Robert Zimmer (born 25 October 1953 in

Trier Trier ( , ; lb, Tréier ), formerly known in English as Trèves ( ;) and Triers (see also names in other languages), is a city on the banks of the Moselle in Germany. It lies in a valley between low vine-covered hills of red sandstone in the ...

West Germany West Germany is the colloquial term used to indicate the Federal Republic of Germany (FRG; german: Bundesrepublik Deutschland , BRD) between its formation on 23 May 1949 and the German reunification through the accession of East Germany on 3 O ...

) is a

German German(s) may refer to: * Germany (of or related to) **Germania (historical use) * Germans, citizens of Germany, people of German ancestry, or native speakers of the German language ** For citizens of Germany, see also German nationality law **Ger ...

philosopher and

essayist An essay is, generally, a piece of writing that gives the author's own argument, but the definition is vague, overlapping with those of a letter, a paper, an article, a pamphlet, and a short story. Essays have been sub-classified as formal an ...

who writes biographies and popular introductions to philosophy and to the

history of philosophy Philosophy (from , ) is the systematized study of general and fundamental questions, such as those about existence, reason, knowledge, values, mind, and language. Such questions are often posed as problems to be studied or resolved. Some ...

Life

Robert Zimmer was educated at the German universities of

Saarbrücken Saarbrücken (; french: link=no, Sarrebruck ; Rhine Franconian: ''Saarbrigge'' ; lb, Saarbrécken ; lat, Saravipons, lit=The Bridge(s) across the Saar river) is the capital and largest city of the state of Saarland, Germany. Saarbrücken is ...

and

Düsseldorf Düsseldorf ( , , ; often in English sources; Low Franconian and Ripuarian: ''Düsseldörp'' ; archaic nl, Dusseldorp ) is the capital city of North Rhine-Westphalia, the most populous state of Germany. It is the second-largest city in ...

and wrote his doctoral dissertation on

Edmund Burke Edmund Burke (; 12 January New Style">NS/nowiki> 1729 – 9 July 1797) was an Anglo-Irish people">Anglo-Irish Politician">statesman, economist, and philosopher. Born in Dublin, Burke served as a member of Parliament (MP) between 1766 and 1794 ...

. From 1986 - 2013 he lived as a freelance writer and publicist in

Berlin Berlin is Capital of Germany, the capital and largest city of Germany, both by area and List of cities in Germany by population, by population. Its more than 3.85 million inhabitants make it the European Union's List of cities in the European U ...

. In 2013 he moved to Stuttgart. His most popular book so far has been “Das Philosophenportal”, a collection of 16 essays on 16 different classical works of philosophy, which has been translated into more than a dozen languages (not yet in English). In 2010 he published a biography of

Arthur Schopenhauer Arthur Schopenhauer ( , ; 22 February 1788 – 21 September 1860) was a German philosopher. He is best known for his 1818 work '' The World as Will and Representation'' (expanded in 1844), which characterizes the phenomenal world as the pr ...

. He also translated a selection of essays by the 19th Century French critic and writer

Charles Augustin Sainte-Beuve Charles Augustin Sainte-Beuve (; 23 December 1804 – 13 October 1869) was a French literary critic. Early life He was born in Boulogne, educated there, and studied medicine at the Collège Charlemagne in Paris (1824–27). In 1828, he se ...

. Zimmer is a follower of critical rationalism. Together with Martin Morgenstern he wrote a short and popular biography of Karl Popper and edited the correspondence between Popper and Hans Albert.

Selected works

* 2011 (with M. Morgenstern) ''Gespräche mit Hans Albert'' * 2010 ''Arthur Schopenhauer. Ein philosophischer Weltbürger'' * 2009 ''Basis-Bibliothek Philosophie'' * 2009 ''Das große Philosophenportal'' * 2005 (ed., with M. Morgenstern) ''Hans Albert / Karl Popper: Briefwechsel'' * 2004 ''Das Philosophenportal'' * 2002 (with Martin Morgenstern) ''Karl Popper'' * 1995 ''Edmund Burke zur Einführung''

External links

Official website
1953 births 20th-century essayists 20th-century German non-fiction writers 20th-century German philosophers 21st-century essayists 21st-century German non-fiction writers 21st-century German philosophers Critical rationalists German male essayists German male non-fiction writers German male writers Historians of philosophy Living people Philosophy writers Rationalists {{germany-philosopher-stub