Klaus Vieweg (* August 2, 1953 in Steinach) is a German

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 ...

, internationally renowned

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 ...

scholar and

biographer Biographers are authors who write an account of another person's life, while autobiographers are authors who write their own biography. Biographers Countries of working life: Ab=Arabia, AG=Ancient Greece, Al=Australia, Am=Armenian, AR=Ancient Rome ...

. He is a professor of philosophy at the

University of Jena The University of Jena, officially the Friedrich Schiller University Jena (, abbreviated FSU, shortened form ''Uni Jena''), is a public research university located in Jena, Thuringia, Germany. The university was established in 1558 and is cou ...

. In 2022 Vieweg made a massive 4,000 pages discovery of previously undocumented Hegel lectures that could open up new perspectives for Hegel research.

Research

Klaus Vieweg studied philosophy at the Friedrich Schiller University in Jena and the

Humboldt University The Humboldt University of Berlin (, abbreviated HU Berlin) is a public university, public research university in the central borough of Mitte in Berlin, Germany. The university was established by Frederick William III of Prussia, Frederick W ...

East Berlin East Berlin (; ) was the partially recognised capital city, capital of East Germany (GDR) from 1949 to 1990. From 1945, it was the Allied occupation zones in Germany, Soviet occupation sector of Berlin. The American, British, and French se ...

in the 1970s. He specializes in

German idealism German idealism is a philosophical movement that emerged in Germany in the late 18th and early 19th centuries. It developed out of the work of Immanuel Kant in the 1780s and 1790s, and was closely linked both with Romanticism and the revolutionary ...

, the history and theory of

skepticism Skepticism ( US) or scepticism ( UK) is a questioning attitude or doubt toward knowledge claims that are seen as mere belief or dogma. For example, if a person is skeptical about claims made by their government about an ongoing war then the p ...

and fundamental questions of a philosophy of freedom. At the center of his research is the attempt to demonstrate the topicality of Hegel's philosophy as a thinking of freedom. The main contributions to this are the articles on Hegel's strategy of including the core ideas of philosophical skepticism as the 'free' side of philosophy, an overall interpretation of one of Hegel's most influential work, the Eelements of the Philosophy of Right, and a new biography of Hegel. He is currently working on outlines for a new

history of philosophy The history of philosophy is the systematic study of the development of philosophical thought. It focuses on philosophy as rational inquiry based on argumentation, but some theorists also include myth, religious traditions, and proverbial lor ...

. Klaus Vieweg's research and teaching visits have taken him to the

University of Washington The University of Washington (UW and informally U-Dub or U Dub) is a public research university in Seattle, Washington, United States. Founded in 1861, the University of Washington is one of the oldest universities on the West Coast of the Uni ...

Seattle Seattle ( ) is the most populous city in the U.S. state of Washington and in the Pacific Northwest region of North America. With a population of 780,995 in 2024, it is the 18th-most populous city in the United States. The city is the cou ...

, the Universities of

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 ...

Heidelberg Heidelberg (; ; ) is the List of cities in Baden-Württemberg by population, fifth-largest city in the States of Germany, German state of Baden-Württemberg, and with a population of about 163,000, of which roughly a quarter consists of studen ...

and

Erlangen Erlangen (; , ) is a Middle Franconian city in Bavaria, Germany. It is the seat of the administrative district Erlangen-Höchstadt (former administrative district Erlangen), and with 119,810 inhabitants (as of 30 September 2024), it is the smalle ...

, the Hegel Archive at Ruhr University Bochum (Hegel Archive),

Charles University in Prague Charles University (CUNI; , UK; ; ), or historically as the University of Prague (), is the largest university in the Czech Republic. It is one of the oldest universities in the world in continuous operation, the oldest university north of the ...

, the University of Pisa, the Universities of

Siena Siena ( , ; traditionally spelled Sienna in English; ) is a city in Tuscany, in central Italy, and the capital of the province of Siena. It is the twelfth most populated city in the region by number of inhabitants, with a population of 52,991 ...

and

Turin Turin ( , ; ; , then ) is a city and an important business and cultural centre in northern Italy. It is the capital city of Piedmont and of the Metropolitan City of Turin, and was the first Italian capital from 1861 to 1865. The city is main ...

, the

University of Vienna The University of Vienna (, ) is a public university, public research university in Vienna, Austria. Founded by Rudolf IV, Duke of Austria, Duke Rudolph IV in 1365, it is the oldest university in the German-speaking world and among the largest ...

Monash University Monash University () is a public university, public research university based in Melbourne, Victoria (state), Victoria, Australia. Named after World War I general Sir John Monash, it was founded in 1958 and is the second oldest university in the ...

Melbourne Melbourne ( , ; Boonwurrung language, Boonwurrung/ or ) is the List of Australian capital cities, capital and List of cities in Australia by population, most populous city of the States and territories of Australia, Australian state of Victori ...

Mexico City Mexico City is the capital city, capital and List of cities in Mexico, largest city of Mexico, as well as the List of North American cities by population, most populous city in North America. It is one of the most important cultural and finan ...

Medellín Medellín ( ; or ), officially the Special District of Science, Technology and Innovation of Medellín (), is the List of cities in Colombia, second-largest city in Colombia after Bogotá, and the capital of the department of Antioquia Departme ...

Naples Naples ( ; ; ) is the Regions of Italy, regional capital of Campania and the third-largest city of Italy, after Rome and Milan, with a population of 908,082 within the city's administrative limits as of 2025, while its Metropolitan City of N ...

Tokyo Tokyo, officially the Tokyo Metropolis, is the capital of Japan, capital and List of cities in Japan, most populous city in Japan. With a population of over 14 million in the city proper in 2023, it is List of largest cities, one of the most ...

Kyoto Kyoto ( or ; Japanese language, Japanese: , ''Kyōto'' ), officially , is the capital city of Kyoto Prefecture in the Kansai region of Japan's largest and most populous island of Honshu. , the city had a population of 1.46 million, making it t ...

Rome Rome (Italian language, Italian and , ) is the capital city and most populated (municipality) of Italy. It is also the administrative centre of the Lazio Regions of Italy, region and of the Metropolitan City of Rome. A special named with 2, ...

Fudan University Fudan University (FDU) is a public university, national public university in Yangpu, Shanghai, Yangpu, Shanghai, China. It is affiliated with the Ministry of Education (China), Ministry of Education and is co-funded with the Shanghai Municipal ...

and East China University in

Shanghai Shanghai, Shanghainese: , Standard Chinese pronunciation: is a direct-administered municipality and the most populous urban area in China. The city is located on the Chinese shoreline on the southern estuary of the Yangtze River, with the ...

. He has traveled to

Chile Chile, officially the Republic of Chile, is a country in western South America. It is the southernmost country in the world and the closest to Antarctica, stretching along a narrow strip of land between the Andes, Andes Mountains and the Paci ...

several times and taught as

Johann Gottfried Herder Johann Gottfried von Herder ( ; ; 25 August 174418 December 1803) was a Prussian philosopher, theologian, pastor, poet, and literary critic. Herder is associated with the Age of Enlightenment, ''Sturm und Drang'', and Weimar Classicism. He wa ...

Professor at the Pontifical Catholic University of Valparaíso (PUCV, 2022) and at the Pontifical Catholic University of Santiago de Chile. A number of Vieweg's books have been translated into several languages, including Korean and Portuguese as well as English, Italian, Spanish and Chinese.

Discovery of Hegel's transcripts

In 2022, Vieweg made a find of the century when he discovered 4,000 pages transcripts of previously unknown Hegel lectures in the library of

Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Munich and Freising The Archdiocese of Munich and Freising (, ) is a Latin Church ecclesiastical territory or diocese of the Catholic Church in Bavaria, Germany.Friedrich Wilhelm Carové Friedrich Wilhelm Carové (June 20, 1789 – March 18, 1852) was a German philosopher and publicist. Biography He was a lawyer, held some judicial offices, was made doctor of philosophy by the University of Heidelberg, and officiated for a short ...

, one of Hegel's students, between 1816 and 1818. They came from the estate of the theologian Friedrich Windischmann and had never been examined in detail by researchers. Vieweg had followed up on a tip from

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 ...

historian Willi Ferdinand Becker, who had pointed out Windischmann's still unexplored estate in an essay in 1988. Vieweg looked at the material in the summer of 2022 and recognized its full significance. The edition of the scripts can open up new perspectives for Hegel research, specially as compared with Hotho's transcriptions, which are so far the only source on Hegel's philosophy of art.

Publications

Author

* Hegel: The Philosopher of Freedom. Stanford UP 2023, * Anfänge – Eine andere Geschichte der Philosophie. München 2023, * Hegel: Der Philosoph der Freiheit (Taschenbuchausgabe), München 2023, * ''Anfänge. Eine andere Geschichte der Philosophie.'' Verlag C.H. Beck, München 2023, . * ''Hegel: Der Philosoph der Freiheit.'' Verlag C.H. Beck, München 2020, 3. Auflage, . * ''Wozu braucht Gott ein Raumschiff? Die Philosophie in Star Trek.'' Graff 2016, . * ''The Idealism of Freedom – For a Hegelian Turn in Philosophy.'' Boston/Leiden 2020, * ''Das Denken der Freiheit – Hegels Grundlinien der Philosophie des Rechts.'' Verlag Wilhelm Fink, München 2012, . * ''Genius loci – Philosophische An-Sichten großer Denker und Wort und Bild.'' Lambert Schneider, Darmstadt 2013, . * ''Skepsis und Freiheit.'' Verlag Wilhelm Fink München, München 2007, . * ''Philosophie des Remis. Der junge Hegel und das „Gespenst des Skepticismus“.'' München 1999, . * ''Hegels Philosophie der Kunst'' (chinesisch), Peking 2018 * ''O Pensamento da Liberdade'' (portugiesisch), Sao Paulo 2019 * ''Was ist die Freiheit? Hegels Rechtsphilosophie und die Moderne'' (koreanisch), Seoul 2019 * ''La logica della libertá.'' Pisa 2017, * ''Giuoco piano. Hegels italienische Partie. Acht unveröffentlichte Briefe'', Mailand 2017, * ''To beam or not to beam? Die Literatur in Star Trek.'' Ludwigsburg 2020,

Editorials (selection)

* Rechtsphilosophie nach Hegel. 200 Jahre Grundlinien der Philosophie des Rechts. Hg.: Ino Augsberg, Mansoor Koshan, Jörg Philipp Terhechte, Klaus Vieweg, München 2023 * Der Wille zur Macht. „Werk“ – Wesen – Wirkungen (Jahrbuch Nietzscheforschung Bd. 30) Hg. Johannes Bräuer, Enrico Müller, Klaus Vieweg, Berlin 2023 * 200 Jahre Hegels Grundlinien der Philosophie des Rechts (Hg.: Klaus Vieweg, Benno Zabel, Eberhard Eichenhofer, Stepahn Kirste, Michael Pawlik, Hans-Christoph Schmidt am Busch), Berlin 2021, * mit Folko Zander: ''Logik und Moderne. Hegels Wissenschaft der Logik als Paradigma moderner Subjektivität.'' Boston/Leiden 2021. * Kant und der Deutsche Idealismus – Handbuch, Darmstadt 2021, * ·mit Michael N. Forster und Johannes Korngiebel: Idealismus und Romantik in Jena, München 2018 * Friedrich Schlegel und Friedrich Nietzsche. Transzendentalpoesie oder Dichtkunst mit Begriffen (Schlegel Jahrbuch), Paderborn 2008, * mit Michael Neil Forster: ''Idealismus und Romantik. Figuren und Konzepte zwischen 1794 und 1807.'' Verlag Wilhelm Fink, München 2018, * mit Anton Koch, Friedrike Schick und Claudia Wirsing: Hegel. 200 Jahre Wissenschaft der Logik, Hamburg 2014, . * G. W. F. Hegel. Die Philosophie der Geschichte. München 2004, * mit Brady Bowman: ''Wissen und Begründung. Die Skeptizismus-Debatte um 1800 im Kontext neuzeitlicher Wissenskonzeptionen.'' Würzburg 2003, . * mit Brady Bowman: ''K. F. E. Kirsten, Grundzüge des neuesten Skepticismus in der theoretischen Philosophie zum Gebrauche für Vorlesungen (1802)'' (Neuedition). Verlag Wilhelm Fink, München 2003, . * ''Gegen das ‚unphilosophische Unwesen‘. Das Kritische Journal der Philosophie von Schelling und Hegel.'' Würzburg 2002, . * mit Wolfgang Welsch: Das Interesse des Denkens – Hegel aus heutiger Sicht. München 2004, * mit Wolfgang Welsch: Hegels Phänomenologie des Geistes, Frankfurt a. M. 2008, * ''Hegels Jenaer Naturphilosophie.'' München 1998, .

Literary works

* (unter dem Pseudonym Edgar Allan Wolfe) ''Mr. Spock und der malerische Doppelmord zu Königsleben.'' Verlag Wilhelm Fink, München 2013, . * Klaus Vieweg „Mr. Spock und der malerische Doppelmord in Jena“ (Neuausgabe) Jena 2022,

External links

*
Website von Klaus Vieweg

bei der Uni Jena

* ttps://www.zdf.de/nachrichten/panorama/hegel-geburtstag-freiheit-100.html Panorama (ZDF): 250. Geburtstag von Hegel
SWR „Lesenswert“: Hegel: Der Philosoph der Freiheit

References

1953 births German essayists German editors Academic staff of the University of Jena 21st-century German philosophers 20th-century German philosophers Hegelian philosophers Hegel scholars Living people {{Improve categories, date=May 2025