Karl Löwith facts for kids

Karl Löwith (born January 9, 1897 – died May 26, 1973) was an important German philosopher. He was part of a way of thinking called phenomenology. Löwith studied with famous philosophers like Husserl and Heidegger. He wrote many books and was one of the most active German philosophers of the 20th century.

He is well-known for two of his books. One is From Hegel to Nietzsche, which talks about how German classical philosophy changed over time. The other is Meaning in History, which questions the modern idea that history always gets better on its own, without needing a religious meaning.

He was even nominated for the Nobel Prize in Literature.

Life of Karl Löwith

Löwith was born in Munich, Germany. His family had a Jewish background but was Christian. He learned about phenomenology from Heidegger, and they became close friends.

However, their friendship changed when Heidegger became involved with Nazism. Because of the Fascist government, Löwith had to leave Germany in 1934. He was an important person who saw that Heidegger continued to support Nazism in 1936.

Löwith first went to Italy. In 1936, he moved to Japan, where he taught at Tohoku University. But because Germany and Japan became allies, he had to leave Japan in 1941. He then moved to the United States.

From 1941 to 1952, he taught at the Hartford Theological Seminary and The New School for Social Research. In 1952, he returned to Germany. He became a Professor of Philosophy at Heidelberg, where he lived until he died.

Karl Löwith's Ideas

Löwith's ideas were greatly influenced by philosophers like Heidegger, Hegel, Nietzsche, and Kierkegaard. After World War II, his writings were similar to those of other Christian thinkers of his time.

Many Christian thinkers during this period tried to understand their faith in response to new challenges. These challenges included the rise of science, the idea of a non-religious society, and general doubt. They wanted to explain Christian faith in a world that was changing very quickly.

About From Hegel to Nietzsche

This book explores how German philosophy changed from the time of Hegel to Nietzsche. Löwith looked at how ideas about history and human life developed during this important period.

About Meaning in History

In his book Meaning in History, Karl Löwith argued that the way people in the West think about history is a bit mixed up. He believed they were confused because they combined Christian beliefs with modern ideas. He wrote that the modern mind "sees with one eye of faith and one of reason." This made its view of history unclear compared to ancient Greek or Biblical thinking.

The modern view of history often believes that things are always getting better. This means that history is moving towards a perfect future, thanks to human reason and technology. Löwith thought this modern view was like a "Christian idea gone wrong." He said it depended on the Christian idea that history moves in a straight line towards a goal. This was different from the ancient Greek idea that history goes in cycles.

Löwith believed that the modern way of thinking about history came from Christianity. However, he argued that true Christian faith is not about history moving towards a worldly goal. Instead, it is based on faith and hope in God's plan, which is not something you can see or prove with facts.

He traced how this idea of "progress" developed through the writings of many famous Western philosophers and historians. He argued that the closer one gets to the original Biblical view of history, the less one finds a "philosophy of history." By this, he meant that a truly religious view of history is not about trying to understand or control history's movement with human reason. Instead, it's about a hope for a future that goes beyond this world.

Löwith's main concern was how faith and history relate to each other. He wrote that "Christian hope is not a worldly desire... but a cast of mind based on an unconditional faith in God's redemptive purpose." He believed that true hope and faith are not based on what we can logically calculate or prove. They cannot be disproven by facts because they are not based on facts in the first place.

So, while some thinkers of his time tried to make faith fit with reason, Löwith argued that faith stands on its own. It doesn't need to be proven by what happens in history or by logical thinking.

See also

In Spanish: Karl Löwith para niños