Munich School of Philosophy (German: ''Hochschule für Philosophie München'') is a small

Jesuit The Society of Jesus (; abbreviation: S.J. or SJ), also known as the Jesuit Order or the Jesuits ( ; ), is a religious order (Catholic), religious order of clerics regular of pontifical right for men in the Catholic Church headquartered in Rom ...

higher education college in

Munich Munich is the capital and most populous city of Bavaria, Germany. As of 30 November 2024, its population was 1,604,384, making it the third-largest city in Germany after Berlin and Hamburg. Munich is the largest city in Germany that is no ...

Germany Germany, officially the Federal Republic of Germany, is a country in Central Europe. It lies between the Baltic Sea and the North Sea to the north and the Alps to the south. Its sixteen States of Germany, constituent states have a total popu ...

founded in 1925.

History

Founded as a seminary at Pullach in 1925 by Augustin Bea, first named the Berchmanskolleg, it obtained the ability to issue a

doctorate A doctorate (from Latin ''doctor'', meaning "teacher") or doctoral degree is a postgraduate academic degree awarded by universities and some other educational institutions, derived from the ancient formalism '' licentia docendi'' ("licence to teach ...

in 1932. In 1971 the school moved to central

and opened to non-Jesuit students. The majority of students are not members of the Jesuit Order, and now include women and international students. It is accredited by the Bavarian State Ministry of Sciences, Research and the Arts (in German: ''Bayerisches Staatsministerium für Wissenschaft, Forschung und Kunst''). Since 2009, the Munich School of Philosophy hosts the yearly ''Rahner Lecture'' in memory of the German Jesuit and theologian Karl Rahner.

Philosophical tradition

Most faculty members are

Jesuits The Society of Jesus (; abbreviation: S.J. or SJ), also known as the Jesuit Order or the Jesuits ( ; ), is a religious order (Catholic), religious order of clerics regular of pontifical right for men in the Catholic Church headquartered in Rom ...

. The school has long stood in the tradition of Neo-Scholasticism. Only since the 1970s, when the school opened to non-Jesuit students,

contemporary philosophy Contemporary philosophy is the present period in the history of Western philosophy beginning at the early 20th century with the increasing professionalization of the discipline and the rise of analytic and continental philosophy. The phrase "con ...

such as

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, ...

phenomenology Phenomenology may refer to: Art * Phenomenology (architecture), based on the experience of building materials and their sensory properties Philosophy * Phenomenology (Peirce), a branch of philosophy according to Charles Sanders Peirce (1839� ...

and

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 ...

have gained more prominence in the undergraduate and postgraduate education. To date, the undergraduate curriculum at the Munich School of Philosophy places much emphasis on the

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 ...

and issues pertaining to the study of

religion Religion is a range of social system, social-cultural systems, including designated religious behaviour, behaviors and practices, morals, beliefs, worldviews, religious text, texts, sanctified places, prophecies, ethics in religion, ethics, or ...

. As a

school, its objectives and purpose must be in accord with the

apostolic constitution An apostolic constitution () is the most solemn form of legislation issued by the Pope.New Commentary on the Code of Canon Law, pg. 57, footnote 36. By their nature, apostolic constitutions are addressed to the public. Generic constitutions use ...

''Sapientia Christiana'', Art. 79 and 80 in research and teaching: # to promote the study of philosophy and its history; # to reflect systematically on fundamental issues of religious faith and to elucidate the affiliation between philosophy and theology; # to analyze and develop the contributions of other sciences towards philosophy; # to apply the insights gained from these theoretical endeavors to practical concerns of human and social life.

Notable alumni and faculty members

Faculty

Harald Lesch is a German physicist, astronomer, natural philosopher, author, television presenter, and professor of physics at the

Ludwig Maximilian University of Munich The Ludwig Maximilian University of Munich (simply University of Munich, LMU or LMU Munich; ) is a public university, public research university in Munich, Bavaria, Germany. Originally established as the University of Ingolstadt in 1472 by Duke ...

(LMU) and lecturer of

natural philosophy Natural philosophy or philosophy of nature (from Latin ''philosophia naturalis'') is the philosophical study of physics, that is, nature and the physical universe, while ignoring any supernatural influence. It was dominant before the develop ...

at the Munich School of Philosophy.

Alumni

Politics

Erwin Teufel Erwin Teufel (born 4 September 1939, in Zimmern ob Rottweil) is a German politician of the CDU. Political career Teufel was the leader of the CDU parliamentary group in the Landtag of Baden-Württemberg from 1978 to 1991. Teufel was Minis ...

, former former minister-president of

Baden-Württemberg Baden-Württemberg ( ; ), commonly shortened to BW or BaWü, is a states of Germany, German state () in Southwest Germany, east of the Rhine, which forms the southern part of Germany's western border with France. With more than 11.07 million i ...

* Heiner Geißler, German politician and former federal minister from 1982 to 1985

Clergy

* Alfred Delp * Rudolf Voderholzer * Albert Ziegler SJ, Swiss theologian, ethicist and author

Research centers

The Munich School of Philosophy has six distinctive research centers: * Institute for Social and Development Studies (''German: Institut für Gesellschaftspolitik/IGP'') * Institute for Communications and Media Research (''German: Institut für Kommunikationswissenschaft und Erwachsenenpädagogik/IKE'') * Institute for Philosophy of Religion (''German: Institut für Religionsphilosophie/IRP'') * Institute for Scientific Issues related to Philosophy and Theology (''German: Institut für naturwissenschaftliche Grenzfragen zur Philosophie und Theologie/ING'') * Institute for Philosophy and Leadership (''German: Institut für Philosophie und Leadership'') * Rottendorf Project (''German: Rottendorf Projekt)

Rankings

The Munich School of Philosophy is currently not ranked in any major university web rankings due to its specialization 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 ...

. It frequently cooperates with faculty members of two Munich universities, the

Technical University An institute of technology (also referred to as technological university, technical university, university of technology, polytechnic university) is an institution of tertiary education that specializes in engineering, technology, applied science ...

and the Ludwig Maximilian University which are both consistently ranked among Germany's foremost universities.

External links

Official website in German

Official website in English
{{Authority control Universities and colleges in Munich Jesuit universities and colleges Catholic universities and colleges in Germany Seminaries and theological colleges in Germany Philosophy academics German philosophy Universities and colleges established in 1925 1925 establishments in Germany