Michael Landmann (16 December 1913 in

Basel , french: link=no, Bâlois(e), it, Basilese , neighboring_municipalities= Allschwil (BL), Hégenheim (FR-68), Binningen (BL), Birsfelden (BL), Bottmingen (BL), Huningue (FR-68), Münchenstein (BL), Muttenz (BL), Reinach (BL), Riehen (BS ...

– 25 January 1984 in

Haifa Haifa ( he, חֵיפָה ' ; ar, حَيْفَا ') is the third-largest city in Israel—after Jerusalem and Tel Aviv—with a population of in . The city of Haifa forms part of the Haifa metropolitan area, the third-most populous metropol ...

) was a Swiss-Jewish philosopher.

Life

Landmann was the son of economist Julius Landmann and philosopher Edith Landmann. Philologist Georg Peter Landmann is his brother. His parents were friends of

Stefan George Stefan Anton George (; 12 July 18684 December 1933) was a German symbolist poet and a translator of Dante Alighieri, William Shakespeare, Hesiod, and Charles Baudelaire. He is also known for his role as leader of the highly influential literar ...

and were connected to the ''Georgekreis'', a circle of writers inspired by George. Since his father had worked in

Kiel Kiel () is the capital and most populous city in the northern Germany, German state of Schleswig-Holstein, with a population of 246,243 (2021). Kiel lies approximately north of Hamburg. Due to its geographic location in the southeast of the J ...

, Landmann attended a gymnasium there from 1927 to 1933. Having returned to Switzerland, he studied philosophy, psychology and German studies at the

University of Basel The University of Basel (Latin: ''Universitas Basiliensis'', German: ''Universität Basel'') is a university in Basel, Switzerland. Founded on 4 April 1460, it is Switzerland's oldest university and among the world's oldest surviving universit ...

. Herman Schmalenbach, Paul Häberlin und Walter Muschg were among his teachers. 1939 he received his doctorate with a thesis on Socratic philosophy as an ethic of values (''Der Sokratismus als Wertethik''). After assisting Schmalenbach and

Karl Jaspers Karl Theodor Jaspers (, ; 23 February 1883 – 26 February 1969) was a German-Swiss psychiatrist and philosopher who had a strong influence on modern theology, psychiatry, and philosophy. After being trained in and practicing psychiatry, Jasper ...

, Landmann earned his habilitation under the mentorship of

Otto Friedrich Bollnow Otto Friedrich Bollnow (; 14 March 1903 – 7 February 1991) was a German philosopher and teacher. Biography He was born the son of a rector in Stettin in what was then northwest Germany (now Szczecin, Poland) and went to school in the town of A ...

at the

University of Mainz The Johannes Gutenberg University Mainz (german: Johannes Gutenberg-Universität Mainz) is a public research university in Mainz, Rhineland Palatinate, Germany, named after the printer Johannes Gutenberg since 1946. With approximately 32,000 stu ...

. From 1951 till 1978 Michael Landmann was Professor of philosophy at the

Free University of Berlin The Free University of Berlin (, often abbreviated as FU Berlin or simply FU) is a public research university in Berlin, Germany. It is consistently ranked among Germany's best universities, with particular strengths in political science and t ...

. His main field of study was

philosophical anthropology Philosophical anthropology, sometimes called anthropological philosophy, is a discipline dealing with questions of metaphysics and phenomenology of the human person. History Ancient Christian writers: Augustine of Hippo Augustine of Hippo wa ...

Since 1939, Michael Landmann was married to the Jewish writer

Salcia Landmann Salcia Landmann, born Salcia Passweg ( he, זלציה לנדמן; 18 November 1911 – 16 May 2002), was a Jewish writer. She was born in Zhovkva, Galicia, and died in St. Gallen, Switzerland. She worked on preserving the Yiddish language, and sh ...

, born Passweg.

Select bibliography

* Landmann, Michael (1943). Der Sokratismus als Werteethik, Basel Dissertation *Landmann, Michael (1949). Problematik. Nichtwissen und Wissenverlangen im Philosopischen Bewußtsein. Göttingen * * *

References

"Philosophical Anthropology By Michael Landmann", KIRKUS REVIEW
* {{DEFAULTSORT:Landmann, Michael 1913 births 1984 deaths 20th-century Swiss philosophers 20th-century Israeli philosophers Swiss Jews Israeli philosophers 20th-century Israeli Jews Academic staff of the Free University of Berlin