Alfred Schmidt (philosopher)

Alfred Schmidt ( born May 19, 1931 in Berlin, † August 28, 2012 in Frankfurt am Main ) was a German philosopher. He is considered a " pioneer of a non-dogmatic - emancipatory Marx Reception ".

Life

Alfred Schmidt studied history, English and Classical Studies at the Goethe University in Frankfurt am Main, later, philosophy and sociology. The pupil of Max Horkheimer and Theodor W. Adorno came from a humble background. Schmidt's father was a mechanic, which was a noticeable contrast to the commercial ( Horkheimer ) and intellectual family background ( Adorno) of his teachers. In traditional correspondence " is sometimes derisively, our Schmidt ' talk, let him work for menial tasks as before servants and maids to squires sitting", Rudolf Walther writes in the taz.

1960 Alfred Schmidt received his doctorate with a thesis on the concept of nature in Marx that " a new chapter of Marx Reception " hit. Translated into 18 languages ​​, it was. " One of the most widely read books in the European protest movement" of the 1960s and 1970s 1972 Schmidt was a professor of philosophy and sociology at the University of Frankfurt as the successor to Jürgen Habermas on the chair by Max Horkheimer. His " Thursday lecture was legendary in the 80s and attracted many non-specialists to ". Schmidt retired in 1999 but continued to hold lectures.

The main areas of research of Alfred Schmidt were the Critical Theory of the Frankfurt School, History of Materialism, Philosophy of Religion, Masonic Research, Ludwig Feuerbach and Schopenhauer. He was also active as a translator of English and French writings.

Alfred Schmidt was a member of the PEN center of Germany and Honorary Member of the Schopenhauer Society. He belonged to the Masonic Lodge Frankfurt to unity. In 1989 him the Goethe Medal of the City of Frankfurt am Main and in 1998 was awarded the Federal Cross of Merit on ribbon.

His estate was awarded in November 2012, the Archives Center of the University Library Johann Christian Senckenberg, Goethe University Frankfurt am Main, including numerous correspondence, manuscripts, electronic records of three traditional computers and his extensive private library (260 linear meters, approx. 8,000 books) in over 600 moving boxes.

Writings

  • The Concept of Nature in the Thought of Karl Marx. European publishing house, Frankfurt am Main 1971, ISBN 3-434-45011-4.
  • Emancipatory sensuality. Ludwig Feuerbach's anthropological materialism. Hanser, Munich 1973, ISBN 3-446-11652-4.
  • On the idea of Critical Theory. Elements of philosophy Max Horkheimer. Hanser, Munich 1974, ISBN 3-446-11863-2.
  • With Werner Post: What is materialism? . Kösel, Munich, 1975, ISBN 3-466-40000-7.
  • Critical theory as a philosophy of history. Hanser, Munich 1976, ISBN 3-446-12201- X.
  • History and structure. Questions of Marxist History. Hanser, Munich 1977, ISBN 3-446-11504-8.
  • Three studies on materialism. Schopenhauer. Horkheimer. Fortunately problem. Hanser, Munich 1977, ISBN 3-446-12460-8.
  • Critical theory, humanism, Enlightenment. Philosophical works. Reclam, Stuttgart 1981, ISBN 3-15-009977-3.
  • Goethe's wonderfully luminous nature. Philosophical study of the late German Enlightenment. Hanser, Munich 1984, ISBN 3-446-14141-3.
  • The truth in the guise of a lie. Schopenhauer's philosophy of religion. Piper, Munich and Zurich 1986, ISBN 3-492-10639-0.
  • Heidegger and the Frankfurt School - Herbert Marcuse's Heideggerian Marxism. In: Peter Kemper: Martin Heidegger - fascination and horror. Campus, Frankfurt am Main and New York, 1990, ISBN 3- 593-34372 -X.
  • Virtue and course of the world. Lectures and essays on the philosophy of Schopenhauer ( 1960-2003 ). Lang, Frankfurt am Main 2004, ISBN 3-631-38001-1.
  • Alfred Schmidt: practice, in: Hermann Krings, Hans Michael Baumgartner, Christoph Wild (eds. ) Handbook of Philosophical basic concepts. Study Vol. 4, Munich: Kösel, 1973, p 1107ff.
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