Karl Löwith
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Karl Löwith (January 9, 1897 – May 26, 1973), was a German-Jewish philosopher, a student of Heidegger.
Löwith was born in Munich. As a Jew he was forced to flee Germany during the reign of Nazism in the Third Reich, spending five of those years (1936-1941) in Japan,[1] but returned in 1952 to teach as Professor of Philosophy at Heidelberg, where he died.
He is probably most known for his two books From Hegel to Nietzsche, which describes the decline of German classical philosophy, and Meaning in History, which discusses the problematic relationship between theology and history. Löwith's argument in Meaning in History is that the western view of history is confused by the relationship between Christian faith and the modern view, which is neither Christian nor pagan.[1] Löwith describes this relationship through famous western philosophers and historians, including Burckhardt, Marx, Hegel, Voltaire, Vico, Bossuet, Augustine and Orosius.[2] The modern historical consciousness is, according to Löwith, derived from Christianity. But, Christians are not a historical people, as their view of the world is based on faith. This explains the tendency in history (and philosophy) to an eschatological view of human progress.[2]
Bibliography
- Löwith, Karl (1949). Meaning in History: The Theological Implications of the Philosophy of History. University of Chicago Press. ISBN 0224695558.
- Löwith, Karl (1964). From Hegel to Nietzsche. Columbia University Press. ISBN 0231074999.
- Löwith, Karl (1993). Max Weber and Karl Marx. Routledge. ISBN 0415093813.
References
- ^ a b Richard Wolin (2001). "Karl Löwith: The Stoic Response to Modern Nihilism". Heidegger's Children: Hannah Arendt, Karl Lowith, Hans Jonas, and Herbert Marcuse. Princeton University Press. pp. 70–100. ISBN 069111479X,. http://books.google.com/books?id=HoACik3OHi8C&printsec=frontcover&source=gbs_summary_r&cad=0#PPA71,M1. Retrieved 2009-04-08.
- ^ a b Karl Löwith (1949). Meaning in history: The Theological Implications of the Philosophy of History. University of Chicago Press. pp. 257. ISBN 0226495558. http://books.google.com/books?id=FcwN-pF8dGQC. Retrieved 2009-04-08.
