The Phenomenon of the Border in the Context of European Post-Metaphysical Philosophy: Karl Haushofer and Friedrich Nietzsche

The article presents a comparative study of the philosophical doctrines of Karl Haushofer and Friedrich Nietzsche. The authors explicate post-metaphysical motives in Haushofer's geopolitical doctrine. They demonstrate that, on the one hand, Haushofer's conception is close to the understanding of life proposed by Nietzsche as the "will to power", but, on the other hand, the Nietzschean pathos of going beyond established boundaries is unacceptable to Haushofer. The authors substantiate the position that the modern non-classical philosophy of Europe, which has survived and continues to experience the event of the crisis of metaphysics, is more and more confidently characterized as post-metaphysical. If classical metaphysics developed the doctrine of the supersensible principles of being, post-metaphysical philosophy is reoriented from essence to the border. The phenomenon of the border is placed at the center of non-classical philosophical conceptual development and research. The authors show that, in the light of the indicated events and transformations in the philosophical discourse, Haushofer begins to interpret the border as a constitutive moment of the existence of life forms. Moreover, the border itself loses the character of an abstract line, which at best can be represented by a graphic line on the map, and, in a metaphysical perspective, it cannot be represented at all, being a speculative construct. The authors substantiate the thesis that the appearance of all kinds of transgressive phenomena in geopolitics, philosophy and culture should cause a new oncoming movement, aimed no longer at denying, but at establishing and defending borders. The authors draw attention to the fact that, along with enemies and destroyers of the border, Haushofer also has the creator and defender of the border. Haushofer's doctrine, therefore, affirms voluntary self-determination and self-restraint, the desire to find one's own borders and consciously affirm them rather than going beyond one's own borders, self-surmounting. The authors also show that, following Nietzsche's understanding of the border as a zone of struggle between life forms, Haushofer does not share Nietzsche's transgressive pathos. In philosophical terms, Haushofer's conception is focused on self-determination, on the establishment and protection of borders, not on transgression. Thus, the authors come to the conclusion that the Nietzschean pathos of going beyond borders and overcoming borders can be contrasted with the pathos of affirming borders and limitations. Haushofer's studies contain attitudes that anticipate this possible turn toward a philosophy of self-restraint.

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