List of German-language philosophers
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German-language German ( ) is a West Germanic language mainly spoken in Central Europe. It is the most widely spoken and official or co-official language in Germany, Austria, Switzerland, Liechtenstein, and the Italian province of South Tyrol. It is also a ...
philosopher A philosopher is a person who practices or investigates philosophy. The term ''philosopher'' comes from the grc, φιλόσοφος, , translit=philosophos, meaning 'lover of wisdom'. The coining of the term has been attributed to the Greek th ...
s. The following
individuals An individual is that which exists as a distinct entity. Individuality (or self-hood) is the state or quality of being an individual; particularly (in the case of humans) of being a person unique from other people and possessing one's own nee ...
have written philosophical texts in the
German language German ( ) is a West Germanic language mainly spoken in Central Europe. It is the most widely spoken and official or co-official language in Germany, Austria, Switzerland, Liechtenstein, and the Italian province of South Tyrol. It is also a ...
. Many are categorized as
German philosophers German(s) may refer to: * Germany (of or related to) ** Germania (historical use) * Germans, citizens of Germany, people of German ancestry, or native speakers of the German language ** For citizens of Germany, see also German nationality law ** ...
or Austrian philosophers, but some are neither
German German(s) may refer to: * Germany (of or related to) **Germania (historical use) * Germans, citizens of Germany, people of German ancestry, or native speakers of the German language ** For citizens of Germany, see also German nationality law **Ge ...
nor
Austria Austria, , bar, Östareich officially the Republic of Austria, is a country in the southern part of Central Europe, lying in the Eastern Alps. It is a federation of nine states, one of which is the capital, Vienna, the most populous ...
n by
ethnicity An ethnic group or an ethnicity is a grouping of people who identify with each other on the basis of shared attributes that distinguish them from other groups. Those attributes can include common sets of traditions, ancestry, language, history, ...
or
nationality Nationality is a legal identification of a person in international law, establishing the person as a subject, a ''national'', of a sovereign state. It affords the state jurisdiction over the person and affords the person the protection of t ...
. 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 written 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. *(Macmillan)
Macmillan MacMillan, Macmillan, McMillen or McMillan may refer to: People * McMillan (surname) * Clan MacMillan, a Highland Scottish clan * Harold Macmillan, British statesman and politician * James MacMillan, Scottish composer * William Duncan MacMillan ...
's ''Encyclopedia of Philosophy'', 1st edition (Paul Edwards, chief editor), 1973. **(Macmillan2) 2nd edition (Donald M. Borchert, chief editor), 2006, *(Metzler) ''Metzler Philosophen Lexikon: von den Vorsokratikern bis zu den Neuen Philosophen'', 3rd ed., Bernd Lutz (Stuttgart: Metzler, 2003). *(Oxford 1995) ''The Oxford Companion to Philosophy''. Oxford University Press, 1995, . **(Oxford 2005) 2005, *(Routledge 1998) '' Routledge Encyclopedia of Philosophy''. Routledge, 1998, . **(Routledge 2000) ''Concise Routledge Encyclopedia of Philosophy''. Routledge, 2000, *(Stanford) Peer-reviewed online ''
Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy The ''Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy'' (''SEP'') combines an online encyclopedia of philosophy with peer-reviewed publication of original papers in philosophy, freely accessible to Internet users. It is maintained by Stanford University. E ...
''. **(Sassen) Brigitte Sassen.
18th Century German Philosophy Prior to Kant
in ''
Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy The ''Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy'' (''SEP'') combines an online encyclopedia of philosophy with peer-reviewed publication of original papers in philosophy, freely accessible to Internet users. It is maintained by Stanford University. E ...
''


A

: Thomas Abbt (1738–1766) ''(Macmillan)'' : Theodor Adorno (1903–1969) ''(Cambridge; Macmillan2; Oxford 1995; Routledge 2000)'' : Magdalena Aebi (1898–1980) : Günther Anders (1902–1992) : Karl-Otto Apel (1922–2017) ''(Macmillan2)'' :
Hannah Arendt Hannah Arendt (, , ; 14 October 1906 – 4 December 1975) was a political philosopher, author, and Holocaust survivor. She is widely considered to be one of the most influential political theorists of the 20th century. Arendt was born ...
(1906–1975) ''(Macmillan2)'' :
Richard Avenarius Richard Ludwig Heinrich Avenarius (19 November 1843 – 18 August 1896) was a German-Swiss philosopher. He formulated the radical positivist doctrine of "empirical criticism" or empirio-criticism. Life Avenarius attended the Nicolaischule in ...
(1843–1896) ''(Cambridge; Macmillan2; Oxford 1995; Routledge 2000)''


B

:
Franz Xaver von Baader Franz von Baader (27 March 1765 – 23 May 1841), born Benedikt Franz Xaver Baader, was a German Catholic philosopher, theologian, physician, and mining engineer. Resisting the empiricism of his day, he denounced most Western philosophy ...
(1765–1841) ''(Macmillan2)'' : Johann Jakob Bachofen (1815–1887) ''(Macmillan2)'' :
Johann Bernhard Basedow Johann Bernhard Basedow (11 September 1724 – 25 July 1790) 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 "''Elementarw ...
(1723–1790) ''(Macmillan2)'' :
Bruno Bauer Bruno Bauer (; 6 September 180913 April 1882) was a German philosopher and theologian. As a student of G. W. F. Hegel, Bauer was a radical Rationalist in philosophy, politics and Biblical criticism. Bauer investigated the sources of the New Te ...
(1809–1882) ''(Oxford 1995)'' :
Jakob Sigismund Beck Jakob Sigismund Beck (originally Jacob Sigismund Beck; 6 August 1761 – 29 August 1840) was a German philosopher. Biography Beck was born in the village of Liessau (Lisewo) in the rural district of Marienburg (Malbork) in Royal Prussia, Poland ...
(1761–1840) ''(Macmillan2)'' :
Friedrich Eduard Beneke Friedrich Eduard Beneke (; 17 February 1798 – c. 1 March 1854) was a German psychologist and post-Kantian philosopher. Life Beneke was born in Berlin. He studied at the universities of Halle and Berlin, and served as a volunteer in the W ...
(1798–1854) ''(Cambridge; Macmillan2)'' :
Walter Benjamin Walter Bendix Schönflies Benjamin (; ; 15 July 1892 – 26 September 1940) was a German Jewish philosopher, cultural critic and essayist. An eclectic thinker, combining elements of German idealism, Romanticism, Western Marxism, and Jewish ...
(1892–1940) ''(Macmillan2; Oxford 1995; Routledge 2000)'' : Ernst Bloch (1885–1977) ''(Cambridge; Macmillan2; Routledge 2000)'' : Hans Blumenberg (1920–1996) ''(Metzler)'' : Ludwig Boltzmann (1844–1906) ''(Oxford 1995)'' : Bernhard Bolzano (1781–1848) ''(Cambridge; Macmillan2; Oxford 1995; Routledge 2000)'' :
Franz Brentano Franz Clemens Honoratus Hermann Josef Brentano (; ; 16 January 1838 – 17 March 1917) was an influential German philosopher, psychologist, and former Catholic priest (withdrawn in 1873 due to the definition of papal infallibility in matters o ...
(1838–1907) ''(Cambridge; Macmillan2; Oxford 1995; Routledge 2000)'' :
Martin Buber Martin Buber ( he, מרטין בובר; german: Martin Buber; yi, מארטין בובער; February 8, 1878 – June 13, 1965) was an Austrian Jewish and Israeli philosopher best known for his philosophy of dialogue, a form of existentialism ...
(1878–1965) ''(Cambridge; Oxford 1995; Routledge 2000; Stanford)'' : Ludwig Büchner (1824–1899) ''(Macmillan; Routledge 2000)''


C

:
Rudolf Carnap Rudolf Carnap (; ; 18 May 1891 – 14 September 1970) was a German-language philosopher who was active in Europe before 1935 and in the United States thereafter. He was a major member of the Vienna Circle and an advocate of logical positivism. ...
(1891–1970) ''(Cambridge; Macmillan2; Oxford 1995; Routledge 2000)'' : Ernst Cassirer (1874–1945) ''(Cambridge; Macmillan2; Oxford 1995)'' : Hermann Cohen (1842–1918) ''(Cambridge; Macmillan2; Oxford 1995)'' : Christian August Crusius (1715–1775) ''(Cambridge; Macmillan2; Routledge 2000)'' : Heinrich Czolbe (1819–1873) ''(Cambridge)''


D

:
Max Dessoir Maximilian Dessoir (8 February 1867 – 19 July 1947) was a German philosopher, psychologist and theorist of aesthetics. Career Dessoir was born in Berlin, into a German Jewish family, his parents being Ludwig Dessoir (1810-1874), "Germany's m ...
(1867–1947) ''(Macmillan)'' :
Wilhelm Dilthey Wilhelm Dilthey (; ; 19 November 1833 – 1 October 1911) was a German historian, psychologist, sociologist, and hermeneutic philosopher, who held G. W. F. Hegel's Chair in Philosophy at the University of Berlin. As a polymathic philosopher, w ...
(1833–1911) ''(Cambridge; Macmillan2; Oxford 1995)'' : Eugen Dühring (1833–1921) ''(Routledge 2000)''


E

: Johann Augustus Eberhard (1739–1809) ''(Macmillan2; Routledge 2000)'' :
Albert Einstein Albert Einstein ( ; ; 14 March 1879 – 18 April 1955) was a German-born theoretical physicist, widely acknowledged to be one of the greatest and most influential physicists of all time. Einstein is best known for developing the theor ...
(1879–1955) ''(Macmillan)'' :
Friedrich Engels Friedrich Engels ( ,"Engels"
'' Gustav Fechner Gustav Theodor Fechner (; ; 19 April 1801 – 18 November 1887) was a German physicist, philosopher, and experimental psychologist. A pioneer in experimental psychology and founder of psychophysics (techniques for measuring the mind), he ins ...
(1801–1887) ''(Cambridge)'' : Ludwig Andreas Feuerbach (1804–1872) ''(Cambridge; Macmillan2; Oxford 1995)'' :
Johann Gottlieb Fichte Johann Gottlieb Fichte (; ; 19 May 1762 – 29 January 1814) was a German philosopher who became a founding figure of the philosophical movement known as German idealism German idealism was a philosophical movement that emerged in Germany in ...
(1762–1814) ''(Cambridge; Macmillan2; Oxford 1995)'' :
Gottlob Frege Friedrich Ludwig Gottlob Frege (; ; 8 November 1848 – 26 July 1925) was a German philosopher, logician, and mathematician. He was a mathematics professor at the University of Jena, and is understood by many to be the father of analytic p ...
(1848–1925) ''(Cambridge; Macmillan2; Oxford 1995; Routledge 2000)'' : Jakob Friedrich Fries (1773–1843) ''(Macmillan2; Routledge 2000)''


G

:
Hans-Georg Gadamer Hans-Georg Gadamer (; ; February 11, 1900 – March 13, 2002) was a German philosopher of the continental tradition, best known for his 1960 '' magnum opus'', '' Truth and Method'' (''Wahrheit und Methode''), on hermeneutics. Life Family ...
(1900–2002) ''(Cambridge; Macmillan2; Oxford 1995; Routledge 2000)'' : Arnold Gehlen (1904–1976) ''(Metzler)'' :
Kurt Gödel Kurt Friedrich Gödel ( , ; April 28, 1906 – January 14, 1978) was a logician, mathematician, and philosopher. Considered along with Aristotle and Gottlob Frege to be one of the most significant logicians in history, Gödel had an imm ...
(1906–1978) ''(Oxford 1995)'' :
Johann Wolfgang von Goethe Johann Wolfgang von Goethe (28 August 1749 – 22 March 1832) was a German poet, playwright, novelist, scientist, statesman, theatre director, and critic. His works include plays, poetry, literature, and aesthetic criticism, as well as t ...
(1749–1832) :
Johann Christoph Gottsched Johann Christoph Gottsched (2 February 1700 – 12 December 1766) was a German philosopher, author and critic of the Enlightenment. Biography Early life He was born at Juditten (Mendeleyevo) near Königsberg (Kaliningrad), Brandenburg-Pr ...
(1700–1766) ''(Macmillan2; Sassen)''


H

:
Jürgen Habermas Jürgen Habermas (, ; ; born 18 June 1929) is a German social theorist in the tradition of critical theory and pragmatism. His work addresses communicative rationality and the public sphere. Associated with the Frankfurt School, Habermas's wo ...
(born 1929) ''(Cambridge; Macmillan2; Routledge 2000)'' :
Ernst Haeckel Ernst Heinrich Philipp August Haeckel (; 16 February 1834 – 9 August 1919) was a German zoologist, naturalist, eugenicist, philosopher, physician, professor, marine biologist and artist. He discovered, described and named thousands of new s ...
(1834–1919) ''(Macmillan2)'' : Johann Georg Hamann (1730–1788) ''(Cambridge)'' :
Karl Robert Eduard von Hartmann Karl Robert Eduard von Hartmann, was a German philosopher, independent scholar and author of '' Philosophy of the Unconscious'' (1869). His notable ideas include the theory of the Unconscious and a pessimistic interpretation of the "best of all ...
(1842–1906) ''(Cambridge; Macmillan; Oxford 1995)'' :
Nicolai Hartmann Paul Nicolai Hartmann (; 20 February 1882 – 9 October 1950) was a Baltic German philosopher. He is regarded as a key representative of critical realism and as one of the most important twentieth-century metaphysicians. Biography Hartmann w ...
(1882–1950) ''(Cambridge; Macmillan2; Oxford 1995)'' :
Georg Wilhelm Friedrich Hegel Georg Wilhelm Friedrich Hegel (; ; 27 August 1770 – 14 November 1831) was a German philosopher. He is one of the most important figures in German idealism and one of the founding figures of modern Western philosophy. His influence extends ...
(1770–1831) ''(Macmillan2; Oxford 1995)'' :
Martin Heidegger Martin Heidegger (; ; 26 September 188926 May 1976) was a German philosopher who is best known for contributions to phenomenology, hermeneutics, and existentialism. He is among the most important and influential philosophers of the 20th centu ...
(1889–1976) ''(Cambridge; Macmillan; Oxford 1995)'' :
Carl Gustav Hempel Carl Gustav "Peter" Hempel (January 8, 1905 – November 9, 1997) was a German writer, philosopher, logician, and epistemologist. He was a major figure in logical empiricism, a 20th-century movement in the philosophy of science. He is e ...
(1905–1997) ''(Cambridge; Macmillan2)'' : Johann Friedrich Herbart (1776–1841) ''(Cambridge; Macmillan2; Routledge 2000)'' : Johann Gottfried von Herder (1744–1803) ''(Cambridge; Macmillan2; Oxford 1995)'' :
Heinrich Rudolf Hertz Heinrich Rudolf Hertz ( ; ; 22 February 1857 – 1 January 1894) was a German physicist who first conclusively proved the existence of the electromagnetic waves predicted by James Clerk Maxwell's equations of electromagnetism. The unit ...
(1857–1894) ''(Macmillan2)'' :
Moses Hess Moses (Moritz) Hess (21 January 1812 – 6 April 1875) was a German-Jewish philosopher, early communist and Zionist thinker. His socialist theories led to disagreements with Karl Marx and Friedrich Engels. He is considered a pioneer of Labor ...
(1812–1875) ''(Routledge 2000)'' :
David Hilbert David Hilbert (; ; 23 January 1862 – 14 February 1943) was a German mathematician, one of the most influential mathematicians of the 19th and early 20th centuries. Hilbert discovered and developed a broad range of fundamental ideas in many ...
(1862–1943) ''(Cambridge)'' : Richard Hönigswald ''(Macmillan2)'' :
Hans Heinz Holz Hans Heinz Holz (26 February 1927 – 11 December 2011) was a German Marxist philosopher. Born in Frankfurt am Main, he was professor of philosophy at the University of Marburg (from 1971 to 1979) and from 1979 to 1993 at the Universit ...
(1927–2011) ''(Metzler)'' :
Max Horkheimer Max Horkheimer (; ; 14 February 1895 – 7 July 1973) was a German philosopher and sociologist who was famous for his work in critical theory as a member of the Frankfurt School of social research. Horkheimer addressed authoritarianism, militari ...
(1895–1973) ''(Cambridge; Macmillan2)'' :
Wilhelm von Humboldt Friedrich Wilhelm Christian Karl Ferdinand von Humboldt (, also , ; ; 22 June 1767 – 8 April 1835) was a Prussian philosopher, linguist, government functionary, diplomat, and founder of the Humboldt University of Berlin, which was named afte ...
(1767–1835) ''(Oxford 1995)'' :
Edmund Husserl , thesis1_title = Beiträge zur Variationsrechnung (Contributions to the Calculus of Variations) , thesis1_url = https://fedora.phaidra.univie.ac.at/fedora/get/o:58535/bdef:Book/view , thesis1_year = 1883 , thesis2_title ...
(1859–1938) ''(Cambridge; Macmillan2; Oxford 1995; Routledge 1998; Routledge 2000)''


I

: Roman Ingarden (1893–1970) ''(Routledge 1998)''


J

: Friedrich Heinrich Jacobi (1743–1819) ''(Macmillan2; Oxford 1995)'' :
Karl Jaspers Karl Theodor Jaspers (, ; 23 February 1883 – 26 February 1969) was a German-Swiss psychiatrist and philosopher who had a strong influence on modern theology, psychiatry, and philosophy. After being trained in and practicing psychiatry, Jaspe ...
(1883–1969) ''(Cambridge; Macmillan2; Oxford 1995)'' :
Hans Jonas Hans Jonas (; ; 10 May 1903 – 5 February 1993) was a German-born American Jewish philosopher, from 1955 to 1976 the Alvin Johnson Professor of Philosophy at the New School for Social Research in New York City. Biography Jonas was born ...
(1903–1993)


K

:
Immanuel Kant Immanuel Kant (, , ; 22 April 1724 – 12 February 1804) was a German philosopher and one of the central Enlightenment thinkers. Born in Königsberg, Kant's comprehensive and systematic works in epistemology, metaphysics, ethics, and ...
(1724–1804) ''(Cambridge; Macmillan2; Oxford 1995; Routledge 2000)'' : Hermann von Keyserling (1880–1946) ''(Macmillan2)'' :
Ludwig Klages Friedrich Konrad Eduard Wilhelm Ludwig Klages (10 December 1872 – 29 July 1956) was a German philosopher, psychologist, graphologist, poet, writer, and lecturer, who was a two-time nominee for the Nobel Prize in Literature. In the Germanosp ...
(1872–1956) ''(Macmillan2)'' : Heinrich von Kleist (1771–1811) ''(Cambridge)'' : Martin Knutzen (1713–1751) ''(Macmillan2)'' : Karl C.F. Krause (1781–1832) ''(Cambridge; Macmillan2)'' :
Felix Krueger Felix Krueger (or Krüger) (10 August 1874 in Posen; - 25 February 1948 in Basel) was a German psychologist and philosopher. He was a student of Wilhelm Wundt (who is regarded as the father of psychology). From 1912 - 1913 Krueger was an exchange ...
(1874–1948) ''(Macmillan2)'' : Oswald Kuelpe (1862–1915) ''(Macmillan2)''


L

: Ernst Laas (1837–1885) ''(Macmillan2)'' :
Johann Heinrich Lambert Johann Heinrich Lambert (, ''Jean-Henri Lambert'' in French; 26 or 28 August 1728 – 25 September 1777) was a polymath from the Republic of Mulhouse, generally referred to as either Swiss or French, who made important contributions to the subject ...
(1728–1777) ''(Cambridge; Macmillan2; Routledge 2000)'' :
Friedrich Albert Lange Friedrich Albert Lange (; 28 September 1828 – 21 November 1875) 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, Züric ...
(1828–1875) ''(Cambridge; Macmillan2; Routledge 2000)'' : Gottfried Wilhelm von Leibniz (1646–1716) :
Gotthold Ephraim Lessing Gotthold Ephraim Lessing (, ; 22 January 1729 – 15 February 1781) was a philosopher, dramatist, publicist and art critic, and a representative of the Enlightenment era. His plays and theoretical writings substantially influenced the develop ...
(1729–1781) ''(Cambridge; Oxford 1995)'' : Dieter Leisegang (1942–1973) :
Otto Liebmann Otto Liebmann (; 25 February 1840 – 14 January 1912) was a German neo-Kantian philosopher. Biography He was born at Löwenberg, Silesia, into a Jewish family, and educated at Leipzig and Halle. He was made professor at Strassburg (1872) ...
(1840–1912) ''(Macmillan2)'' : Hans Lipps (1889–1941) : Paul Lorenzen (1915–1994) ''(Routledge 2000)'' : Hermann Lotze (1817–1881) ''(Cambridge; Macmillan2; Oxford 1995)'' : Karl Löwith (1897–1973) ''(Metzler)'' : Georg Lukács (1885–1971) ''(Cambridge; Macmillan2; Oxford 1995)''


M

:
Ernst Mach Ernst Waldfried Josef Wenzel Mach ( , ; 18 February 1838 – 19 February 1916) was a Moravian-born Austrian physicist and philosopher, who contributed to the physics of shock waves. The ratio of one's speed to that of sound is named the Mach n ...
(1838–1916) ''(Cambridge; Macmillan2; Routledge 2000)'' : Salomon Maimon (1754–1800) ''(Cambridge; Macmillan2)'' :
Philipp Mainländer Philipp Mainländer (5 October 1841 – 1 April 1876) was a German philosopher and poet. Born Philipp Batz, he later changed his name to "Mainländer" in homage to his hometown, Offenbach am Main. In his central work (''The Philosophy of R ...
(1841–1876) :
Herbert Marcuse Herbert Marcuse (; ; July 19, 1898 – July 29, 1979) was a German-American philosopher, social critic, and political theorist, associated with the Frankfurt School of critical theory. Born in Berlin, Marcuse studied at the Humboldt University ...
(1898–1979) ''(Cambridge; Metzler)'' :
Giwi Margwelaschwili Giwi Margwelaschwili ( ka, გივი მარგველაშვილი ''Givi Margvelashvili''; 14 December 1927 – 13 March 2020) was a German- Georgian writer and philosopher. Born in Berlin to Georgian parents, he was raised as a Ge ...
(1927–2020) :
Karl Marx Karl Heinrich Marx (; 5 May 1818 – 14 March 1883) was a German philosopher, economist, historian, sociologist, political theorist, journalist, critic of political economy, and socialist revolutionary. His best-known titles are the 1848 ...
(1818–1883) ''(Cambridge; Stanford)'' : Fritz Medicus (1876–1956) : Georg Friedrich Meier (1718–1777) ''(Macmillan2)'' :
Friedrich Meinecke Friedrich Meinecke (October 20, 1862 – February 6, 1954) was a German historian, with national liberal and anti-Semitic views, who supported the Nazi invasion of Poland. After World War II, as a representative of an older tradition, he crit ...
(1862–1954) ''(Macmillan2)'' : Alexius Meinong (1853–1920) ''(Cambridge; Oxford 1995; Routledge 2000)'' :
Moses Mendelssohn Moses Mendelssohn (6 September 1729 – 4 January 1786) was a German-Jewish philosopher and theologian. His writings and ideas on Jews and the Jewish religion and identity were a central element in the development of the '' Haskalah'', or ...
(1729–1786) ''(Cambridge; Macmillan; Macmillan2; Oxford 1995)'' :
Ludwig von Mises Ludwig Heinrich Edler von Mises (; 29 September 1881 – 10 October 1973) was an Austrian School economist, historian, logician, and sociologist. Mises wrote and lectured extensively on the societal contributions of classical liberalism. He is ...
(1881–1973) :
Jacob Moleschott Jacob Moleschott (9 August 1822 – 20 May 1893) was a Dutch physiologist and writer on dietetics. He is known for his philosophical views in regard to scientific materialism. He was a member of German Academy of Sciences Leopoldina (since 1884). ...
(1822–1893) ''(Macmillan2)''


N

: Arne Næss (1912–2009) ''(Oxford 1995)'' :
Paul Natorp Paul Gerhard Natorp (24 January 1854 – 17 August 1924) 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. Biography Paul Natorp was ...
(1854–1924) ''(Macmillan)'' : Leonard Nelson (1882–1927) ''(Macmillan; Macmillan2)'' :
Friedrich Nietzsche Friedrich Wilhelm Nietzsche (; or ; 15 October 1844 – 25 August 1900) was a German philosopher, prose poet, cultural critic, philologist, and composer whose work has exerted a profound influence on contemporary philosophy. He began his ...
(1844–1900) ''(Cambridge; Macmillan; Macmillan2; Oxford 1995)'' :
Novalis Georg Philipp Friedrich Freiherr von Hardenberg (2 May 1772 – 25 March 1801), pen name Novalis (), was a German polymath who was a writer, philosopher, poet, aristocrat and mystic. He is regarded as an idiosyncratic and influential figure o ...
(1772–1801) ''(Cambridge)''


P

: Helmuth Plessner (1892–1985) ''(Macmillan)'' :
Karl Popper Sir Karl Raimund Popper (28 July 1902 – 17 September 1994) was an Austrian-British philosopher, academic and social commentator. One of the 20th century's most influential philosophers of science, Popper is known for his rejection of the ...
(1902–1994) ''(Cambridge; Macmillan; Oxford 1995)'' :
Friedrich Paulsen Friedrich Paulsen (; July 16, 1846 – August 14, 1908) was a German Neo-Kantian philosopher and educator. Biography He was born at Langenhorn ( Schleswig) and educated at the Gymnasium Christianeum, the University of Erlangen, and the Univer ...
(July 16, 1846–August 14, 1908)


R

: Gustav Radbruch (1878–1949) ''(Routledge 2000)'' :
Paul Rée Paul Ludwig Carl Heinrich Rée (21 November 1849 – 28 October 1901) was a German author, physician, philosopher, and friend of Friedrich Nietzsche. Early life Rée was born in Bartelshagen, Province of Pomerania, Prussia on the noble est ...
(1849–1901) ''(Oxford 1995)'' :
Hans Reichenbach Hans Reichenbach (September 26, 1891 – April 9, 1953) was a leading philosopher of science, educator, and proponent of logical empiricism. He was influential in the areas of science, education, and of logical empiricism. He founded the ''Ges ...
(1891–1953) ''(Cambridge; Macmillan; Routledge 2000)'' :
Hermann Samuel Reimarus Hermann Samuel Reimarus (22 December 1694, Hamburg – 1 March 1768, Hamburg), 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 ...
(1694–1768) ''(Cambridge; Macmillan)'' : Adolf Reinach (1883–1917) ''(Routledge 2000)'' : Karl Leonhard Reinhold (1758–1823) ''(Cambridge; Macmillan)'' :
Alois Riehl Alois Adolf Riehl (; 27 April 1844 – 21 November 1924) was an Austrian neo-Kantian philosopher. He was born in Bozen (Bolzano) in the Austrian Empire (now in Italy). He was the brother of . Biography Riehl studied at Vienna, Munich, Innsbruck ...
(1844–1924) ''(Macmillan)'' : Karl Rosenkranz (1805–1879) ''(Macmillan)'' :
Franz Rosenzweig Franz Rosenzweig (, ; 25 December 1886 – 10 December 1929) was a German theologian, philosopher, and translator. Early life and education Franz Rosenzweig was born in Kassel, Germany, to an affluent, minimally observant Jewish family. His f ...
(1886–1929) ''(Cambridge; Metzler; Oxford 1995)''


S

:
Max Scheler Max Ferdinand Scheler (; 22 August 1874 – 19 May 1928) was a German philosopher known for his work in phenomenology, ethics, and philosophical anthropology. Considered in his lifetime one of the most prominent German philosophers,Davis, Za ...
(1874–1928) ''(Cambridge; Macmillan; Oxford 1995; Routledge 2000)'' : Friedrich Wilhelm Joseph von Schelling (1775–1854) ''(Cambridge; Macmillan; Oxford 1995)'' :
Friedrich Schiller Johann Christoph Friedrich von Schiller (, short: ; 10 November 17599 May 1805) was a German playwright, poet, and philosopher. During the last seventeen years of his life (1788–1805), Schiller developed a productive, if complicated, friendsh ...
(1759–1805) ''(Cambridge; Macmillan; Oxford 1995)'' : Friedrich von Schlegel (1772–1829) ''(Cambridge; Macmillan)'' :
Friedrich Schleiermacher Friedrich Daniel Ernst Schleiermacher (; 21 November 1768 – 12 February 1834) was a German Reformed theologian, philosopher, and biblical scholar known for his attempt to reconcile the criticisms of the Enlightenment with traditional ...
(1768–1834) ''(Cambridge)'' : Moritz Schlick (1882–1936) ''(Macmillan; Oxford 1995)'' :
Arthur Schopenhauer Arthur Schopenhauer ( , ; 22 February 1788 – 21 September 1860) was a German philosopher. He is best known for his 1818 work ''The World as Will and Representation'' (expanded in 1844), which characterizes the phenomenal world as the prod ...
(1788–1860) ''(Cambridge; Macmillan; Oxford 1995; Routledge 2000)'' : Rudolf Schottlaender (1900–1988) :
Burghart Schmidt Burghart Schmidt (30 November 1942 – 13 February 2022) was a German philosopher. He was professor at Hochschule für Gestaltung Offenbach and the University of Applied Arts Vienna. Education He was born in Wildeshausen, Oldenburg, Germany. ...
(1942–2022) :
Gottlob Ernst Schulze Gottlob Ernst Schulze (; 23 August 1761 – 14 January 1833) was a German philosopher, born in Heldrungen (modern-day Thuringia, Germany). He was the grandfather of the pioneering biochemist Ernst Schulze. Biography Schulze was a professor a ...
(1761–1833) ''(Cambridge)'' :
Alfred Schütz Alfred Schutz (; born Alfred Schütz, ; 1899–1959) was an Austrian philosopher and social phenomenologist whose work bridged sociological and phenomenological traditions. Schutz is gradually being recognized as one of the 20th century's leadi ...
(1899–1959) ''(Routledge 2000)'' :
Christoph von Sigwart Christoph von Sigwart (28 March 1830 – 4 August 1904) was a German philosopher and logician. He was the son of philosopher Heinrich Christoph Wilhelm Sigwart (31 August 1789 – 16 November 1844). Life After a course of philosophy a ...
(1830–1894) ''(Macmillan)'' :
Georg Simmel Georg Simmel (; ; 1 March 1858 – 26 September 1918) was a German sociologist, philosopher, and critic. Simmel was influential in the field of sociology. Simmel was one of the first generation of German sociologists: his neo-Kantian approac ...
(1858–1918) ''(Cambridge; Routledge 2000)'' : Peter Sloterdijk (born 1947) : Karl Wilhelm Ferdinand Solger (1780–1819) ''(Macmillan)'' : Robert Spaemann (1927–2018) :
Oswald Spengler Oswald Arnold Gottfried Spengler (; 29 May 1880 – 8 May 1936) was a German historian and philosopher of history whose interests included mathematics, science, and art, as well as their relation to his organic theory of history. He is best k ...
(1880–1936) :
Afrikan Spir Afrikan Aleksandrovich Spir (1837–1890) was a Russian neo-Kantian philosopher of German- Greek descent who wrote primarily in German. His book ''Denken und Wirklichkeit'' (''Thought and Reality'') exerted a "lasting impact" on the writings of ...
(1837–1890) ''(Cambridge)'' : Rudolf Steiner (1861–1925) ''(Macmillan)'' : Bertrand Stern (born 1948) : Max Stirner (''nom de plume'' for Johann Kaspar Schmidt) (1806–1856) ''(Cambridge; Macmillan; Oxford 1995)'' :
Leo Strauss Leo Strauss (, ; September 20, 1899 – October 18, 1973) was a German-American political philosopher who specialized in classical political philosophy. Born in Germany to Jewish parents, Strauss later emigrated from Germany to the United States. ...
(1899–1973) ''(Routledge 2000)'' : Karl Stumpf (1848–1936) ''(Macmillan)''


T

:
Gustav Teichmüller Gustav Teichmüller (November 19, 1832 – May 22, 1888) was a German philosopher. His works, particularly his notion of perspectivism, influenced Friedrich Nietzsche's philosophy. Biography Teichmüller was born in Braunschweig in the Duc ...
(1832–1888) ''(Cambridge)'' : Johannes Nikolaus Tetens (1736–1807) ''(Cambridge; Macmillan; Routledge 2000)'' :
Christian Thomasius Christian Thomasius (1 January 1655 – 23 September 1728) was a German jurist and philosopher. Biography He was born in Leipzig and was educated by his father, Jakob Thomasius (1622–1684), at that time a junior lecturer in Leipzig Univers ...
(1655–1728) ''(Macmillan; Sassen)'' : Ernst Troeltsch (1865–1923) ''(Cambridge; Routledge 2000)'' :
Ernst Tugendhat Ernst Tugendhat (born 8 March 1930) is a Czech-born German philosopher. He is a scion of the wealthy and influential Jewish Tugendhat family. Life and career He was born in Brno, Czechoslovakia, to Fritz and Greta Tugendhat, the wealthy Jewish ...
(born 1930) leading analytical philosopher, books on Aristoteles, Heidegger, ethics


V

:
Hans Vaihinger Hans Vaihinger (; September 25, 1852 – December 18, 1933) was a German philosopher, best known as a Kant scholar and for his ''Die Philosophie des Als Ob'' ('' The Philosophy of 'As if), published in 1911 although its statement of basi ...
(1852–1933) ''(Cambridge; Macmillan; Oxford 1995; Routledge 2000)'' : Friedrich Theodor Vischer (1807–1887) ''(Macmillan)''


W

: Richard Wahle (1857–1935) ''(Macmillan)'' :
Max Weber Maximilian Karl Emil Weber (; ; 21 April 186414 June 1920) was a German sociologist, historian, jurist and political economist, who is regarded as among the most important theorists of the development of modern Western society. His ideas p ...
''(Macmillan)'' : Otto Weininger :
Christian Hermann Weisse Christian Hermann Weisse (; ; Weiße in modern German; 10 August 1801 – 19 September 1866) was a German Protestant religious philosopher and professor of philosophy at the University of Leipzig. He was the son of theologian (1766–1832). B ...
(1801–1866) :
Hermann Weyl Hermann Klaus Hugo Weyl, (; 9 November 1885 – 8 December 1955) was a German mathematician, theoretical physicist and philosopher. Although much of his working life was spent in Zürich, Switzerland, and then Princeton, New Jersey, he is asso ...
(1885–1955) ''(Macmillan)'' :
Wilhelm Windelband Wilhelm Windelband (; ; 11 May 1848 – 22 October 1915) was a German philosopher of the Baden School. Biography Windelband was born the son of a Prussian official in Potsdam. He studied at Jena, Berlin, and Göttingen. Philosophical work Win ...
(1848–1915) ''(Cambridge; Macmillan)'' :
Ludwig Wittgenstein Ludwig Josef Johann Wittgenstein ( ; ; 26 April 1889 – 29 April 1951) was an Austrian- British philosopher who worked primarily in logic, the philosophy of mathematics, the philosophy of mind, and the philosophy of language. He is consi ...
(1889–1951) ''(Cambridge; Macmillan; Oxford 1995)'' : Christian Wolff (1679–1754) ''(Cambridge; Macmillan; Oxford 1995; Routledge 2000; Sassen)'' :
Wilhelm Wundt Wilhelm Maximilian Wundt (; ; 16 August 1832 – 31 August 1920) was a German physiologist, philosopher, and professor, known today as one of the fathers of modern psychology. Wundt, who distinguished psychology as a science from philosophy and ...
(1832–1920) ''(Cambridge; Macmillan; Routledge 2000)''


Z

:
Eduard Zeller Eduard Gottlob Zeller (; 22 January 1814, Kleinbottwar19 March 1908, Stuttgart) was a German philosopher and Protestant theologian of the Tübingen School of theology. He was well known for his writings on Ancient Greek philosophy, especially ...
(1814–1908) ''(Macmillan)''


See also

*
List of Germans This is a list of notable Germans. Persons of mixed heritage have their respective ancestries credited. Architects * Walter Gropius (1883–1969), architect * Carl Ludvig Engel (1778–1840), architect * Leo von Klenze (1784–1864), archi ...
* List of German journalists * List of German-language poets *
List of German-language authors This list contains the names of persons (of any ethnicity or nationality) who wrote fiction, essays, or plays in the German language. It includes both living and deceased writers. Most of the medieval authors are alphabetized by their first nam ...
* German philosophy *
List of philosophers This is a list of lists of philosophers, organized by subarea, nationality, religion, and time period. Lists of philosophers by subfield * List of aestheticians * List of critical theorists * List of environmental philosophers * List of epis ...
* 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 Philosophers born in the 19th century (and others important in the history of philosophy), listed alphabetically: ::''Note: This list has a minimal criterion for inclusion and the relevance to philosophy of some individuals on the list is disputed ...
* List of philosophers born in the twentieth century *
List of years in philosophy The following entries cover events related to the study of philosophy which occurred in the listed year or century. Centuries * 11th century in philosophy * 12th century in philosophy * 13th century in philosophy * 14th century in philosophy * 15 ...


References

{{DEFAULTSORT:List Of German-Language Philosophers
German language German ( ) is a West Germanic language mainly spoken in Central Europe. It is the most widely spoken and official or co-official language in Germany, Austria, Switzerland, Liechtenstein, and the Italian province of South Tyrol. It is also a ...
Philosophers