\/?p=71321"},"modified":"2026-03-17T22:01:58","modified_gmt":"2026-03-17T21:01:58","slug":"loss-a-problem-of-our-times","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/dasgoetheanum.com\/en\/loss-a-problem-of-our-times\/","title":{"rendered":"Loss\u2014A Problem of Our Times"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

There are concepts that, in an instant, shed light on something and reveal insights into the depths of time. The word \u201closs\u201d is one such key concept. Sociologist Andreas Reckwitz brought it into the spotlight with his book Verlust\u2014Ein Grundproblem der Moderne<\/em> [Loss: a fundamental problem of modernity].<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Reckwitz begins with a statistic: in 2022, 84 percent of Germans had a negative outlook on the future, and the number of those who expect the next generation to be worse off materially is growing. In addition, confidence is dwindling that democracies will be able to solve the current problems. The present is shaped by an uncertain future, and the past casts a shadow over it, because damage and trauma from earlier times call for attention and healing now. The experience of loss has become fundamental. This experience ranges from material loss and the resulting loss of status to a dwindling sense of meaning and richness in one’s own existence. The Hungarian philosopher Georg Luk\u00e1cs calls this spiritual experience of loss \u201ctranscendental homelessness.\u201d Whatever one’s opinion of the US and Israeli attack on Iran, without a mandate or a decision by the US Congress, it is the latest example of today’s loss of order. The fact that climate change as a task has oddly receded into the background reflects this loss of control. According to Reckwitz, these various experiences of loss escalate into an experience in which even those who are spared from actual loss very often live in anticipation of experiencing it.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Modernity Breaks Its Promise<\/h3>\n\n\n\n

Of course, people have always had to deal with loss, often on a much more dramatic scale than is the case today in wealthy countries with insurance systems and social security. You only have to go back a few centuries to find that the death of a child or the loss of possessions were part of everyday life. According to Reckwitz, the problem is not the amount of loss we experience, but our perception of it. With technological advances, medical care, and social security, modernity has promised a life nearly free of loss and has been rather successful in its methods of loss reduction. Where age or illness causes us to lose something in life and loss becomes inevitable, nursing homes and clinics remove us from the public eye. Modernity has developed strategies for avoiding loss and, at the same time\u2014and this is where the contradictions begin\u2014it has developed a high degree of sensitivity to loss through a thousand different therapeutic services. \u201cLoss\u201d should not exist, it says, yet it is exploited everywhere.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Yes, if the narrative of modernity involves \u201cfaster,\u201d \u201chigher,\u201d and \u201cfarther,\u201d it means that something is constantly being left behind as \u201cold.\u201d Modernity wants to free us from loss and yet creates loss through its belief in progress. Confidence that our society can avoid loss has become tentative, and thereby, populism gains ground because it can capitalize on the experience of loss. It promises to reverse the losses: \u201cTake back control\u201d was the slogan in the UK and \u201cMake America Great Again\u201d in the US. By finding culprits for the experience of loss, populism promises its supporters that it will free them from their role as victims. Negative experiences do not fit in with the \u201canti-tragic\u201d program of modernity, writes Reckwitz, adding: \u201cModern progressive thinking has no real place for mourning what has been lost, failed, or gone wrong. The more the belief in progress erodes, the less people are inclined to believe that a loss is only a short-lived dip in the actual rise.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Learning to Grieve and Growing Up<\/h3>\n\n\n\n

To clarify that it is a matter of perception, interpretation, and ultimately evaluation, Reckwitz outlines four stages of disappearance. Some things disappear without anyone noticing\u2014as the natural course of events. Other things disappear, and this is noticed and evaluated neutrally. Still other things disappear, and this is welcomed: the new replaces the old. The book deals with the fourth case, where disappearance is interpreted as loss. Interestingly, anger about a negative event is more profound and lasting than joy about a positive event. The same applies to expectations. If a negative expectation does not come true, it is quickly abandoned. The situation is different with a positive one. If it is not fulfilled, it is much more difficult to let go of it. The inability or unwillingness to acknowledge loss crystallizes in the question: Have we forgotten how to grieve?<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In Rudolf Steiner’s \u201cTwelve Moods,\u201d he interweaves the twelve zodiac signs and the seven colors of the planets. It is worth taking a look at the last of the 84 lines: \u201cDer Verlust sei Gewinn f\u00fcr sich!\u201c\u2014the loss is a gain in itself! Andreas Reckwitz gives the same advice in the last chapter of his book. If modernity does not find its own path to ascension, the sociologist recommends cultivating three traits: vulnerability of humanity, society, and the earth; resilience; and integration of loss. Kant’s guiding question, \u201cWhat can I hope for?\u201d is twisted by the expectation of loss into \u201cWhat must we fear?\u201d Reckwitz concludes his book with a piece of advice, offering a perspective on Kant’s positive attitude. \u201cFrom the outset, modernity was characterized by the thrilling ideal of youthfulness. After 250 years, it is time for it to grow up and learn to deal wisely with loss.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Book<\/strong> Andreas Reckwitz, Verlust\u2014Ein Grundproblem der Moderne <\/em>[Loss: a fundamental problem of modernity]. Berlin 2024.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Translation <\/strong>Laura Liska
Image <\/strong>Flooding in Bradford (UK) in 2019, photo: Wes Warren\/Unsplash<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

There are concepts that, in an instant, shed light on something and reveal insights into the depths of time. The word \u201closs\u201d is one such key concept. Sociologist Andreas Reckwitz brought it into the spotlight with his book Verlust\u2014Ein Grundproblem der Moderne [Loss: a fundamental problem of modernity]. Reckwitz begins with a statistic: in 2022, 84 percent of Germans had a negative outlook on the future, and the number of those who expect the next generation to be worse off […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":9159,"featured_media":70929,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[8848,8823,8845],"tags":[11772,11773,8824],"class_list":["post-71321","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-literature","category-reflection","category-social","tag-ausgabe-10-2026-en","tag-english-issue-12-2026","tag-spotlights"],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/dasgoetheanum.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/71321","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/dasgoetheanum.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/dasgoetheanum.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dasgoetheanum.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/9159"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dasgoetheanum.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=71321"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/dasgoetheanum.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/71321\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":71340,"href":"https:\/\/dasgoetheanum.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/71321\/revisions\/71340"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dasgoetheanum.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/70929"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/dasgoetheanum.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=71321"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dasgoetheanum.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=71321"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dasgoetheanum.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=71321"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}