David Baumgardt (20 April 1890 – 21 July 1963) was an early 20th-century German Jewish
philosopher
A philosopher is a person who practices or investigates philosophy. The term ''philosopher'' comes from the grc, φιλόσοφος, , translit=philosophos, meaning 'lover of wisdom'. The coining of the term has been attributed to the Greek th ...
in the field of philosophical history. He was a professor of philosophy at the
University of Berlin
Humboldt-Universität zu Berlin (german: Humboldt-Universität zu Berlin, abbreviated HU Berlin) is a German public research university in the central borough of Mitte in Berlin. It was established by Frederick William III on the initiative o ...
.
Early life and education
Baumgardt was born in
Erfurt
Erfurt () is the capital and largest city in the Central German state of Thuringia. It is located in the wide valley of the Gera river (progression: ), in the southern part of the Thuringian Basin, north of the Thuringian Forest. It sits i ...
, German Empire. As a young man he studied at the universities of
Freiburg
Freiburg im Breisgau (; abbreviated as Freiburg i. Br. or Freiburg i. B.; Low Alemannic: ''Friburg im Brisgau''), commonly referred to as Freiburg, is an independent city in Baden-Württemberg, Germany. With a population of about 230,000 (as o ...
,
Vienna
en, Viennese
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, registration_plate = W
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, timezone_DST ...
,
Munich
Munich ( ; german: München ; bar, Minga ) is the capital and most populous city of the States of Germany, German state of Bavaria. With a population of 1,558,395 inhabitants as of 31 July 2020, it is the List of cities in Germany by popu ...
,
Heidelberg
Heidelberg (; Palatine German language, Palatine German: ''Heidlberg'') is a city in the States of Germany, German state of Baden-Württemberg, situated on the river Neckar in south-west Germany. As of the 2016 census, its population was 159,914 ...
and Berlin, and served in the military during World War I.
Career
Baumgardt's main field of studies was ancient philosophy and ethics. He wrote about the relationship between ethical and religious ideology.
He emigrated to Great Britain in 1935 and to the United States in 1939.
Some years before his death he wrote a retrospective of his years at the University of Berlin, entitled, ''Looking Back on a German University Career'', which was published in 1965.
Later in his life he was a consultant in philosophy to the American
Library of Congress
The Library of Congress (LOC) is the research library that officially serves the United States Congress and is the ''de facto'' national library of the United States. It is the oldest federal cultural institution in the country. The library is ...
.
Many commentaries were written about his work, including ''David Baumgardt and ethical hedonism'' by Zeev Levy and also ''Aristotle Ethical views'' by ''Mehdi Shokri''.
Legacy
Baumgardt died in
Long Beach
Long Beach is a city in Los Angeles County, California. It is the 42nd-most populous city in the United States, with a population of 466,742 as of 2020. A charter city, Long Beach is the seventh-most populous city in California.
Incorporate ...
,
New York
New York most commonly refers to:
* New York City, the most populous city in the United States, located in the state of New York
* New York (state), a state in the northeastern United States
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Film and television
* '' ...
, United States.
A fellowship is offered by the Leo Baeck Institute, which houses a collection of his papers, to students who study and extend Baumgardt's work.
Main works
*''Franz v. Baader und die philosophische Romantik'', 1927.
*''Der Kampf um den Lebenssinn unter Vorläufern der modernen Ethik'', 1933.
*''Bentham and the Ethica of Today'', 1952.
*''Great Western Mystics and their Lasting Significance'', 1961.
*''Die abendländische Mystik'', 1963.
References
*Mehdi Shokri, ''Aristotle Ethical views'', Hekmat Publishers, 2011.
*Levy, Zeev. ''David Baumgardt and ethical hedonism''
External links
*
*
Guide to the David Baumgardt Collectionat the
Leo Baeck Institute, New York
The Leo Baeck Institute New York (LBI) is a research institute in New York City dedicated to the study of German-Jewish history and culture, founded in 1955. It is one of three independent research centers founded by a group of German-speaking J ...
.
{{DEFAULTSORT:Baumgardt, David
1890 births
1963 deaths
Writers from Erfurt
20th-century German philosophers
Spinoza scholars
Academic staff of the Humboldt University of Berlin