Manfred Frank (born March 22, 1945) is 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 ...

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 ...

, emeritus professor of philosophy at the

University of Tübingen The University of Tübingen, officially the Eberhard Karl University of Tübingen (; ), is a public research university located in the city of Tübingen, Baden-Württemberg, Germany. The University of Tübingen is one of eleven German Excellenc ...

. His work focuses on

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 ...

romanticism Romanticism (also known as the Romantic movement or Romantic era) was an artistic and intellectual movement that originated in Europe towards the end of the 18th century. The purpose of the movement was to advocate for the importance of subjec ...

, and the concepts of

subjectivity The distinction between subjectivity and objectivity is a basic idea of philosophy, particularly epistemology and metaphysics. Various understandings of this distinction have evolved through the work of countless philosophers over centuries. One b ...

and

self-consciousness Self-consciousness is a heightened sense of awareness of oneself. It is not to be confused with consciousness in the sense of qualia. Historically, "self-consciousness" was synonymous with " self-awareness", referring to a state of awareness th ...

. His 950-page study of German romanticism, ''Unendliche Annäherung'', has been described as "the most comprehensive and thoroughgoing study of early German romanticism" and "surely one of the most important books from the post-War period on the history of German philosophy."Fred Rush, "Review of ''The Philosophical Foundations of Early German Romanticism''
" ''Notre Dame Philosophical Reviews'' 9 Dec 2004. He has also written at length on

analytic philosophy Analytic philosophy is a broad movement within Western philosophy, especially English-speaking world, anglophone philosophy, focused on analysis as a philosophical method; clarity of prose; rigor in arguments; and making use of formal logic, mat ...

and recent French philosophy.

Life

Frank was born in

Elberfeld Elberfeld is a municipal subdivision of the Germany, German city of Wuppertal; it was an independent town until 1929. History The first official mentioning of the geographic area on the banks of today's Wupper River as "''elverfelde''" was ...

, Germany, and studied philosophy at the

University of Heidelberg Heidelberg University, officially the Ruprecht Karl University of Heidelberg (; ), is a public university, public research university in Heidelberg, Baden-Württemberg, Germany. Founded in 1386 on instruction of Pope Urban VI, Heidelberg is List ...

under teachers such as

Hans-Georg Gadamer Hans-Georg Gadamer (; ; 11 February 1900 – 13 March 2002) was a German philosopher of the continental tradition, best known for his 1960 on hermeneutics, '' Truth and Method'' (''Wahrheit und Methode''). Life Family and early life Gad ...

, Karl Löwith, Ernst Tugendhat, and Dieter Henrich. After teaching at the

University of Düsseldorf A university () is an institution of tertiary education and research which awards academic degrees in several academic disciplines. ''University'' is derived from the Latin phrase , which roughly means "community of teachers and scholars". Univ ...

from 1971 to 1982, and at the

University of Geneva The University of Geneva (French: ''Université de Genève'') is a public university, public research university located in Geneva, Switzerland. It was founded in 1559 by French theologian John Calvin as a Theology, theological seminary. It rema ...

from 1982 to 1987, Frank accepted a position at Tübingen in 1987. He is a specialist in the

philosophy of literature ''Philosophy and Literature'' is an American academic journal founded in 1977 by Denis Dutton. It explores the connections between literary and philosophical studies by presenting ideas on the aesthetics of literature, critical theory, and the ...

Selected works

Books

He is the author of a wide range of books published in German, French, and English, including: * ''The Philosophical Foundations of Early German Romanticism.'' Albany, NY: State University of New York Press, 2004. * ''The Subject and the Text: Essays on Literary Theory and Philosophy.'' Cambridge, U.K. & New York : Cambridge University Press, 1997. *''What Is Neostructuralism?'' Minneapolis : University of Minnesota Press, 1989. *''Das Problem "Zeit" in der deutschen Romantik; Zeitbewusstsein und Bewusstsein von Zeitlichkeit in der frühromantischen Philosophie und in Tiecks Dichtung.'' Paderborn : Winkler Verlag, 1972, 1990. *''L'ultime raison du sujet.'' Arles, France : Actes Sud, 1988. *''Einführung in die frühromantische Ästhetik. Vorlesungen'' Frankfurt a. M.: Suhrkamp (es 1563), 1989 *''Selbstbewußtsein und Selbsterkenntnis: Essays zur analytischen Philosophie der Subjektivität.'' Stuttgart: Reclam, 1991 *''"Unendliche Annäherung". Die Anfänge der philosophischen Frühromantik.'' Frankfurt a. M.: Suhrkamp (stw 1328), 1997 *''Auswege aus dem deutschen Idealismus.'' Frankfurt a. M.: Suhrkamp (stw 1851), 2007 *''Natura e Spirito. Lezioni sulla filosofia di Schelling.'', a cura di Emilio Carlo Corriero, Torino, Rosenberg & Sellier, 2010

Articles

*"The World as Will and Representation: Deleuze's and Guattari's Critique of Capitalism as Schizo-Analysis and Schizo-Discourse"
''Telos''
57 (Fall 1983). New York: Telos Press. *‘Non-objectal Subjectivity’, Journal of Consciousness Studies 14: 5-6, 152-173, May / June 2007. *"Qu’est-ce qu’un texte littéraire et que signifie sa compréhension?", in Revue Internationale de Philosophie, vol. 41, nº 162/163 (3-4), « Philosophie de la Littérature », 1987, p. 378-397. Partial translation of an article originally published in german. ().

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