Saint Benedict, in Chapter 1 of his Rule, indicates that there is a certain kind of monk, the anchorite or hermit, able to live in solitude, not when he sets out on the road of monastic experience, but when dusk falls, as the culmination of a lifelong trial and training by the side of his fellow brothers.The first impression on being welcomed today by Thomas Luckmann at his home is of finding oneself in the presence of an ancient hermit of quite a singular kind-a hermit, or a somewhat peculiar Carthusian, as he himself seems to suggest by commenting with a certain envy that a colleague of his has a fortune vast enough to spend his retirement in a building which in former times had been a small French Charterhouse. Yet singular indeed, because Luckmann does not live a regime of strict enclosure: his car allows him to go down to the village to buy provisions, the telephone rings quite frequently, and he spends part of his time away from home travelling, giving lectures and, above all and whenever he gets the opportunity, doing some angling.Indeed, angling has been not only a passion, but his particular method of learning to live in solitude and silence. In fact, when trying to locate him I asked his lifelong friend Peter Berger if he could give me his address. The latter warned me: "I'm not sure you'll find him in; he may be lecturing on Alfred Schutz in Vladivostok or, just as likely, trout-fishing in New Zealand." During our conversation it turned out that he had been doing just those two things not long before, although Luckmann pointed out that his lecturing was not in Vladivostok but "much closer", in St Petersburg.But he definitely leads, at least in part, the life of a hermit: since the death of his wife Benita, except when enjoying the presence of his companion Renate he has spent long periods alone, in a wooden house-old, though renovated-up in the hills, lost in a forest.2007 was the year of Thomas Luckmann's eightieth birthday. It also marked 40 years since the publication of The Invisible Religion, one of the summits of 20th century sociology, although not everyone acknowledges it as such.This twofold coincidence, combined with the fact that since publishing that book, Luckmann has basically dedicated himself to other questions and only from time to time returned to its subject, made me consider the possibility of proposing to him an exercise which is very typical of the social science tradition in Anglo-Saxon countries: what we might call "The Invisible Religion Revisited"-namely, how he himself evaluates his work today, what validity it might have at the present time, and which aspects he would consider in need

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ResumEn aquest article dedicat a Norbert Elias en commemoració dels vint anys de la seva mort, proposem revisar, de manera resumida, la seva obra a partir dels interrogants ontològics, epistemològics i metodològics que Elias va encarar al llarg de la seva dilatada vida acadèmica i de recerca. L'article pretén ser, alhora, un punt i a part en el monogràfic, perquè en vol recollir alguns dels interrogants, debats i conclusions, com també tenir un paper introductori per a aquelles persones que, sense gaires coneixements previs sobre l'autor de Breslau, vulguin conèixer alguns dels trets definitoris de la seva trajectòria intel·lectual al llarg del segle XX. I, sobretot, quin llegat, en forma de grans preguntes, deixa per a la sociologia del segle XXI. L'article acaba amb una bibliografia escollida d'obres clau. Paraules clau: teoria sociològica; procés de civilització; coneixement; poder; violència; alteritat. Abstract. The nine issues raised by Norbert Elias: Debates, questions and clues for a sociology of the 21st centuryIn this last article dedicated to Norbert Elias on the occasion of the 20th anniversary of his death, we propose to revise his work in a summarized way basing ourselves on the ontological, epistemological and methodological questions which Elias took up during his extensive life of teaching and research. The article also pretends to be a halting point in the monographic by picking up some of its questions, debates and conclusions, and to serve as an introduction for all those who, without special previous information about the author from Breslau, want to acquaint themselves with some of the defining features of his intellectual career throughout the 20th century. And, above all, who want to know which legacy, in the form of important questions, he leaves to the sociology of the 21st century. The article concludes with a selected biography of his main works.