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[German Version] (May 21, 1817, Bautzen – Jul 1, 1881, Berlin). After receiving degrees in medicine and philosophy, Lotze was appointed professor in Göttingen in 1844. His significance in the history of philosophy is twofold. He released philosophy from speculative Idealism by contrasting the realism of the natural sciences. He was also the author of an epistemology that was not naturalistically reducible, such as would be developed by Neo-Kantianism in the person of Lotze's student W. Windelband …

[German Version] I. Religion – II. Philosophy – III. History of Theology and Dogmatics – IV. Ethics I. Religion Talk of happiness refers to a deeper level of experience than enjoying oneself or feeling good. Happiness denotes success in life; the pursuit of happiness is a universal element in human life and thought. The hope of happiness may take ritual forms, especially in connection with rites of passage when a change of social position and status makes life uncertain, for instance at birth and weddings. The…

[German Version] (Feb 23, 1883, Oldenburg – Feb 26, 1969, Basel). Following his medical studies, Jaspers worked in the University of Heidelberg's psychiatric clinic. He completed his Habilitation in 1913, also in Heidelberg, at the philosophical faculty in the discipline of psychology; he became associate professor of psychology in 1916 and professor of philosophy in 1921. In 1937, he was forced into retirement and forbidden to publish after 1938. In 1945, he resumed his teaching res…

[German Version] (Jan 24, 1854, Düsseldorf – Aug 17, 1924, Marburg). Natorp grew up in a Protestant parsonage. After receiving his doctorate, he was drawn to Marburg to hear H. Cohen’s interpretation of I. Kant. At Marburg he completed his Habilitati…

[German Version] In pre-Socratic times (Pre-Socratics) the notion of moderation was relevant among, for example, the Pythagoreans, for whom the harmony of the cosmos resulted from numbers as the elements of all things (DK 58 B 4). A significant departure from such conceptions of order (Order: I), which were generally predominant in Greek culture (e.g. in Solon's legislation), was that of the Sophistic school, which placed moderation in an individual perspective and thereby elevated unrestrained heightening to an ideal, as for instance in the context of desire (Plato Gorg. 492d–e). Plato's philosophy reacted to this challenge by defining moderation as a basic metaphysical con-¶ cept. Accordingly, the dynamic and multifaceted constitution of life as a hybrid requires moderation as a means of infusing a measure of order into it, thereby guaranteeing its very viability. Only thus can the “living” attain a “coming-into-being” (Plato, Philebus, 26d). In this respect, moderation is closely linked to what Plato considers to be the highest form of knowledge, namely the notion of the good as a power that bestows “being” (Plato Rep. 509b). The resulting …

[German Version] The notion of a view from different “perspectives” (standpoints, points of view) that can affect cognition (Epistemology) was already being used systematically in antiquity. Plato justifies the primacy of reason over pleasure on the grounds that a sense of wellbeing is only a reduction of pain to a neutral state and not true pleasure. Reason, on the contrary, or the pleasure that follows it, precludes any deceptive outward appearance. Through comparison with the proportions of perceived objects, Plato makes it clear that hedonism is a possible point of view, but …

[German Version] (Apr 3, 1903, Geesthacht – Aug 3, 1974, Münster), gained his doctorate in Hamburg under E. Cassirer in 1925; from 1946 he was professor of philosophy in Mü…

[German Version] (Jun 21, 1905, Paris – Apr 15, 1980, Paris), studied philosophy at the École Normale Supérieure in Paris and taught at lycées in Le Havre, Laon, and Paris. He was a prisoner of war in Germany in 1940/1941, then joined the French resistance. After 1945 he edited the journal Les temps modernes. After World War II, Sartre became one of the most influential intellectuals of his age. He actively opposed the wars in Algeria (1958–1962) and Vietnam (1968) and supported the student movement. From 1952 until the Hungarian uprising in 1956, he was supportive of Communism, a position that led to a break with A. Camus, but later he also criticized the invasion of Czechoslovakia by the Warsaw Pact in 1968. In 1964 he refused the Nobel Prize for Literature that had been awarded hi…

[German Version] I. History The term Neo-Kantianism refers to a philosophical orientation that attained its standard form in the years 1870 to 1920 and held a prominent position within German academic philosophy during this time. It was divided into two groups, the so-called Marburg school and the Southwest German school.…

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[German Version] I. Philosophy – II. Philosophy of Religion – III. Fundamental Theology – IV. Dogmatics – V. Ethics I. Philosophy In the traditional doctrine of cognition (Epistemology), the intellect is primarily viewed as an intuitive capacity (Gk νοῦς/ nous, Lat. intellectus), partly in demarcation from reason as a discursive capacity. The intellect enables a person to attain direct insight into last principles or simple facts, so that the process of cognition is brought to a close logically and rationally (Arist. Eth. Nic. 1143af.). This dimension of grasping the truth in an inherently complete and direct manner also serves as a criterion for understanding divine thinking. According to classical ancient philosophy, God is to be seen as the supreme nous. He thinks himself (νóησις νοήσεως/ nóēsis noḗseōs), since he can only think about the worthiest subject and remains in the state of pure reality (Arist. ¶ Metaph. 1074b). Postclassical philosophy emphasizes this transcendency of the nous as a divine capacity. The human being can therefore never partake of it in an undivided manner (Plot., Enneads…

[German Version] 1. Johann Peter (Apr 10, 1802, Sonnborn, near Elberfeld – Jul 8, 1884, Bonn). After studying theology at Bonn from 1822 to 1825, Lange became a Reformed pastor. In 1841 he was appointed professor of dogmatics and church history at Zürich (where he wrote an attack on D. Strauß). From 1854 to 1884 he was professor of systematic theology in Bonn. Lange wrote fundamental works in every theological discipline, including Das Leben Jesu nach den Evangelien dargestellt (3 vols., 1844–1847; ET: The Life of the Lord Jesus Christ, 1864), and was active in the life of the church. Independently of J. Marks in Halle, he urged recognition of hymnology as a theological discipline. He also published lectures on the history …

[German Version] Among the numerous meteorological phenomena (Weather), the wind occupies a prominent place. In many religions, its insubstantiality as well as its lack of association with any particular place together with its varying intensity and unpredictability have made the wind take on a personal quality. Besides the important function of the wind in moving the rain clouds necessary for vegetation, it plays a critical role among seafaring peoples, as it propels or capsizes ships, making the sea navigable or dangerous. According to the …

[German Version] (Oct 15, 1926, Paris – Jun 25, 1984, Paris). Foucault studied philosophy and psychology, earning his doctorate in 1961. From 1969 he was a professor at the Collège de France. Foucault developed reconstructive methods for analyzing the connection between knowledge and power, in part drawing from F. Nietzsche's understanding of genealogy. Proceeding in a structuralist and historical fashion, he demonstrated how modern sciences and institutions are constituted through sy…

[German Version] I. Philosophy – II. Fundamental Theology – III. Applications I. Philosophy …

[German Version] I. Philosophy – II. Ethics I. Philosophy The term originated in the expression …

[German Version] I. History of Religion – II. Bible – III. Dogmatics – IV. Philosophy – V. Philosophy of Religion – VI. Ethics – VII. Practical Theology – VIII. Judaism I. History of Religion The concept of love describes a relationship of affection, tenderness, or devotion between human beings and between humans and God (Love of/for God) or the gods. The Old Testament speaks of the love of God for humanity; in Judaism, the commandment of obedience to God is followed by the commandment to love God (Deut 6:5) and one's fe…

[German Version] In philosophical discussion of nothingness (Ger. das Nichts), one may distinguish logical and metaphysical approaches. On the level of logic various meanings of speaking about nothingness are traditionally discussed. Thus, for example, I. Kant distinguishes four possible meanings. First, nothingness as ens rationis, i.e. as a mere “thought thing” in the sense of a con-¶ cept free from contradiction; second, nothingness as ens imaginarium, i.e. a mere play of ideas; third, nothingness as nihil privativum, i.e. as a negation or lack; fourth, nothingness as nihil ne…

[German Version] I. Religious Studies – II. Philosophy – III. History of Dogma – IV. Ethics I. Religious Studies Blessedness is the goal of eudaemonist ethics (Eudaemonia; Eudaemonism) oriented toward well-being and a successful life, toward the optimal condition of an individual; earlier usage often referred to this condition as “happiness, bliss” (Happiness: I), the direct religious implication of this condition being complete, irreversible happiness in the hereafter. …