List of German-language philosophers
Encyclopedia
This is a list of German-language
philosophers. The following individuals have written philosophical texts in the German language
. Many are categorized as German philosophers or Austrian philosophers, but some are neither German
nor Austria
n by ethnicity or nationality
. Each one, however, satisfies at least one of the following criteria:
Reference works such as the following discuss the lives and summarize the works of notable philosophers:
(Cambridge) The Cambridge Dictionary of Philosophy, (Second Edition). Cambridge University Press; 1999. ISBN 0-521-63722-8
(Macmillan) Macmillan
's Encyclopedia of Philosophy, 1st edition (Paul Edwards, chief editor), 1973. (Macmillan2) 2nd edition (Donald M. Borchert, chief editor), 2006, ISBN 0-02-865780-2
(Metzler) Metzler Philosophen Lexikon: von den Vorsokratikern bis zu den Neuen Philosophen, 3rd ed., Bernd Lutz (Stuttgart: Metzler, 2003). ISBN 3-476-01953-5
(Oxford 1995) The Oxford Companion to Philosophy. Oxford University Press, 1995, ISBN 0-19-866132-0. (Oxford 2005) 2005, ISBN 0-19-926479-1
(Routledge 1998) Routledge Encyclopedia of Philosophy
. Routledge, 1998, ISBN 0-415-16917-8. (Routledge 2000) Concise Routledge Encyclopedia of Philosophy. Routledge, 2000, ISBN 0-415-22364-4
(Stanford) Peer-reviewed online Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy
. (Sassen) Brigitte Sassen. "18th Century German Philosophy Prior to Kant" in Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy
German language
German is a West Germanic language, related to and classified alongside English and Dutch. With an estimated 90 – 98 million native speakers, German is one of the world's major languages and is the most widely-spoken first language in the European Union....
philosophers. The following individuals have written philosophical texts in the German language
German language
German is a West Germanic language, related to and classified alongside English and Dutch. With an estimated 90 – 98 million native speakers, German is one of the world's major languages and is the most widely-spoken first language in the European Union....
. Many are categorized as German philosophers or Austrian philosophers, but some are neither German
Germans
The Germans are a Germanic ethnic group native to Central Europe. The English term Germans has referred to the German-speaking population of the Holy Roman Empire since the Late Middle Ages....
nor Austria
Austria
Austria , officially the Republic of Austria , is a landlocked country of roughly 8.4 million people in Central Europe. It is bordered by the Czech Republic and Germany to the north, Slovakia and Hungary to the east, Slovenia and Italy to the south, and Switzerland and Liechtenstein to the...
n by ethnicity or nationality
Nationality
Nationality is membership of a nation or sovereign state, usually determined by their citizenship, but sometimes by ethnicity or place of residence, or based on their sense of national identity....
. Each one, however, satisfies at least one of the following criteria:
- s/he has been identified as a philosopher in any reputable, reliable encyclopedic/scholarly publication (e.g. MacMillan, Stanford, Routledge, Oxford, Metzler.)
- s/he has authored multiple articles published in reputable, reliable journals of philosophy and/or written books that were reviewed in such journals.
Reference works such as the following discuss the lives and summarize the works of notable philosophers:
(Cambridge) The Cambridge Dictionary of Philosophy, (Second Edition). Cambridge University Press; 1999. ISBN 0-521-63722-8
(Macmillan) Macmillan
Macmillan Publishers
Macmillan Publishers Ltd, also known as The Macmillan Group, is a privately held international publishing company owned by Georg von Holtzbrinck Publishing Group. It has offices in 41 countries worldwide and operates in more than thirty others.-History:...
's Encyclopedia of Philosophy, 1st edition (Paul Edwards, chief editor), 1973. (Macmillan2) 2nd edition (Donald M. Borchert, chief editor), 2006, ISBN 0-02-865780-2
(Metzler) Metzler Philosophen Lexikon: von den Vorsokratikern bis zu den Neuen Philosophen, 3rd ed., Bernd Lutz (Stuttgart: Metzler, 2003). ISBN 3-476-01953-5
(Oxford 1995) The Oxford Companion to Philosophy. Oxford University Press, 1995, ISBN 0-19-866132-0. (Oxford 2005) 2005, ISBN 0-19-926479-1
(Routledge 1998) Routledge Encyclopedia of Philosophy
Routledge Encyclopedia of Philosophy
The Routledge Encyclopedia of Philosophy is an encyclopedia of philosophy edited by Edward Craig that was first published by Routledge in 1998 . Originally published in both 10 volumes of print and as a CD-ROM, in 2002 it was made available online on a subscription basis...
. Routledge, 1998, ISBN 0-415-16917-8. (Routledge 2000) Concise Routledge Encyclopedia of Philosophy. Routledge, 2000, ISBN 0-415-22364-4
(Stanford) Peer-reviewed online Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy
Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy
The Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy is a freely-accessible online encyclopedia of philosophy maintained by Stanford University. Each entry is written and maintained by an expert in the field, including professors from over 65 academic institutions worldwide...
. (Sassen) Brigitte Sassen. "18th Century German Philosophy Prior to Kant" in Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy
Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy
The Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy is a freely-accessible online encyclopedia of philosophy maintained by Stanford University. Each entry is written and maintained by an expert in the field, including professors from over 65 academic institutions worldwide...
A
- Thomas AbbtThomas AbbtThomas Abbt was a German mathematician and writer.Born in Ulm, Abbt visited a secondary school in Ulm, then moved in 1756 to study theology, philosophy and mathematics at the University of Halle, receiving a Magister degree in 1758...
(1738–1766) (Macmillan) - Theodor Adorno (1903–1969) (Cambridge; Macmillan2; Oxford 1995; Routledge 2000)
- Günther AndersGünther AndersGünther Anders was a Jewish philosopher and journalist who developed a philosophical anthropology for the age of technology, focusing on such themes as the effects of mass media on our emotional and ethical existence, the nuclear threat, the Shoah and the question of being a philosopher.- Biography...
(1902–1992) - Karl-Otto ApelKarl-Otto ApelKarl-Otto Apel is a German philosopher and Professor Emeritus at the University of Frankfurt am Main. Apel worked in ethics, the philosophy of language and human sciences. He wrote extensively in these fields, publishing mostly in German...
(born 1922) (Macmillan2) - Hannah ArendtHannah ArendtHannah Arendt was a German American political theorist. She has often been described as a philosopher, although she refused that label on the grounds that philosophy is concerned with "man in the singular." She described herself instead as a political theorist because her work centers on the fact...
(1906–1975) (Macmillan2) - Richard AvenariusRichard AvenariusRichard Heinrich Ludwig Avenarius was a German-Swiss philosopher. He formulated the radical positivist doctrine of "empirical criticism" or empirio-criticism....
(1843–1896) (Cambridge; Macmillan2; Oxford 1995; Routledge 2000)
B
- Franz Xaver von BaaderFranz Xaver von BaaderFranz Xaver von Baader was a German Roman Catholic philosopher and theologian.-Life:He was born in Munich, the third son of F. P. Baader, court physician to the Prince-elector of Bavaria. His brothers were both distinguished — the elder, Clemens, as an author; the second, Joseph , as an...
(1765–1841) (Macmillan2) - Johann Jakob BachofenJohann Jakob BachofenJohann Jakob Bachofen was a Swiss antiquarian, jurist and anthropologist, professor for Roman law at the University of Basel from 1841 to 1845....
(1815–1887) (Macmillan2) - Johann Bernhard BasedowJohann Bernhard BasedowJohann Bernhard Basedow was a German educational reformer, teacher and writer. He founded the Philanthropinum, a short-lived but influential progressive school in Dessau, and was the author of "Elementarwerk", a popular illustrated textbook for children.-Early years:Basedow was born in Hamburg,...
(1723–1790) (Macmillan2) - Bruno BauerBruno BauerBruno Bauer was a German philosopher and historian. As a student of GWF Hegel, Bauer was a radical Rationalist in philosophy, politics and Biblical criticism...
(1809–1882) (Oxford 1995) - Jakob Sigismund BeckJakob Sigismund BeckJakob Sigismund Beck , German philosopher, was born in the village of Ließau in the rural district of Marienburg in West Prussia in 1761, at that time belonging to the Polish-Lithuanian province of Royal Prussia....
(1761–1840) (Macmillan2) - Friedrich Eduard BenekeFriedrich Eduard BenekeFriedrich Eduard Beneke was a German psychologist.- Early life :Beneke was born in Berlin. He studied at the universities of Halle and Berlin, and served as a volunteer in the War of 1815...
(1798–1854) (Cambridge; Macmillan2) - Walter BenjaminWalter BenjaminWalter Bendix Schönflies Benjamin was a German-Jewish intellectual, who functioned variously as a literary critic, philosopher, sociologist, translator, radio broadcaster and essayist...
(1892–1940) (Macmillan2; Oxford 1995; Routledge 2000) - Ernst BlochErnst BlochErnst Bloch was a German Marxist philosopher.Bloch was influenced by both Hegel and Marx and, as he always confessed, by novelist Karl May. He was also interested in music and art . He established friendships with Georg Lukács, Bertolt Brecht, Kurt Weill and Theodor W. Adorno...
(1885–1977) (Cambridge; Macmillan2; Routledge 2000) - Hans BlumenbergHans BlumenbergHans Blumenberg was a German philosopher.He studied philosophy, Germanistics and classics and is considered to be one of the most important German philosophers of recent decades...
(1920–1996) (Metzler) - Ludwig BoltzmannLudwig BoltzmannLudwig Eduard Boltzmann was an Austrian physicist famous for his founding contributions in the fields of statistical mechanics and statistical thermodynamics...
(1844–1906) (Oxford 1995) - Bernhard Bolzano (1781–1848) (Cambridge; Macmillan2; Oxford 1995; Routledge 2000)
- Franz BrentanoFranz BrentanoFranz Clemens Honoratus Hermann Brentano was an influential German philosopher and psychologist whose influence was felt by other such luminaries as Sigmund Freud, Edmund Husserl, Kazimierz Twardowski and Alexius Meinong, who followed and adapted his views.-Life:Brentano was born at Marienberg am...
(1838–1907) (Cambridge; Macmillan2; Oxford 1995; Routledge 2000) - Martin BuberMartin BuberMartin Buber was an Austrian-born Jewish philosopher best known for his philosophy of dialogue, a form of religious existentialism centered on the distinction between the I-Thou relationship and the I-It relationship....
(1878–1965) (Cambridge; Oxford 1995; Routledge 2000; Stanford) - Ludwig BüchnerLudwig BüchnerFriedrich Karl Christian Ludwig Büchner was a German philosopher, physiologist and physician who became one of the exponents of 19th century scientific materialism.Büchner was born at Darmstadt, Germany, on 29 March 1824...
(1824–1899) (Macmillan; Routledge 2000)
C
- Rudolph Carnap (1891–1970) (Cambridge; Macmillan2; Oxford 1995; Routledge 2000)
- Ernst CassirerErnst CassirerErnst Cassirer was a German philosopher. He was one of the major figures in the development of philosophical idealism in the first half of the 20th century...
(1874–1945) (Cambridge; Macmillan2; Oxford 1995) - Hermann CohenHermann CohenHermann Cohen was a German-Jewish philosopher, one of the founders of the Marburg School of Neo-Kantianism, and he is often held to be "probably the most important Jewish philosopher of the nineteenth century".-Life:...
(1842–1918) (Cambridge; Macmillan2; Oxford 1995) - Christian August CrusiusChristian August CrusiusChristian August Crusius was a German philosopher and Protestant theologian.-Biography:Crusius was born at Leuna in the Electorate of Saxony...
(1715–1775) (Cambridge; Macmillan2; Routledge 2000) - Heinrich CzolbeHeinrich CzolbeHeinrich Czolbe was a German physician and materialist philosopher.- Literary works :* Neue Darstellung des Sensualismus, 1855...
(1819–1873) (Cambridge)
D
- Max DessoirMax DessoirMax Dessoir was a German philosopher and theorist of aesthetics.Dessoir was born in Berlin. He earned doctorates from the universities of Berlin and Würzburg...
(1867–1947) (Macmillan) - Wilhelm DiltheyWilhelm DiltheyWilhelm Dilthey was a German historian, psychologist, sociologist and hermeneutic philosopher, who held Hegel's Chair in Philosophy at the University of Berlin. As a polymathic philosopher, working in a modern research university, Dilthey's research interests revolved around questions of...
(1833–1911) (Cambridge; Macmillan2; Oxford 1995) - Eugen DühringEugen DühringEugen Karl Dühring was a German philosopher and economist, a socialist who was a strong critic of Marxism.-Life and works:...
(1833–1921) (Routledge 2000)
E
- Johann Augustus EberhardJohann Augustus EberhardJohann Augustus Eberhard was a German theologian and "popular philosopher".-Life and career:Eberhard was born at Halberstadt in the Principality of Halberstadt, where his father was a school-teacher and the singing-master at the church of St. Martin's...
(1739–1809) (Macmillan2; Routledge 2000) - Albert EinsteinAlbert EinsteinAlbert Einstein was a German-born theoretical physicist who developed the theory of general relativity, effecting a revolution in physics. For this achievement, Einstein is often regarded as the father of modern physics and one of the most prolific intellects in human history...
(1879–1955) (Macmillan) - Friedrich EngelsFriedrich EngelsFriedrich Engels was a German industrialist, social scientist, author, political theorist, philosopher, and father of Marxist theory, alongside Karl Marx. In 1845 he published The Condition of the Working Class in England, based on personal observations and research...
(1820–1895) (Oxford 1995)
F
- Gustav FechnerGustav FechnerGustav Theodor Fechner , was a German experimental psychologist. An early pioneer in experimental psychology and founder of psychophysics, he inspired many 20th century scientists and philosophers...
(1801–1887) (Cambridge) - Ludwig Andreas FeuerbachLudwig Andreas FeuerbachLudwig Andreas von Feuerbach was a German philosopher and anthropologist. He was the fourth son of the eminent jurist Paul Johann Anselm Ritter von Feuerbach, brother of mathematician Karl Wilhelm Feuerbach and uncle of painter Anselm Feuerbach...
(1804–1872) (Cambridge; Macmillan2; Oxford 1995) - Johann Gottlieb FichteJohann Gottlieb FichteJohann Gottlieb Fichte was a German philosopher. He was one of the founding figures of the philosophical movement known as German idealism, a movement that developed from the theoretical and ethical writings of Immanuel Kant...
(1762–1814) (Cambridge; Macmillan2; Oxford 1995) - Gottlob FregeGottlob FregeFriedrich Ludwig Gottlob Frege was a German mathematician, logician and philosopher. He is considered to be one of the founders of modern logic, and made major contributions to the foundations of mathematics. He is generally considered to be the father of analytic philosophy, for his writings on...
(1848–1925) (Cambridge; Macmillan2; Oxford 1995; Routledge 2000) - Jakob Friedrich FriesJakob Friedrich FriesJakob Friedrich Fries was a German philosopher from Barby .-Life and career:...
(1773–1843) (Macmillan2; Routledge 2000)
G
- Hans-Georg GadamerHans-Georg GadamerHans-Georg Gadamer was a German philosopher of the continental tradition, best known for his 1960 magnum opus, Truth and Method .-Life:...
(1900–2002) (Cambridge; Macmillan2; Oxford 1995; Routledge 2000) - Arnold GehlenArnold GehlenArnold Gehlen was an influential conservative German philosopher and sociologist.-Biography:His major influences while studying philosophy were Hans Driesch, Nicolai Hartmann and especially Max Scheler....
(1904–1976) (Metzler) - Kurt GödelKurt GödelKurt Friedrich Gödel was an Austrian logician, mathematician and philosopher. Later in his life he emigrated to the United States to escape the effects of World War II. One of the most significant logicians of all time, Gödel made an immense impact upon scientific and philosophical thinking in the...
(1906–1978) (Oxford 1995) - Johann Wolfgang von GoetheJohann Wolfgang von GoetheJohann Wolfgang von Goethe was a German writer, pictorial artist, biologist, theoretical physicist, and polymath. He is considered the supreme genius of modern German literature. His works span the fields of poetry, drama, prose, philosophy, and science. His Faust has been called the greatest long...
(1749–1832) - Johann Christoph GottschedJohann Christoph GottschedJohann Christoph Gottsched was a German author and critic.-Biography:He was born at Juditten near Königsberg, Brandenburg-Prussia, the son of a Lutheran clergyman...
(1700–1766) (Macmillan2; Sassen)
H
- Jürgen HabermasJürgen HabermasJürgen Habermas is a German sociologist and philosopher in the tradition of critical theory and pragmatism. He is perhaps best known for his theory on the concepts of 'communicative rationality' and the 'public sphere'...
(born 1929) (Cambridge; Macmillan2; Routledge 2000) - Ernst HaeckelErnst HaeckelThe "European War" became known as "The Great War", and it was not until 1920, in the book "The First World War 1914-1918" by Charles à Court Repington, that the term "First World War" was used as the official name for the conflict.-Research:...
(1834–1919) (Macmillan2) - Johann Georg HamannJohann Georg HamannJohann Georg Hamann was a noted German philosopher, a main proponent of the Sturm und Drang movement, and associated by historian of ideas Isaiah Berlin with the Counter-Enlightenment.-Biography:...
(1730–1788) (Cambridge) - Karl Robert Eduard von HartmannKarl Robert Eduard von HartmannKarl Robert Eduard von Hartmann , was a German philosopher.- Biography :He was born in Berlin, and educated with the intention of a military career. He entered the artillery of the Guards as an officer in 1860, but was forced to leave in 1865 because of a knee problem...
(1842–1906) (Cambridge; Macmillan; Oxford 1995) - Nicolai HartmannNicolai Hartmann-Biography:Hartmann was born of German descent in Riga, which was then the capital of the Russian province of Livonia, and which is now in Latvia. He studied Medicine at the University of Tartu , then Philosophy in St. Petersburg and at the University of Marburg in Germany, where he took his Ph.D....
(1882–1950) (Cambridge; Macmillan2; Oxford 1995) - Georg Wilhelm Friedrich HegelGeorg Wilhelm Friedrich HegelGeorg Wilhelm Friedrich Hegel was a German philosopher, one of the creators of German Idealism. His historicist and idealist account of reality as a whole revolutionized European philosophy and was an important precursor to Continental philosophy and Marxism.Hegel developed a comprehensive...
(1770–1831) (Macmillan2; Oxford 1995) - Martin HeideggerMartin HeideggerMartin Heidegger was a German philosopher known for his existential and phenomenological explorations of the "question of Being."...
(1889–1976) (Cambridge; Macmillan; Oxford 1995) - Carl Gustav HempelCarl Gustav HempelCarl Gustav "Peter" Hempel was a philosopher of science and a major figure in 20th-century logical empiricism...
(1905–1997) (Cambridge; Macmillan2) - Johann Friedrich HerbartJohann Friedrich HerbartJohann Friedrich Herbart was a German philosopher, psychologist, and founder of pedagogy as an academic discipline....
(1776–1841) (Cambridge; Macmillan2; Routledge 2000) - Johann Gottfried von Herder (1744–1803) (Cambridge; Macmillan2; Oxford 1995)
- Heinrich Rudolf HertzHeinrich Rudolf HertzHeinrich Rudolf Hertz was a German physicist who clarified and expanded the electromagnetic theory of light that had been put forth by Maxwell...
(1857–1894) (Macmillan2) - Moses HessMoses HessMoses Hess was a Jewish philosopher and socialist, and one of the founders of Labor Zionism.-Life:Hess was born in Bonn, which was under French rule at the time. In his French-language birth certificate, his name is given as "Moises"; he was named after his maternal grandfather...
(1812–1875) (Routledge 2000) - David HilbertDavid HilbertDavid Hilbert was a German mathematician. He is recognized as one of the most influential and universal mathematicians of the 19th and early 20th centuries. Hilbert discovered and developed a broad range of fundamental ideas in many areas, including invariant theory and the axiomatization of...
(1862–1943) (Cambridge) - Richard HönigswaldRichard HönigswaldRichard Hönigswald was a well-known philosopher belonging to the wider circle of Neo-Kantianism....
(Macmillan2) - Hans Heinz HolzHans Heinz HolzHans Heinz Holz is a German Marxist philosopher.He was professor of philosophy at the University of Marburg and from 1979 to 1993 at the University of Groningen. Holz lives in Switzerland and thanks to his good health has been up to this date rather productive...
(born 1927) (Metzler) - Max HorkheimerMax HorkheimerMax Horkheimer was a German-Jewish philosopher-sociologist, famous for his work in critical theory as a member of the 'Frankfurt School' of social research. His most important works include The Eclipse of Reason and, in collaboration with Theodor Adorno, The Dialectic of Enlightenment...
(1895–1973) (Cambridge; Macmillan2) - Wilhelm von HumboldtWilhelm von HumboldtFriedrich Wilhelm Christian Karl Ferdinand Freiherr von Humboldt was a German philosopher, government functionary, diplomat, and founder of Humboldt Universität. He is especially remembered as a linguist who made important contributions to the philosophy of language and to the theory and practice...
(1767–1835) (Oxford 1995) - Edmund HusserlEdmund HusserlEdmund Gustav Albrecht Husserl was a philosopher and mathematician and the founder of the 20th century philosophical school of phenomenology. He broke with the positivist orientation of the science and philosophy of his day, yet he elaborated critiques of historicism and of psychologism in logic...
(1859–1938) (Cambridge; Macmillan2; Oxford 1995; Routledge 1998; Routledge 2000)
J
- Friedrich Heinrich JacobiFriedrich Heinrich JacobiFriedrich Heinrich Jacobi was an influential German philosopher, literary figure, socialite and the younger brother of poet Johann Georg Jacobi...
(1743–1819) (Macmillan2; Oxford 1995) - Karl JaspersKarl JaspersKarl Theodor Jaspers was a German psychiatrist and philosopher who had a strong influence on modern theology, psychiatry and philosophy. After being trained in and practicing psychiatry, Jaspers turned to philosophical inquiry and attempted to discover an innovative philosophical system...
(1883–1969) (Cambridge; Macmillan2; Oxford 1995) - Hans JonasHans JonasHans Jonas was a German-born philosopher who was, from 1955 to 1976, Alvin Johnson Professor of Philosophy at the New School for Social Research in New York City.Jonas's writings were very influential in different spheres...
(1903–1993)
K
- Immanuel KantImmanuel KantImmanuel Kant was a German philosopher from Königsberg , researching, lecturing and writing on philosophy and anthropology at the end of the 18th Century Enlightenment....
(1724–1804) (Cambridge; Macmillan2; Oxford 1995; Routledge 2000) - Hermann Alexander, Graf von Keyserling (1880–1946) (Macmillan2)
- Ludwig KlagesLudwig KlagesLudwig Klages was a German philosopher, psychologist and a theoretician in the field of handwriting analysis.-Life:...
(1872–1956) (Macmillan2) - Heinrich von KleistHeinrich von KleistBernd Heinrich Wilhelm von Kleist was a poet, dramatist, novelist and short story writer. The Kleist Prize, a prestigious prize for German literature, is named after him.- Life :...
(1771–1811) (Cambridge) - Martin KnutzenMartin KnutzenMartin Knutzen was a German philosopher, a disciple of Alexander Baumgarten and teacher of Immanuel Kant, to whom he introduced the physics of Newton....
(1713–1751) (Macmillan2) - Karl C.F. Krause (1781–1832) (Cambridge; Macmillan2)
- Felix Krueger (1874–1948) (Macmillan2)
- Oswald Kuelpe (1862–1915) (Macmillan2)
L
- Ernst LaasErnst LaasErnst Laas was a German philosopher.-Biography:...
(1837–1885) (Macmillan2) - Johann Heinrich LambertJohann Heinrich LambertJohann Heinrich Lambert was a Swiss mathematician, physicist, philosopher and astronomer.Asteroid 187 Lamberta was named in his honour.-Biography:...
(1728–1777) (Cambridge; Macmillan2; Routledge 2000) - Friedrich Albert LangeFriedrich Albert LangeFriedrich Albert Lange , was a German philosopher and sociologist.-Biography:Lange was born in Wald, near Solingen, the son of the theologian, Johann Peter Lange. He was educated at Duisburg, Zürich and Bonn, where he distinguished himself in gymnastics as much as academically...
(1828–1875) (Cambridge; Macmillan2; Routledge 2000) - Gotthold Ephraim LessingGotthold Ephraim LessingGotthold Ephraim Lessing was a German writer, philosopher, dramatist, publicist, and art critic, and one of the most outstanding representatives of the Enlightenment era. His plays and theoretical writings substantially influenced the development of German literature...
(1729–1781) (Cambridge; Oxford 1995) - Arthur Liebert (1878–1946) (Macmillan2)
- Otto LiebmannOtto LiebmannOtto Liebmann, born February 2, 1840, died January 14, 1912, was a German philosopher.A forerunner of Neo-Kantianism, in his best known book, Kant und die Epigonen, he deals with the philosophy after Kant, discussing Fichte, Schelling, Hegel, Fries, Herbart and Schopenhauer...
(1840–1912) (Macmillan2) - Hans LippsHans LippsHans Lipps was a German phenomenological and existentialist philosopher.-Biographical Sketch:...
(1889-1941) - Paul LorenzenPaul LorenzenPaul Lorenzen was a philosopher andmathematician.As a founder of the Erlangen School and the inventor of game semantics he was a famous German philosopher of the 20th century.-Biography:Lorenzen studied with David Hilbert as a schoolboy and he was one of Hasse's...
(1915–1995) (Routledge 2000) - Hermann Lotze (1817–1881) (Cambridge; Macmillan2; Oxford 1995)
- Karl LöwithKarl LöwithKarl Löwith , was a German philosopher, a student of Heidegger.Löwith was born in Munich. Though he was himself Protestant, his family was of Jewish descent and he therefore had to emigrate Germany in 1934 because of the National Socialist regime. He went to Italy and in 1936 he went to Japan...
(1897–1983) (Metzler) - Georg LukácsGeorg LukácsGyörgy Lukács was a Hungarian Marxist philosopher and literary critic. He is a founder of the tradition of Western Marxism. He contributed the concept of reification to Marxist philosophy and theory and expanded Karl Marx's theory of class consciousness. Lukács' was also an influential literary...
(1885–1971) (Cambridge; Macmillan2; Oxford 1995)
M
- Ernst MachErnst MachErnst Mach was an Austrian physicist and philosopher, noted for his contributions to physics such as the Mach number and the study of shock waves...
(1838–1916) (Cambridge; Macmillan2; Routledge 2000) - Salomon MaimonSalomon MaimonSalomon ben Josua Maimon was a German philosopher born of Jewish parentage in Belarus.-Early years:...
(1754–1800) (Cambridge; Macmillan2) - Herbert MarcuseHerbert MarcuseHerbert Marcuse was a German Jewish philosopher, sociologist and political theorist, associated with the Frankfurt School of critical theory...
(1898–1979) (Cambridge; Metzler) - Giwi MargwelaschwiliGiwi MargwelaschwiliGiwi Margwelaschwili is a German-language Georgian writer and philosopher.He is the son of the notable Georgian intellectual Tite Margwelaschwili, who moved to Germany after the Red Army invasion of Georgia in 1921 and was chairman of the Georgian political emigre organization in Berlin...
(born 1927) - Karl MarxKarl MarxKarl Heinrich Marx was a German philosopher, economist, sociologist, historian, journalist, and revolutionary socialist. His ideas played a significant role in the development of social science and the socialist political movement...
(1818–1883) (Cambridge; Stanford)
- Georg Friedrich MeierGeorg Friedrich MeierGeorg Friedrich Meier was a German philosopher and aesthetician. A follower of Alexander Gottlieb Baumgarten, Meier reformed the philosophy of Christian Wolff by introducing elements of John Locke's empiricist theory of knowledge.Meier studied philosophy and theology at the University of Halle,...
(1718–1777) (Macmillan2) - Friedrich MeineckeFriedrich MeineckeFriedrich Meinecke was a liberal German historian, probably the most famous German historian of his generation. As a representative of an older tradition still writing after World War II, he was an important figure to the end of his life.-Life:Meinecke was born in Salzwedel in the Province of Saxony...
(1862–1954) (Macmillan2) - Alexius MeinongAlexius MeinongAlexius Meinong was an Austrian philosopher, a realist known for his unique ontology...
(1853–1920) (Cambridge; Oxford 1995; Routledge 2000) - Moses MendelssohnMoses MendelssohnMoses Mendelssohn was a German Jewish philosopher to whose ideas the renaissance of European Jews, Haskalah is indebted...
(1729–1786) (Cambridge; Macmillan; Macmillan2; Oxford 1995) - Jacob MoleschottJacob MoleschottJacob Moleschott was a Dutch physiologist and writer on dietetics.Moleschott studied at Heidelberg and began the practice of medicine at Utrecht in 1845, but soon moved to Heidelberg where he lectured on physiology at the university, beginning in 1847...
(1822–1893) (Macmillan2)
N
- Arne NæssArne NæssArne Dekke Eide Næss was a Norwegian philosopher, the founder of deep ecology. He was the youngest person to be appointed full professor at the University of Oslo....
(1912-2009) (Oxford 1995) - Paul NatorpPaul NatorpPaul Gerhard Natorp was a German philosopher and educationalist, considered one of the co-founders of the Marburg school of neo-Kantianism. He was known as an authority on Plato....
(1854–1924) (Macmillan) - Leonard NelsonLeonard NelsonLeonard Nelson was a German mathematician and philosopher. He was part of the Neo-Friesian School and a friend of the mathematician David Hilbert, and devised the Grelling–Nelson paradox with Kurt Grelling...
(1882–1927) (Macmillan; Macmillan2) - Friedrich NietzscheFriedrich NietzscheFriedrich Wilhelm Nietzsche was a 19th-century German philosopher, poet, composer and classical philologist...
(1844–1900) (Cambridge; Macmillan; Macmillan2; Oxford 1995) - NovalisNovalisNovalis was the pseudonym of Georg Philipp Friedrich Freiherr von Hardenberg , an author and philosopher of early German Romanticism.-Biography:...
(1772–1801) (Cambridge)
P
- Helmuth PlessnerHelmuth PlessnerHelmuth Plessner was a German philosopher and sociologist, and a primary advocate of "philosophical anthropology" .He was Chairman from 1953-1959 of the Deutsche Gesellschaft für Soziologie....
(1892–1985) (Macmillan) - Karl PopperKarl PopperSir Karl Raimund Popper, CH FRS FBA was an Austro-British philosopher and a professor at the London School of Economics...
(1902–1994) (Cambridge; Macmillan; Oxford 1995) - Friedrich PaulsenFriedrich PaulsenFriedrich Paulsen was a German philosopher and educator.-Biography:He was born at Langenhorn and educated at Erlangen, Bonn and Berlin, where he became extraordinary professor of philosophy and pedagogy in 1878...
(July 16, 1846 – August 14, 1908),
R
- Gustav RadbruchGustav RadbruchGustav Radbruch was a German legal scholar and politician. He served as Minister of Justice of the German Empire during the early Weimar period. Radbruch is also regarded as one of the most influential legal philosophers of the 20th century.-Life:Born at Lübeck, Radbruch studied law in Munich,...
(1878–1949) (Routledge 2000) - Paul RéePaul RéePaul Ludwig Carl Heinrich Rée was a German author and philosopher, and friend of Friedrich Nietzsche.-Biography:...
(1849–1901) (Oxford 1995) - Hans ReichenbachHans ReichenbachHans Reichenbach was a leading philosopher of science, educator and proponent of logical empiricism...
(1891–1953) (Cambridge; Macmillan; Routledge 2000) - Hermann Samuel ReimarusHermann Samuel ReimarusHermann Samuel Reimarus , was a German philosopher and writer of the Enlightenment who is remembered for his Deism, the doctrine that human reason can arrive at a knowledge of God and ethics from a study of nature and our own internal reality, thus eliminating the need for religions based on...
(1694–1768) (Cambridge; Macmillan) - Adolf ReinachAdolf ReinachAdolf Bernhard Philipp Reinach , German philosopher, phenomenologist and law theorist.-Life and Works:...
(1883–1917) (Routledge 2000) - Karl Leonhard ReinholdKarl Leonhard ReinholdKarl Leonhard Reinhold was an Austrian philosopher. He was the father of Ernst Reinhold, also a philosopher.-Life:...
(1758–1823) (Cambridge; Macmillan) - Alois RiehlAlois RiehlThe philosopher Alois Adolf Riehl was born in Bozen in Austria .The brother of Josef Riehl, he was a Neo-Kantian and worked as a professor at Graz, then Freiburg and finally in Berlin, where he commissioned Mies van der Rohe to design his house in Neubabelsberg.For Riehl, philosophy was not the...
(1844–1924) (Macmillan) - Karl Rosenkranz (1805–1879) (Macmillan)
- Franz RosenzweigFranz RosenzweigFranz Rosenzweig was an influential Jewish theologian and philosopher.-Early life:Franz Rosenzweig was born in Kassel, Germany to a middle-class, minimally observant Jewish family...
(1886–1929) (Cambridge; Metzler; Oxford 1995)
S
- Max SchelerMax SchelerMax Scheler was a German philosopher known for his work in phenomenology, ethics, and philosophical anthropology...
(1874–1928) (Cambridge; Macmillan; Oxford 1995; Routledge 2000) - Friedrich Wilhelm Joseph von Schelling (1775–1854) (Cambridge; Macmillan; Oxford 1995)
- Friedrich SchillerFriedrich SchillerJohann Christoph Friedrich von Schiller was a German poet, philosopher, historian, and playwright. During the last seventeen years of his life , Schiller struck up a productive, if complicated, friendship with already famous and influential Johann Wolfgang von Goethe...
(1759–1805) (Cambridge; Macmillan; Oxford 1995)) - Friedrich von SchlegelKarl Wilhelm Friedrich von SchlegelKarl Wilhelm Friedrich Schlegel was a German poet, critic and scholar. With his older brother, August Wilhelm Schlegel, he was a critical leader of German Romanticism.-Life and work:...
(1772–1829) (Cambridge; Macmillan) - Friedrich Schleiermacher (1768–1834) (Cambridge)
- Moritz SchlickMoritz SchlickFriedrich Albert Moritz Schlick was a German philosopher, physicist and the founding father of logical positivism and the Vienna Circle.-Early life and works:...
(1882–1936) (Macmillan; Oxford 1995) - Arthur SchopenhauerArthur SchopenhauerArthur Schopenhauer was a German philosopher known for his pessimism and philosophical clarity. At age 25, he published his doctoral dissertation, On the Fourfold Root of the Principle of Sufficient Reason, which examined the four separate manifestations of reason in the phenomenal...
(1788–1860) (Cambridge; Macmillan; Oxford 1995; Routledge 2000) - Rudolf SchottlaenderRudolf SchottlaenderRudolf Schottlaender was a German philosopher, classical philologist, translator and political publicist of Jewish descent.- Biography :...
(1900-1988) - Burghart SchmidtBurghart SchmidtBurghart Schmidt is a German philosopher. He is currently professor at Hochschule für Gestaltung Offenbach and the University of Applied Arts Vienna.-Education:...
(born 1942) - Gottlob Ernst SchulzeGottlob Ernst SchulzeGottlob Ernst Schulze was born in Heldrungen . Schulze was a professor at Wittenberg, Helmstedt, and Göttingen...
(1761–1833) (Cambridge) - Alfred SchützAlfred SchützAlfred Schütz was an Austrian social scientist, whose work bridged sociological and phenomenological traditions to form a social phenomenology, and who is gradually achieving recognition as one of the foremost philosophers of social science of the [twentieth] century.-Life:Schütz was born in...
(1899–1959) (Routledge 2000) - Christoph von SigwartChristoph von SigwartChristoph von Sigwart was a German philosopher and logician. He was the son of philosopher Heinrich Christoph Wilhelm Sigwart .-Life:...
(1830–1894) (Macmillan) - Georg SimmelGeorg SimmelGeorg Simmel was a major German sociologist, philosopher, and critic.Simmel was one of the first generation of German sociologists: his neo-Kantian approach laid the foundations for sociological antipositivism, asking 'What is society?' in a direct allusion to Kant's question 'What is nature?',...
(1858–1918) (Cambridge; Routledge 2000) - Peter SloterdijkPeter SloterdijkPeter Sloterdijk is a German philosopher, television host, cultural scientist and essayist. He is a professor of philosophy and media theory at the University of Art and Design Karlsruhe. He currently co-hosts the German show Im Glashaus: Das Philosophische Quartett.-Biography:Sloterdijk's father...
(born 1947) - Karl Wilhelm Ferdinand SolgerKarl Wilhelm Ferdinand SolgerKarl Wilhelm Ferdinand Solger was a German philosopher and academic. He is known as a theorist of Romanticism, and of irony.-Biography:...
(1780–1890) (Macmillan) - Oswald SpenglerOswald SpenglerOswald Manuel Arnold Gottfried Spengler was a German historian and philosopher whose interests also included mathematics, science, and art. He is best known for his book The Decline of the West , published in 1918, which puts forth a cyclical theory of the rise and decline of civilizations...
(1880–1936) - Afrikan Spir (1837–1890) (Cambridge)
- Rudolf SteinerRudolf SteinerRudolf Joseph Lorenz Steiner was an Austrian philosopher, social reformer, architect, and esotericist. He gained initial recognition as a literary critic and cultural philosopher...
(1861–1925) (Macmillan) - Max StirnerMax StirnerJohann Kaspar Schmidt , better known as Max Stirner , was a German philosopher, who ranks as one of the literary fathers of nihilism, existentialism, post-modernism and anarchism, especially of individualist anarchism...
(nom de plume for Johann Kaspar Schmidt) (1806–1856) (Cambridge; Macmillan; Oxford 1995) - Leo StraussLeo StraussLeo Strauss was a political philosopher and classicist who specialized in classical political philosophy. He was born in Germany to Jewish parents and later emigrated to the United States...
(1899–1973) (Routledge 2000) - Karl StumpfCarl StumpfCarl Stumpf was a German philosopher and psychologist.Born in Wiesentheid, he studied with Franz Brentano and Hermann Lotze...
(1848–1936) (Macmillan)
T
- Gustav TeichmüllerGustav TeichmüllerGustav Teichmüller was a German philosopher.-Biography:Teichmüller was born in Braunschweig. He taught as a professor at the Basel University and the Imperial University of Dorpat...
(1832–1888) (Cambridge) - Johannes Nikolaus TetensJohannes Nikolaus TetensJohannes Nikolaus Tetens was a German philosopher, statistician and scientist.He has been called 'the German Hume', on the basis of a comparison of his major work Philosophische Versuche über die menschliche Natur und ihre Entwickelung with David Hume's A Treatise of Human Nature...
(1736–1807) (Cambridge; Macmillan; Routledge 2000) - Michael Theunissen (born 1932)
- Christian ThomasiusChristian ThomasiusChristian Thomasius was a German jurist and philosopher.- Biography :He was born at Leipzig and was educated by his father, Jakob Thomasius , at that time head master of Thomasschule zu Leipzig...
(1655–1728) (Macmillan; Sassen) - Ernst TroeltschErnst TroeltschErnst Troeltsch was a German Protestant theologian and writer on philosophy of religion and philosophy of history, and an influential figure in German thought before 1914...
(1865–1923) (Cambridge; Routledge 2000)
- Ernst TugendhatErnst TugendhatErnst Tugendhat is a Czech-born German philosopher. He was born in Brno, Czechoslovakia, to a wealthy Jewish family that commissioned Mies van der Rohe with the Villa Tugendhat in Brno. In 1938 the family emigrated from Czechoslovakia to St...
(born 1930) leading analytical philosopher, books on Aristoteles, Heidegger, ethics
V
- Hans VaihingerHans VaihingerHans Vaihinger was a German philosopher, best known as a Kant scholar and for his Philosophie des Als Ob , published in 1911, but written more than thirty years earlier....
(1852–1933) (Cambridge; Macmillan; Oxford 1995; Routledge 2000) - Friedrich Theodor VischerFriedrich Theodor VischerFriedrich Theodor Vischer was a German writer on the philosophy of art.Born at Ludwigsburg as the son of a clergyman, Vischer was educated at Tübinger Stift, and began life in his father's profession...
(1807–1887) (Macmillan)
W
- Richard WahleRichard WahleRichard Wahle was professor of philosophy at the Universities of Czernowitz and Vienna.Wahle pronounced in his Tragicomedy of Wisdom on what he acknowledged as only "definite, agnostic, absolute critique of knowledge" and psychology as surviving, or rather maintained that critiques of knowledge,...
(1857–1935) (Macmillan) - Max WeberMax WeberKarl Emil Maximilian "Max" Weber was a German sociologist and political economist who profoundly influenced social theory, social research, and the discipline of sociology itself...
(Macmillan) - Otto WeiningerOtto WeiningerOtto Weininger was an Austrian philosopher. In 1903, he published the book Geschlecht und Charakter , which gained popularity after his suicide at the age of 23...
- Christian Hermann WeisseChristian Hermann WeisseChristian Hermann Weisse , was a German Protestant religious philosopher.- Philosophy :He was born at Leipzig, and studied at the university there, at first adhering to the Hegelian school of philosophy. In the course of time, his ideas changed, and became close to those of Schelling in his later...
(1801–1866) - Hermann WeylHermann WeylHermann Klaus Hugo Weyl was a German mathematician and theoretical physicist. Although much of his working life was spent in Zürich, Switzerland and then Princeton, he is associated with the University of Göttingen tradition of mathematics, represented by David Hilbert and Hermann Minkowski.His...
(1885–1955) (Macmillan) - Wilhelm WindelbandWilhelm WindelbandWilhelm Windelband was a German philosopher of the Baden School.Windelband is now mainly remembered for the terms nomothetic and idiographic, which he introduced. These have currency in psychology and other areas, though not necessarily in line with his original meanings...
(1848–1915) (Cambridge; Macmillan) - Ludwig WittgensteinLudwig WittgensteinLudwig Josef Johann Wittgenstein was an Austrian philosopher who worked primarily in logic, the philosophy of mathematics, the philosophy of mind, and the philosophy of language. He was professor in philosophy at the University of Cambridge from 1939 until 1947...
(1889–1951) (Cambridge; Macmillan; Oxford 1995) - Christian WolffChristian Wolff (philosopher)Christian Wolff was a German philosopher.He was the most eminent German philosopher between Leibniz and Kant...
(1679–1754) (Cambridge; Macmillan; Oxford 1995; Routledge 2000; Sassen) - Wilhelm WundtWilhelm WundtWilhelm Maximilian Wundt was a German physician, psychologist, physiologist, philosopher, and professor, known today as one of the founding figures of modern psychology. He is widely regarded as the "father of experimental psychology"...
(1832–1920) (Cambridge; Macmillan; Routledge 2000)
See also
- List of German-language poets
- List of German-language authors
- German philosophyGerman philosophyGerman philosophy, here taken to mean either philosophy in the German language or philosophy by Germans, has been extremely diverse, and central to both the analytic and continental traditions in philosophy for centuries, from Leibniz through Kant, Hegel, Schopenhauer, Marx, Nietzsche, Heidegger...
- List of philosophers
- List of philosophers born in the eleventh through fourteenth centuries
- List of philosophers born in the fifteenth and sixteenth centuries
- List of philosophers born in the seventeenth century
- List of philosophers born in the eighteenth century
- List of philosophers born in the nineteenth century
- List of philosophers born in the twentieth century
- List of living philosophers and academics of philosophy