Rudolf Christoph Eucken (; ; 5 January 184614 September 1926) was 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 ...

. He received the 1908 Nobel Prize in Literature "in recognition of his earnest search for truth, his penetrating power of thought, his wide range of vision, and the warmth and strength in presentation with which in his numerous works he has vindicated and developed an idealistic philosophy of life", after he had been nominated by a member of the

Swedish Academy The Swedish Academy (), founded in 1786 by King Gustav III, is one of the Royal Academies of Sweden. Its 18 members, who are elected for life, comprise the highest Swedish language authority. Outside Scandinavia, it is best known as the body t ...

Early life

Eucken was born on 5 January 1846 in

Aurich Aurich (; East Frisian Low Saxon: ''Auerk'', West Frisian: ''Auwerk'', ) is a town in the East Frisian region of Lower Saxony, Germany. It is the capital of the district of Aurich and is the second largest City in East Frisia, both in popula ...

, then in the

Kingdom of Hanover The Kingdom of Hanover () was established in October 1814 by the Congress of Vienna, with the restoration of George III to his Hanoverian territories after the Napoleonic Wars, Napoleonic era. It succeeded the former Electorate of Hanover, and j ...

(now

Lower Saxony Lower Saxony is a States of Germany, German state (') in Northern Germany, northwestern Germany. It is the second-largest state by land area, with , and fourth-largest in population (8 million in 2021) among the 16 ' of the Germany, Federal Re ...

). His father, Ammo Becker Eucken died when he was a child, and he was brought up by his mother, Ida Maria (née Gittermann). He was educated at Aurich, where one of his teachers was the classical philologist and philosopher Ludwig Wilhelm Maximilian Reuter. He studied at

Göttingen University Göttingen (, ; ; ) is a college town, university city in Lower Saxony, central Germany, the Capital (political), capital of Göttingen (district), the eponymous district. The River Leine runs through it. According to the 2022 German census, t ...

(1863–1866), where Hermann Lotze was one of his teachers, and Berlin University. In the latter place, Friedrich Adolf Trendelenburg was a professor whose ethical tendencies and historical treatment of philosophy greatly attracted him.

Career

Eucken received his

PhD 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 ...

in classical

philology Philology () is the study of language in Oral tradition, oral and writing, written historical sources. It is the intersection of textual criticism, literary criticism, history, and linguistics with strong ties to etymology. Philology is also de ...

and

ancient history Ancient history is a time period from the History of writing, beginning of writing and recorded human history through late antiquity. The span of recorded history is roughly 5,000 years, beginning with the development of Sumerian language, ...

from

in 1866 with a dissertation titled ''De Aristotelis dicendi ratione''. However, the inclination of his mind was definitely towards the philosophical side of

theology Theology is the study of religious belief from a Religion, religious perspective, with a focus on the nature of divinity. It is taught as an Discipline (academia), academic discipline, typically in universities and seminaries. It occupies itse ...

. In 1871, after five years working as a school teacher at

Husum Husum (, ) is the capital of the ''Kreis'' (district) Nordfriesland in Schleswig-Holstein, Germany. The town was the birthplace of the novelist Theodor Storm, who coined the epithet "the grey town by the sea". It is also the home of the annual i ...

, Berlin und

Frankfurt Frankfurt am Main () is the most populous city in the States of Germany, German state of Hesse. Its 773,068 inhabitants as of 2022 make it the List of cities in Germany by population, fifth-most populous city in Germany. Located in the forela ...

, he was appointed Professor of

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 ...

at the

University of Basel The University of Basel (Latin: ''Universitas Basiliensis''; German: ''Universität Basel'') is a public research university in Basel, Switzerland. Founded on 4 April 1460, it is Switzerland's oldest university and among the world's oldest univ ...

Switzerland Switzerland, officially the Swiss Confederation, is a landlocked country located in west-central Europe. It is bordered by Italy to the south, France to the west, Germany to the north, and Austria and Liechtenstein to the east. Switzerland ...

, succeeding another of his former teachers at Göttingen, Gustav Teichmüller, and beating Friedrich Nietzsche in competition for the position. He stayed there until 1874 when he took up a similar position 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 ...

. He stayed there until he retired in 1920. In 1912–13, Eucken spent half of the year as an exchange professor at

Harvard University Harvard University is a Private university, private Ivy League research university in Cambridge, Massachusetts, United States. Founded in 1636 and named for its first benefactor, the History of the Puritans in North America, Puritan clergyma ...

, and in 1913 he served as a Deem lecturer at

New York University New York University (NYU) is a private university, private research university in New York City, New York, United States. Chartered in 1831 by the New York State Legislature, NYU was founded in 1832 by Albert Gallatin as a Nondenominational ...

. During

World War I World War I or the First World War (28 July 1914 – 11 November 1918), also known as the Great War, was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War I, Allies (or Entente) and the Central Powers. Fighting to ...

, Eucken, like many of his academic colleagues, took a strong line in favour of the causes with which his country had associated itself.

Ethical activism

Eucken's philosophical work is partly historical and partly constructive, the former side being predominant in his earlier, the latter in his later works. Their most striking feature is the close organic relationship between the two parts. The aim of the historical works is to show the necessary connection between philosophical concepts and the age to which they belong; the same idea is at the root of his constructive speculation. All philosophy is

philosophy of life (; meaning "philosophy of life") was a dominant philosophical movement of German-speaking countries in the late 19th and early 20th centuries, which had developed out of German Romanticism. emphasised the meaning of life, meaning, value and pur ...

, the development of a new culture, not mere

intellectualism Intellectualism is the mental perspective that emphasizes the use, development, and exercise of the intellect, and is identified with the life of the mind of the intellectual. (Definition) In the field of philosophy, the term ''intellectualism'' in ...

, but the application of a vital religious inspiration to the practical problems of society. This practical idealism Eucken described by the term "ethical activism" (). In accordance with this principle, Eucken gave considerable attention to social and educational problems. He maintained that humans have

soul The soul is the purported Mind–body dualism, immaterial aspect or essence of a Outline of life forms, living being. It is typically believed to be Immortality, immortal and to exist apart from the material world. The three main theories that ...

s, and that they are therefore at the junction between nature and spirit. He believed that people should overcome their non-spiritual nature by continuous efforts to achieve a spiritual life, another aspect of his

ethical Ethics is the philosophical study of moral phenomena. Also called moral philosophy, it investigates normative questions about what people ought to do or which behavior is morally right. Its main branches include normative ethics, applied e ...

activism Activism consists of efforts to promote, impede, direct or intervene in social, political, economic or environmental reform with the desire to make Social change, changes in society toward a perceived common good. Forms of activism range from ...

and

meaning of life The meaning of life is the concept of an individual's life, or existence in general, having an intrinsic value (ethics), inherent significance or a Meaning (philosophy), philosophical point. There is no consensus on the specifics of such a conce ...

Later life and death

Rudolf Eucken married Irene Passow in 1882 and had a daughter and two sons. His son Walter Eucken became a famous founder of ordoliberal thought in

economics Economics () is a behavioral science that studies the Production (economics), production, distribution (economics), distribution, and Consumption (economics), consumption of goods and services. Economics focuses on the behaviour and interac ...

. His son

Arnold Eucken Arnold Thomas Eucken (; 3 July 1884 – 16 June 1950) was a German chemist and physicist. He is known for his contribution to thermodynamics and molecular physics, in particular, for the discovery of Eucken's law of thermal conductivity, the meas ...

was a chemist and physicist. Rudolf Eucken died on 15 September 1926 in

Jena Jena (; ) is a List of cities and towns in Germany, city in Germany and the second largest city in Thuringia. Together with the nearby cities of Erfurt and Weimar, it forms the central metropolitan area of Thuringia with approximately 500,000 in ...

at the age of 80.

Major works

He was a prolific writer; his best-known works are:
''Die Lebensanschauungen der großen Denker''
(1890; 7th ed., 1907; 1918; Eng. trans., W. Hough and Boyce Gibson, ''The Problem of Human Life'', 1909) (The Problem of Human Life as Viewed by the Great Thinkers) * ''Der Kampf um einen geistigen Lebensinhalt'' (1896) (The Struggle for a Spiritual Content of Life)
''Der Wahrheitsgehalt der Religion''
(1901) (The Truth of Religion)
''Grundlinien einer neuen Lebensanschauung''
(1907) (Life's Basis and Life's Ideal: The Fundamentals of a New Philosophy of Life)
''Der Sinn und Wert des Lebens''
(1908) (The Meaning and Value of Life) * ''Geistige Strömungen der Gegenwart'' (1908; first appeared in 1878 a
''Die Grundbegriffe der Gegenwart''
Eng. trans. by M. Stuart Phelps, New York, 1880) (Main Currents of Modern Thought) * ''Können wir noch Christen sein?'' (1911)
Can We Still Be Christians?
1914) * ''Present Day Ethics in their Relation to the Spiritual Life'' (1913) (Deem Lectures given at New York University) * ''Der Sozialismus und seine Lebensgestaltung'' (1920)
Socialism: an Analysis
(1922)) Other notable works are: * ''Die Methode der aristotelischen Forschung'' (1872) (The Aristotelian Method of Research) * ''Geschichte der philosophische Terminologie'' (1879) (History of Philosophical Terminology) * ''Prolegomena zu Forschungen über die Einheit des Geisteslebens'' (1885) (Prolegomena to Research on the Unity of the Spiritual Life) * ''Beiträge zur Geschichte der neueren Philosophie'' (1886, 1905) (Contributions to the History of the Newer Philosophies) * ''Die Einheit des Geisteslebens'' (1888) (The Unity of the Spiritual Life)
''Thomas von Aquino und Kant''
(1901) (Thomas Aquinas and Kant) * ''Gesammelte Aufsätze zu Philosophische und Lebensanschauung (1903) (Collected Essays on Views of Philosophy and Life) * ''Philosophie der Geschichte'' (1907) (Philosophy of History) * ''Einführung in die Philosophie der Geisteslebens'' (1908; Eng. trans., The Life of the Spirit, F. L. Pogson, 1909, Crown Theological Library) (Introduction to the Philosophy of the Life of the Spirit)
''Hauptprobleme der Religionsphilosophie der Gegenwart''
(1907) (Main Problems of the Current Philosophy of Religion) Other English translations of his work include: * ''Liberty in Teaching in the German Universities'' (1897) * ''Are the Germans still a Nation of Thinkers?'' (1898) * ''Progress of Philosophy in the 19th Century'' (1899) * ''The Finnish Question'' (1899) * ''The Present Status of Religion in Germany'' (1901)
''The Problem of Human Life as Viewed by the Great Thinkers from Plato to the Present Time''
Charles Scribner's Sons, 1909.
''Back to Religion''
1912.
''Main Currents of Modern Thought: A Study of the Spiritual and Intellectual Movements of the Present Day''
T. Fisher Unwin, 1912.
''The Meaning and Value of Life''
A. and C. Black, 1913.
''Can we Still be Christians?''
The Macmillan Company, 1914.
''Collected Essays''
edited and translated by Meyrick Booth, T. Fisher Unwin, 1914.
''Knowledge and Life''
(translation), G.P. Putnam's Sons, 1914. He delivered lectures in England in 1911 and spent six months lecturing at

and elsewhere in the United States in 1912–1913.

References

External links

*

at Nobel-winners.com *
List of Works
* * * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Eucken, Rudolf Christoph 1846 births 1926 deaths German male writers German Nobel laureates 19th-century German philosophers German spiritualists Harvard University staff Humboldt University of Berlin alumni Nobel laureates in Literature People from Aurich People from the Kingdom of Hanover University of Göttingen alumni Academic staff of the University of Jena 20th-century German philosophers