Eugen Fink (11 December 1905 – 25 July 1975) was a German
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 ...
.
Biography
Fink was born in 1905 as the son of a government official in Germany. He spent his first school years with an uncle who was a
Catholic
The Catholic Church, also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the largest Christian church, with 1.3 billion baptized Catholics worldwide . It is among the world's oldest and largest international institutions, and has played a ...
priest. Fink attended a grammar school in
Konstanz
Konstanz (, , locally: ; also written as Constance in English) is a university city with approximately 83,000 inhabitants located at the western end of Lake Constance in the south of Germany. The city houses the University of Konstanz and was th ...
where he succeeded with his extraordinary memory. After his graduation exam in 1925, he studied
philosophy
Philosophy (from , ) is the systematized study of general and fundamental questions, such as those about existence, reason, knowledge, values, mind, and language. Such questions are often posed as problems to be studied or resolved. Some ...
,
history
History (derived ) is the systematic study and the documentation of the human activity. The time period of event before the History of writing#Inventions of writing, invention of writing systems is considered prehistory. "History" is an umbr ...
,
German language
German ( ) is a West Germanic languages, West Germanic language mainly spoken in Central Europe. It is the most widely spoken and Official language, official or co-official language in Germany, Austria, Switzerland, Liechtenstein, and the Ita ...
and
economics
Economics () is the social science that studies the Production (economics), production, distribution (economics), distribution, and Consumption (economics), consumption of goods and services.
Economics focuses on the behaviour and intera ...
, initially at Münster and Berlin and then in Freiburg with
Edmund Husserl
, thesis1_title = Beiträge zur Variationsrechnung (Contributions to the Calculus of Variations)
, thesis1_url = https://fedora.phaidra.univie.ac.at/fedora/get/o:58535/bdef:Book/view
, thesis1_year = 1883
, thesis2_title ...
.
Philosophy
As Husserl's assistant, he was a representative of
phenomenological idealism
In philosophy, the term idealism identifies and describes metaphysical perspectives which assert that reality is indistinguishable and inseparable from perception and understanding; that reality is a mental construct closely connected to ide ...
and later a follower of
Martin Heidegger
Martin Heidegger (; ; 26 September 188926 May 1976) was a German philosopher who is best known for contributions to phenomenology, hermeneutics, and existentialism. He is among the most important and influential philosophers of the 20th centur ...
. He approached the problem of
Being
In metaphysics, ontology is the philosophical study of being, as well as related concepts such as existence, becoming, and reality.
Ontology addresses questions like how entities are grouped into categories and which of these entities exis ...
as a manifestation of the cosmic movement with Man being a participant in this movement. Fink called the philosophical problems pre-questions, that will lead to the true philosophy by the way of an
ontological
In metaphysics, ontology is the philosophical study of being, as well as related concepts such as existence, becoming, and reality.
Ontology addresses questions like how entities are grouped into categories and which of these entities exis ...
practice.
Works
* ''Vom Wesen des Enthusiasmus'', Freiburg 1947
* ''Zur ontologischen Frühgeschichte von Raum - Zeit - Bewegung'', Den Haag 1957
* ''Alles und Nichts'', Den Haag 1959
* ''Spiel als Weltsymbol'', Stuttgart 1960
* ''Nietzsches Philosophie'', Stuttgart 1960
* ''Metaphysik und Tod'', Stuttgart 1969
* ''Heraklit. Seminar mit Martin Heidegger'', Frankfurt/Main 1970
* ''Erziehungswissenschaft und Lebenslehre'', Freiburg 1970
* ''Natur, Freiheit, Welt : Philosophie der Erziehung'', Wuerzburg, 1992
* ''Sein und Mensch. Vom Wesen der ontologischen Erfahrung'', Freiburg 1977
* ''Grundfragen der systematischen Pädagogik'', Freiburg 1978
* ''Grundphänomene des menschlichen Daseins'', Freiburg 1979
* ''Grundfragen der antiken Philosophie'', Würzburg 1985
* ''VI. Cartesianische Meditation. I: Die Idee einer Transzendentalen Methodenlehre'' Dordrecht 1988
* ''Welt und Endlichkeit'', Würzburg 1990
* ''Hegel'', Frankfurt 2006
* ''Eugen Fink Gesamtausgabe'' edited by Cathrin Nielsen and Hans Rainer Sepp in collaboration with Franz-Anton Schwarz, Freiburg: Alber, 2006-
* Published volumes:
** Vol. 1. ''Nähe und Distanz. Studien zur Phänomenologie'' (2011);
** Vol. 3.1 ''Die Doktorarbeit und erste Assistenzjahre bei Husserl'' (2006);
** Vol. 3.3 ''Grammata: zu Husserls Krisis-Schriften, Dorothy Ott-Seminare, Interpretationen zu Kant und Hegel, Notizen zu Gesprächen im Umkreis der Freiburger Phänomenologie.'' (2011);
** Vol. 7 ''Spiel als Weltsymbol'' (2010);
** Vol. 13 ''Epilegomena zu I. Kants Kritik der reinen Vernunft'' (2010).
English translations
* ''Play as Symbol of the World. And Other Writings.'' Translated with an introduction by Ian Alexander Moore and Christopher Turner. Bloomington: Indiana University Press, 2016.
* ''Sixth Cartesian meditation. The Idea of a Transcendental Theory of Method'' with textual notations by Edmund Husserl. Translated with an introduction by Ronald Bruzina, Bloomington: Indiana University Press, 1995
* ''Nietzsche's Philosophy'' translated by Goetz Richter London, New York: Continuum, 2003
* ''Heraclitus Seminar''. with Martin Heidegger, (Winter semester 1966/1967 at Freiburg University), Evanston, Ill.: Northwestern University Press, 1993
* Cairns, Dorion, ''Conversations with Husserl and Fink''. The Hague: Martinus Nijhoff, 1976
* "Oasis of Happiness: Thoughts toward an Ontology of Play". Translated by Ian Alexander Moore and Christopher Turner. ''Purlieu: A Philosophical Journal'' 1, no. 4 (2012), pp. 20–42.
References
* Ronald Bruzina, ''Edmund Husserl & Eugen Fink: Beginnings and Ends in Phenomenology 1928-1938'', New Haven: Yale University Press, 200
* Stuart Elden, "Eugen Fink and the Question of the World", ''Parrhesia: A Journal of Critical Philosophy'' 2008;5:48-5
External links
*
Eugen-Fink-ArchivCenter for Advanced Research in Phenomenology
{{DEFAULTSORT:Fink, Eugen
1905 births
1975 deaths
20th-century German non-fiction writers
20th-century German philosophers
Continental philosophers
Critical theorists
Epistemologists
German male non-fiction writers
German male writers
Idealists
Metaphysicians
Ontologists
People from Konstanz
People from the Grand Duchy of Baden
Phenomenologists
Philosophers of economics
Philosophers of education
Philosophers of history
Philosophers of mind