Iring Fetscher (1922–2014) was a German

political scientist Political science is the scientific study of politics. It is a social science dealing with systems of governance and Power (social and political), power, and the analysis of political activities, political philosophy, political thought, polit ...

and researcher on

Hegel Georg Wilhelm Friedrich Hegel (27 August 1770 – 14 November 1831) was a 19th-century German idealism, German idealist. His influence extends across a wide range of topics from metaphysical issues in epistemology and ontology, to political phi ...

and

Marxism Marxism is a political philosophy and method of socioeconomic analysis. It uses a dialectical and materialist interpretation of historical development, better known as historical materialism, to analyse class relations, social conflict, ...

. Fetscher was born on 4 March 1922 at

Marbach am Neckar Marbach am Neckar (, ) is a town about 20 kilometres north of Stuttgart. It belongs to the district of Ludwigsburg, the Stuttgart region and the European metropolitan region of Stuttgart. Marbach is known as the birthplace of Friedrich Schiller ...

, and was brought up in

Dresden Dresden (; ; Upper Saxon German, Upper Saxon: ''Dräsdn''; , ) is the capital city of the States of Germany, German state of Saxony and its second most populous city after Leipzig. It is the List of cities in Germany by population, 12th most p ...

. After the

Second World War World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...

he studied at

Tübingen Tübingen (; ) is a traditional college town, university city in central Baden-Württemberg, Germany. It is situated south of the state capital, Stuttgart, and developed on both sides of the Neckar and Ammer (Neckar), Ammer rivers. about one in ...

and

Paris Paris () is the Capital city, capital and List of communes in France with over 20,000 inhabitants, largest city of France. With an estimated population of 2,048,472 residents in January 2025 in an area of more than , Paris is the List of ci ...

, receiving a doctorate in 1950. He belatedly published his thesis in 1970. He

habilitated Habilitation is the highest university degree, or the procedure by which it is achieved, in Germany, France, Italy, Poland and some other European and non-English-speaking countries. The candidate fulfills a university's set criteria of excellen ...

in 1959 with a dissertation on the political philosophy of

Jean-Jacques Rousseau Jean-Jacques Rousseau (, ; ; 28 June 1712 – 2 July 1778) was a Republic of Geneva, Genevan philosopher (''philosophes, philosophe''), writer, and composer. His political philosophy influenced the progress of the Age of Enlightenment through ...

. From 1963 to 1988 Fetscher was Professor of Political Science and Social Philosophy at the

Goethe University Frankfurt Goethe University Frankfurt () is a public research university located in Frankfurt am Main, Germany. It was founded in 1914 as a citizens' university, which means it was founded and funded by the wealthy and active liberal citizenry of Frankfurt ...

. He is identified with the "second generation" of the

Frankfurt School The Frankfurt School is a school of thought in sociology and critical theory. It is associated with the University of Frankfurt Institute for Social Research, Institute for Social Research founded in 1923 at the University of Frankfurt am Main ...

, along with

Jürgen Habermas Jürgen Habermas ( , ; ; born 18 June 1929) is a German philosopher and social theorist in the tradition of critical theory and pragmatism. His work addresses communicative rationality and the public sphere. Associated with the Frankfurt S ...

, and Alfred Schmidt.

Leszek Kołakowski Leszek Kołakowski (; ; 23 October 1927 – 17 July 2009) was a Polish philosopher and historian of ideas. He is best known for his critical analysis of Marxism, Marxist thought, as in his three-volume history of Marxist philosophy ''Main Current ...

, while taking Fetscher to be a distinguished historian of Marxism with a critical but positive attitude, did not see him as of the Frankfurt School more than notionally. In 1976, he published his own version of '' The Wolf and the Seven Young Goats'' by the

Brothers Grimm The Brothers Grimm ( or ), Jacob Grimm, Jacob (1785–1863) and Wilhelm Grimm, Wilhelm (1786–1859), were Germans, German academics who together collected and published folklore. The brothers are among the best-known storytellers of Oral tradit ...

, (The Goat and the Seven Young Wolves'''), as part of the children's book ''Update on Rumpelstiltskin and other Fairy Tales by 43 Authors'' compiled by Hans-Joachim Gelberg, illustrated by Willi Glasauer, and published by Beltz & Gelberg. In 1993, Fetscher was honored with induction into the French ''

Ordre des Palmes académiques A suite, in Western classical music, is an ordered set of instrumental or orchestral/concert band pieces. It originated in the late 14th century as a pairing of dance tunes; and grew in scope so that by the early 17th century it comprised up to ...

''. Fetscher died on 19 July 2014.

Major works

* ''Von Marx zur Sowjetideologie''. Wiesbaden 1956. (22 editions until 1987.) * ''Rousseaus politische Philosophie. Zur Geschichte des demokratischen Freiheitsbegriffs''. Neuwied, Berlin 1960. * ''Der Marxismus. Seine Geschichte in Dokumenten'', 3 vols., München 1963–1965. * ''Marx and Marxism''. New York: Herder & Herder, 1971. (Translation of '' Karl Marx und der Marxismus'', 1967.) * ''Die Geiß und die sieben Wölflein'' (''The Goat and the Seven Young Wolves'') in ''Update on Rumpelstiltskin and other Fairy Tales by 43 Authors'', compiled by Hans-Joachim Gelberg, illustrated by Willi Glasauer, published by Beltz & Gelberg, Weinheim 1976. * ''Neugier und Furcht. Versuch, mein Leben zu verstehen.'' Hamburg: Hoffmann und Campe, 1995, . (Autobiography)

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Fetscher, Iring 1922 births 2014 deaths German political scientists German sociologists Academic staff of Goethe University Frankfurt Chevaliers of the Ordre des Palmes Académiques Officers Crosses of the Order of Merit of the Federal Republic of Germany Recipients of the Order of Merit of Baden-Württemberg German male writers German expatriates in France Converts to Roman Catholicism from Lutheranism

Major works

See also

References