Germany
TagPhilosopher Victim of Anti-Semitic Attack and Police Brutality
Yitzhak Melamed, professor of philosophy at Johns Hopkins University, was the victim of an anti-Semitic attack on the streets of Bonn, and then was beaten by German police who mistook him for the assailant. To add insult to injury, the German police are now apparently lying about what happened. (more…)
Hamburg’s Lessing Prize Winner Announced
Every four years, the city of Hamburg, Germany awards a prize, named for Gotthold Ephraim Lessing, to honor achievements in German culture. This year’s winner of the Lessing Prize is Juliane Rebentisch, professor of philosophy and art history at Offenbach University of Art and Design (Hochschule für Gestaltung Offenbach am Main).
How Academia Handles Objectionable Ideas: The Case of Jongen at the Hannah Arendt Center
Earlier this month, the Hannah Arendt Center for Politics and Humanities at Bard College hosted a conference, “Crises of Democracy: Thinking in Dark Times,” on the various questions posed by the current “worldwide rebellion against liberal democracy.” Among those invited to speak at the conference was Marc Jongen, who has a PhD in philosophy and is known as the “par..
Philosophy In Germany: Too Popular For Its Own Good?
An article in the current issue of Foreign Policy,“German Philosophy Has Finally Gone Viral. Will That Be Its Undoing?” describes the surge in philosophy’s popularity in Germany and asks whether it comes at too high a cost. (more…)
German Publisher De Gruyter Fires Philosophy Editor, Eliminates Philosophy Dept (Updated)
Walter De Gruyter, the large German academic publishing firm responsible for a variety of philosophical publications, including the Kant and Leibniz Academy editions, the complete works of Nietzsche, and authoritative editions of many other canonical authors, along with many journals, has fired its longtime philosophy editor, Dr. Gertrud Grünkorn, and has eliminated..
Conant Wins Humboldt Professorship
Philosopher James Conant of the University of Chicago has been named as one of three winners of this year’s prestigious Alexander von Humboldt Professorships. (more…)
The Philosophers of Germany’s Anti-Islam Political Movement
“Alternative for Germany” (AfD) is a German political party, gaining in popularity, which supports “the idea of banning mosques” and has an official who has declared that “it may be necessary to shoot at migrants trying to enter the country illegally.” AfD has supported, and been supported by, a political movement known as “Patriotic Europeans Against the Islamizati..
Frederick Beiser Wins Award from German Government
Frederick Charles Beiser (Syracuse) has been awarded the Cross of the Order of Merit of the Federal Republic of Germany, “honoring his lifelong teaching of German philosophy to American students,” according to a press release from the German government. It adds:
Professor Beiser has been critical in introducing important works of German philosophers from Kant to..
Philosophy: Now Even More Popular in Germany
Philosophy is so popular in Germany right now, reports The Chronicle of Higher Education (may be behind paywall). How popular is it? So popular that at least one philosophy book may have sold more copies in Germany than the latest album by David Hasselhoff, a fact the author of the Chronicle piece neglects to mention. Perhaps because it is not true. In any event, he..
Habermas on the Return of Exiled Jewish Philosophers
In an essay at Tablet Magazine, Jürgen Habermas describes the impact of Jewish philosophers and sociologists who returned to Germany after the Holocaust. An exceerpt:
On the present occasion I cannot make a contribution to exile research, but only sift through some recollections from the unreliable perspective of a contemporary witness. After their return to the ..