Laurence Lampert (born 1941) is a Canadian

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 ...

and a leading scholar in the field of

Nietzsche Friedrich Wilhelm Nietzsche (; or ; 15 October 1844 – 25 August 1900) was a German philosopher, Prose poetry, prose poet, cultural critic, Philology, philologist, and composer whose work has exerted a profound influence on contemporary philo ...

studies. Philosopher

Michael Allen Gillespie Michael Allen Gillespie is an American philosopher and Professor of Political Science and Philosophy at Duke University. His areas of interest are political philosophy, continental philosophy, history of philosophy, and the origins of modernity. ...

Duke University Duke University is a private research university in Durham, North Carolina. Founded by Methodists and Quakers in the present-day city of Trinity in 1838, the school moved to Durham in 1892. In 1924, tobacco and electric power industrialist James ...

has described Lampert as "North America's greatest living Nietzsche scholar." He is also well known for his interpretations of

Plato Plato ( ; grc-gre, Πλάτων ; 428/427 or 424/423 – 348/347 BC) was a Greek philosopher born in Athens during the Classical period in Ancient Greece. He founded the Platonist school of thought and the Academy, the first institution ...

and the German-American political philosopher

Leo Strauss Leo Strauss (, ; September 20, 1899 – October 18, 1973) was a German-American political philosopher who specialized in classical political philosophy. Born in Germany to Jewish parents, Strauss later emigrated from Germany to the United States. ...

. Lampert was born and raised in

Winnipeg Winnipeg () is the capital and largest city of the province of Manitoba in Canada. It is centred on the confluence of the Red and Assiniboine rivers, near the longitudinal centre of North America. , Winnipeg had a city population of 749,6 ...

Manitoba Manitoba ( ) is a Provinces and territories of Canada, province of Canada at the Centre of Canada, longitudinal centre of the country. It is Canada's Population of Canada by province and territory, fifth-most populous province, with a population o ...

. He received his master's degree in 1968 and his doctorate in 1971, both from

Northwestern University Northwestern University is a private research university in Evanston, Illinois. Founded in 1851, Northwestern is the oldest chartered university in Illinois and is ranked among the most prestigious academic institutions in the world. Charte ...

, with a dissertation was on “The Views of History in Nietzsche and Heidegger.” He taught at

Indiana University–Purdue University Indianapolis Indiana University–Purdue University Indianapolis, commonly referred to as IUPUI, is a public research university in Indianapolis, Indiana. It is a collaboration between Indiana University and Purdue University that offers undergraduate, grad ...

for 35 years and remains a professor emeritus of philosophy. The Indiana University Foundation has a Laurence Lampert Scholarship in Philosophy that was founded upon Lampert's retirement. Income from gifts to this endowed fund supports scholarships for undergraduate philosophy majors.

Lectures in China

In the spring of 2015, Lampert was invited by Professor Liu Xiaofeng of

Renmin University of China The Renmin University of China (RUC; ) is a national key public research university in Beijing, China. The university is affiliated to the Ministry of Education, and co-funded by the Ministry and the Beijing Municipal People's Government. RUC ...

to travel to China for a monthlong tour, during which he lectured at three of China’s leading universities: Renmin University of China (Beijing),

Zhejiang University Zhejiang University, abbreviated as ZJU or Zheda and formerly romanized as Chekiang University, is a national public research university based in Hangzhou, Zhejiang, China. It is a member of the prestigious C9 League and is selected into the na ...

(Hangzhou), and

Chongqing University Chongqing University (CQU; , colloquially abbreviated as ChóngDà) is a public research university located in Chongqing, China. It is a National Key University directly funded by the central government of China as part of the Double First Class U ...

(Chongqing). The title of his lecture series, “Strauss, Plato, Nietzsche: Philosophy and Its Poetry,” referred to the three figures in the history of Western philosophy who had been at the center of his research throughout his career. Delivered in English and translated into Chinese, these lectures were published in a combined English and Chinese edition under the title ''Philosophy and Philosophic Poetry: Strauss, Plato, Nietzsche'' in 2021 by Huaxia Publishing House in China as part of the Collected Works of Laurence Lampert, edited by Liu Xiaofeng.

"Nietzsche in the 21st Century"

Lampert has been invited to give the keynote address at a 2023 conference on "Nietzsche in the 21st Century" held in Białystok, Poland.

Books

*
Nietzsche's Teaching: An Interpretation of Thus Spoke Zarathustra
' (New Haven:

Yale University Press Yale University Press is the university press of Yale University. It was founded in 1908 by George Parmly Day, and became an official department of Yale University in 1961, but it remains financially and operationally autonomous. , Yale Universi ...

, 1986). *
Nietzsche and Modern Times: A Study of Bacon, Descartes, and Nietzsche
' (New Haven: Yale University Press, 1993). *''Leo Strauss and Nietzsche'' (Chicago:

University of Chicago Press The University of Chicago Press is the largest and one of the oldest university presses in the United States. It is operated by the University of Chicago and publishes a wide variety of academic titles, including ''The Chicago Manual of Style'', ...

, 1996). *''Francis Bacon's'' Advertisement Touching a Holy War, edited, with an introduction, notes, and interpretive essay by Laurence Lampert (Prospect Heights, IL: Waveland, 2000). *
Nietzsche's Task: An Interpretation of Beyond Good and Evil
(New Haven: Yale University Press, 2001). *
How Philosophy Became Socratic: A Study of Plato's
' "Protagoras," "Charmides," and "Republic" (Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 2010). *''The Enduring Importance of Leo Strauss'' (Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 2013). *''What a Philosopher Is: Becoming Nietzsche'' (Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 2018). *''How Socrates Became Socrates: A Study of Plato's "Phaedo," "Parmenides," and "Symposium"'' (Chicago: University of Chicago Pree, 2021). *''Philosophy and Philosophic Poetry: Strauss, Plato, Nietzsche'' (Beijing: Huaxia Press, 2021).

References

External links

Iupui.edu
Official website Indiana University faculty Canadian philosophers Living people 1941 births People from Winnipeg {{US-philosopher-stub