Ernst Moses Marcus (3 September 1856,

Kamen Kamen () is a town in North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany, in the district Unna. Geography Kamen is situated at the east end of the Ruhr area, approximately 10 km south-west of Hamm and 25 km north-east of Dortmund. Neighbouring citie ...

– 30 October 1928,

Essen Essen () is the central and, after Dortmund, second-largest city of the Ruhr, the largest urban area in Germany. Its population of makes it the fourth-largest city of North Rhine-Westphalia after Cologne, Düsseldorf and Dortmund, as well as ...

) was a

German German(s) may refer to: * Germany, the country of the Germans and German things **Germania (Roman era) * Germans, citizens of Germany, people of German ancestry, or native speakers of the German language ** For citizenship in Germany, see also Ge ...

lawyer A lawyer is a person who is qualified to offer advice about the law, draft legal documents, or represent individuals in legal matters. The exact nature of a lawyer's work varies depending on the legal jurisdiction and the legal system, as w ...

and

philosopher Philosophy ('love of wisdom' in Ancient Greek) is a systematic study of general and fundamental questions concerning topics like existence, reason, knowledge, Value (ethics and social sciences), value, mind, and language. It is a rational an ...

. He developed a theory of

aether Aether, æther or ether may refer to: Historical science and mythology * Aether (mythology), the personification of the bright upper sky * Aether (classical element), the material believed to fill the universe above the terrestrial sphere ** A ...

based on

Immanuel Kant Immanuel Kant (born Emanuel Kant; 22 April 1724 – 12 February 1804) was a German Philosophy, philosopher and one of the central Age of Enlightenment, Enlightenment thinkers. Born in Königsberg, Kant's comprehensive and systematic works ...

's posthumous work '' Opus Postumum'', however sharply disagreeing with

Erich Adickes Erich Adickes (29 June 1866, in Lesum – 8 July 1928, in Tübingen) was a German philosopher who wrote many important works on Immanuel Kant (1724–1804) and the Kantian philosophy. Adickes was a critical empiricist (moderate Kantian). Adickes ...

' interpretation. He used this to mount a criticism of

Albert Einstein Albert Einstein (14 March 187918 April 1955) was a German-born theoretical physicist who is best known for developing the theory of relativity. Einstein also made important contributions to quantum mechanics. His mass–energy equivalence f ...

theory of relativity The theory of relativity usually encompasses two interrelated physics theories by Albert Einstein: special relativity and general relativity, proposed and published in 1905 and 1915, respectively. Special relativity applies to all physical ph ...

. He was a major influence on

Salomo Friedlaender Salomo Friedlaender (4 May 1871 – 9 September 1946) was a German-Jewish philosopher, poet, satirist and author of grotesque and fantastic literature. He published his literary work under the pseudonym Mynona, which is "''anonym''", the German wo ...

. Ernst was the son of Robert Ruben Marcus and Berta Marcus. He studied law in

Bonn Bonn () is a federal city in the German state of North Rhine-Westphalia, located on the banks of the Rhine. With a population exceeding 300,000, it lies about south-southeast of Cologne, in the southernmost part of the Rhine-Ruhr region. This ...

and

Berlin Berlin ( ; ) is the Capital of Germany, capital and largest city of Germany, by both area and List of cities in Germany by population, population. With 3.7 million inhabitants, it has the List of cities in the European Union by population withi ...

. Whilst working as an Assessor in 1889 he developed an interest in

philosophy Philosophy ('love of wisdom' in Ancient Greek) is a systematic study of general and fundamental questions concerning topics like existence, reason, knowledge, Value (ethics and social sciences), value, mind, and language. It is a rational an ...

. In 1890 he was appointed as a judge in

. In 1893 he married Berta Auerbach, with whom he had three children. In 1899 he started regular meetings with Salomo Friedlaender, who admired his theses and became a firm supporter of him. Friedlaender referred to him by the epithet "the

Krupp Friedrich Krupp AG Hoesch-Krupp (formerly Fried. Krupp AG and Friedrich Krupp GmbH), trade name, trading as Krupp, was the largest company in Europe at the beginning of the 20th century as well as Germany's premier weapons manufacturer dur ...

of logic".

Works

* ''Kants Revolutionsprinzip'' (1902) * ''Das Erkenntnisproblem'' (1905) * ''Die Beweisfuehrung in der Kritik der reinen Vernunft'' (1914) * ''Kants Weltgebaeude'' (1917) * ''Das Problem der Excentrischen Empfindung und seine Losung'' (1918) Berlin: Verlag der Sturm *
Theorie einer natuerlichen Magie: Gegründet auf Kants Weltlehre
' (1924) Munich: Ernst Reinhardt. * ''Kritik des Aufbaus der speziellen Relativitaetstheorie'' (1926) * ''Die Zeit und Raumlehre Kants'' (1927) His papers are held by the

Leo Baeck Institute The Leo Baeck Institute, established in 1955, is an international research institute with centres in New York City, London, Jerusalem and Berlin, that are devoted to the study of the history and culture of German-speaking Jewry. The institute was ...

New York New York most commonly refers to: * New York (state), a state in the northeastern United States * New York City, the most populous city in the United States, located in the state of New York New York may also refer to: Places United Kingdom * ...

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Marcus, Ernst 1856 births 1928 deaths 19th-century German philosophers