Reinhart Klemens Maurer (born 1935) is a

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 ...

and

professor Professor (commonly abbreviated as Prof.) is an Academy, academic rank at university, universities and other tertiary education, post-secondary education and research institutions in most countries. Literally, ''professor'' derives from Latin ...

from

Xanten Xanten (, Low Rhenish: ''Santen'') is a town in the state of North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany. It is located in the district of Wesel. Xanten is known for the Archaeological Park, one of the largest archaeological open air museums in the ...

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 ...

. Maurer studied philosophy, German and English at the universities of

Münster Münster (; ) is an independent city#Germany, independent city (''Kreisfreie Stadt'') in North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany. It is in the northern part of the state and is considered to be the cultural centre of the Westphalia region. It is also a ...

Kiel Kiel ( ; ) is the capital and most populous city in the northern Germany, German state of Schleswig-Holstein. With a population of around 250,000, it is Germany's largest city on the Baltic Sea. It is located on the Kieler Förde inlet of the Ba ...

and

Vienna Vienna ( ; ; ) is the capital city, capital, List of largest cities in Austria, most populous city, and one of Federal states of Austria, nine federal states of Austria. It is Austria's primate city, with just over two million inhabitants. ...

. In 1964, he completed his

Ph.D. A Doctor of Philosophy (PhD, DPhil; or ) is a terminal degree that usually denotes the highest level of academic achievement in a given discipline and is awarded following a course of graduate study and original research. The name of the deg ...

Maurer later wrote his post-doctoral research (''Habilitation'') in 1969 at the

University of Stuttgart The University of Stuttgart () is a research university located in Stuttgart, Germany. It was founded in 1829 and is organized into 10 faculties. It is one of the oldest technical universities in Germany with programs in civil, mechanical, ind ...

under the supervision of

Robert Spaemann Robert Spaemann (5 May 1927 – 10 December 2018) was a German Catholic philosopher. He is considered a member of the Ritter School. Spaemann's focus was on Christian ethics. He was known for his work in bioethics, ecology and human rights. Altho ...

. Between 1962 and 1975, he was a research assistant and then a lecturer at the ''Institute for Philosophy and Pedagogy'' at the

and from 1975 to 1997, he was a professor at the Institute for Philosophy (Institut für Philosophie) at the

Free University of Berlin The Free University of Berlin (, often abbreviated as FU Berlin or simply FU) is a public university, public research university in Berlin, Germany. It was founded in West Berlin in 1948 with American support during the early Cold War period a ...

(Freie Universität Berlin). Maurer was influenced by Ritter's concept of a practical philosophy that challenges concrete problems, in the tradition of the ancient European and the classical philosophy. This was his approach in his works about

Plato Plato ( ; Greek language, Greek: , ; born BC, died 348/347 BC) was an ancient Greek philosopher of the Classical Greece, Classical period who is considered a foundational thinker in Western philosophy and an innovator of the writte ...

Hobbes Thomas Hobbes ( ; 5 April 1588 – 4 December 1679) was an English philosopher, best known for his 1651 book ''Leviathan'', in which he expounds an influential formulation of social contract theory. He is considered to be one of the founders ...

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 ...

, Habermas and the

critical theory Critical theory is a social, historical, and political school of thought and philosophical perspective which centers on analyzing and challenging systemic power relations in society, arguing that knowledge, truth, and social structures are ...

. He applies critical theory on the modern, techno-democratic worldview, and ties it with fundamental critique on the modern society (

Nietzsche Friedrich Wilhelm Nietzsche (15 October 1844 – 25 August 1900) was a German philosopher. He began his career as a classical philologist, turning to philosophy early in his academic career. In 1869, aged 24, Nietzsche became the youngest pro ...

Heidegger Martin Heidegger (; 26 September 1889 – 26 May 1976) was a German philosopher known for contributions to phenomenology, hermeneutics, and existentialism. His work covers a range of topics including metaphysics, art, and language. In April ...

Arnold Gehlen Arnold Gehlen (29 January 1904 in Leipzig, German Empire – 30 January 1976 in Hamburg, West Germany) was an influential conservative German philosopher, sociologist, and anthropologist. Biography Gehlen's major influences while studying ...

and Gómez Dávila).

Publications (in German)

* ''Hegel und das Ende der Geschichte. Interpretationen zur „Phänomenologie des Geistes“.'' Kohlhammer, Stuttgart u. a. 1965 (Zugleich: Münster, Universität, Dissertation, 1963/1964: ''Geschichtsphilosophie als „Phänomenologie des Geistes“.'' 2. Auflage erweitert um den Beitrag ''„Teleologische Apekte der Hegelschen Philosophie“.'' Albert, Freiburg (Breisgau) u. a. 1980, ISBN 3-495-47435-8). * ''Platons „Staat“ und die Demokratie. Historisch-systematische Überlegungen zur Politischen Ethik'' de Gruyter, Berlin 1970, ISBN 3-11-006391-3 (Zugleich: Stuttgart, Universität, Habilitations-Schrift, 1969: ''Politeia und Leviathan, zur Rehabilitation des Politischen.'' Teil 1: ''Der Platonische Staat.'' Auch in japanischer Sprache und Schrift: Tokio 2005). * ''Revolution und „Kehre“. Studien zum Problem gesellschaftlicher Naturbeherrschung.'' Suhrkamp, Frankfurt am Main 1975, ISBN 3-518-07428-8. * ''Jürgen Habermas' Aufhebung der Philosophie.'' (= ''Philosophische Rundschau.'' Beiheft 8 = Sonderheft). Mohr, Tübingen 1977, ISBN 3-16-839631-1. * Schuld und Wohlstand. Über die westlich-deutsche Generallinie''.'' In:

Heimo Schwilk Heimo Schwilk (born 23 October 1952) is a German journalist and writer. Life and works Heimo Schwilk was born in Stuttgart on 23 October 1952. He is a journalist and writer, active as a senior reporter for ''Welt am Sonntag''. With , Schwilk co- ...

, Ulrich Schacht (Hrsg.): ''Die selbstbewußte Nation. „Anschwellender Bocksgesang“ und weitere Beiträge zu einer deutschen Debatte.'' Ullstein, Frankfurt am Main u. a. 1994, ISBN 3-550-07067-5, S. 69–84. * Joachim Ritters Praktische Philosophie. In: Mark Schweda, Ulrich von Bülow (Hg.): ''Entzweite Moderne. Zur Aktualität Joachim Ritters und seiner Schüler''. Wallstein, Göttingen 2017, S. 63–84. * Joachim Ritter und die Philosophie der Nachkriegszeit''.'' In: ''Information Philosophie'' 4/2018, S. 30–41.

References

External links

Website
{{DEFAULTSORT:Maurer, Reinhart 1935 births Living people 20th-century German philosophers People from Xanten People from the Rhine Province German male writers