Alfred Schmidt (; ; born 19 May 1931,

Berlin Berlin ( , ) is the capital and List of cities in Germany by population, largest city of Germany by both area and population. Its 3.7 million inhabitants make it the European Union's List of cities in the European Union by population within ci ...

– 28 August 2012,

Frankfurt am Main Frankfurt, officially Frankfurt am Main (; Hessian: , "Frank ford on the Main"), is the most populous city in the German state of Hesse. Its 791,000 inhabitants as of 2022 make it the fifth-most populous city in Germany. Located on its na ...

) was a German philosopher.

Biography

Schmidt studied

history History (derived ) is the systematic study and the documentation of the human activity. The time period of event before the invention of writing systems is considered prehistory. "History" is an umbrella term comprising past events as well ...

and

English English usually refers to: * English language * English people English may also refer to: Peoples, culture, and language * ''English'', an adjective for something of, from, or related to England ** English national ide ...

as well as classical

philology Philology () is the study of language in oral and written historical sources; it is the intersection of textual criticism, literary criticism, history, and linguistics (with especially strong ties to etymology). Philology is also defined as th ...

at the Goethe University Frankfurt and later philosophy and

sociology Sociology is a social science that focuses on society, human social behavior, patterns of social relationships, social interaction, and aspects of culture associated with everyday life. It uses various methods of empirical investigation an ...

. He was a student of

Theodor W. Adorno Theodor W. Adorno ( , ; born Theodor Ludwig Wiesengrund; 11 September 1903 – 6 August 1969) was a German philosopher, sociologist, psychologist, musicologist, and composer. He was a leading member of the Frankfurt School of criti ...

and

Max Horkheimer Max Horkheimer (; ; 14 February 1895 – 7 July 1973) was a German philosopher and sociologist who was famous for his work in critical theory as a member of the Frankfurt School of social research. Horkheimer addressed authoritarianism, militari ...

and gained his

doctorate A doctorate (from Latin ''docere'', "to teach"), doctor's degree (from Latin ''doctor'', "teacher"), or doctoral degree is an academic degree awarded by universities and some other educational institutions, derived from the ancient formalism ''li ...

with his ''

The Concept of Nature in Marx ''The Concept of Nature in Marx'' (german: Der Begriff der Natur in der Lehre von Marx) is a 1962 book by the philosopher Alfred Schmidt. First published in English in 1971, it is a classic account of Karl Marx's ideas about nature. Summary T ...

''. Schmidt was professor of philosophy and sociology at the University of Frankfurt from 1972 and was made emeritus in 1999. Schmidt's primary research topics were the critical theory of the

Frankfurt School The Frankfurt School (german: Frankfurter Schule) is a school of social theory and critical philosophy associated with the Institute for Social Research, at Goethe University Frankfurt in 1929. Founded in the Weimar Republic (1918–1933), dur ...

philosophy of religion Philosophy of religion is "the philosophical examination of the central themes and concepts involved in religious traditions". Philosophical discussions on such topics date from ancient times, and appear in the earliest known texts concerning ph ...

, and Arthur Schopenhauer's philosophy. Schmidt was a member of the International PEN and an honorary member of the

Schopenhauer Society The Schopenhauer Society (german: Schopenhauer-Gesellschaft) is a literary and philosophical society devoted to research into the work, life and influence of the philosopher Arthur Schopenhauer (1788–1860). The society was founded in 1911 by th ...

Major works

* ''Der Begriff der Natur in der Lehre von Karl Marx''. Frankfurt am Main: Europäische Verlagsanstalt, 1962. (English translation: ''

''. Translated by Ben Fowkes. London: NLB, 1971, .) * ''Geschichte und Struktur. Fragen einer marxistischen Historik''. München: Hanser, 1971, . (English translation: ''History and structure. An essay on Hegelian-Marxist and structuralist theories of history''. Translated by

Jeffrey Herf Jeffrey C. Herf (born April 24, 1947) is an American historian of Modern European, in particular, modern German history. He is Distinguished University Professor of modern European at the University of Maryland, College Park. Biography He was born ...

. Cambridge, Massachusetts: MIT Press, 1981, .) * Herbert Marcuse and Alfred Schmidt: ''Existenzialistische Marx-Interpretation''. Frankfurt am Main: Europäische Verlagsanstalt, 1973, . * ''Emanzipatorische Sinnlichkeit. Ludwig Feuerbachs anthropologischer Materialismus''. München: Hanser, 1973, . (Spanish translation: ''Feuerbach, o, La sensualidad emancipada''. Translated by Julio Carabaña. Madrid: Taurus, 1975, .) * ''Zur Idee der Kritischen Theorie. Elemente der Philosophie Max Horkheimers''. München: Hanser, 1974, . * ''Die Kritische Theorie als Geschichtsphilosophie''. München: Hanser, 1976, . * ''Drei Studien über Materialismus. Schopenhauer. Horkheimer. Glücksproblem''. München: Hanser, 1977, . * ''Kritische Theorie, Humanismus, Aufklärung. Philosophische Arbeiten''. Stuttgart: Reclam, 1981, . * ''Goethes herrlich leuchtende Natur. Philosophische Studie zur deutschen Spätaufklärung''. München: Hanser, 1984, . * ''Die Wahrheit im Gewande der Lüge. Schopenhauers Religionsphilosophie''. München; Zürich: Piper, 1986, . * ''Entstehungsgeschichte der humanitären Freimaurerei. Deistische Wurzeln und Aspekte''. Ed. by Klaus-Jürgen Grün and Thomas Forwe. Leipzig: Salier-Verlag, 2014, (posthumous).

Notes and references

External links

*
''Ein Hauch von Melancholie''
(Der Spiegel, 5 June 1972) * Lorenz Jäger

(FAZ.Net, 29 August 2012) * Rudolf Walther
''Im Dienste der Aufklärung. Der Frankfurter Philosoph Alfred Schmidt ist gestorben''
(taz, 31 August 2012) * Stefan Gandler

(El País, Madrid, 22 September 2012) {{DEFAULTSORT:Schmidt, Alfred 1931 births 2012 deaths 20th-century German translators English–German translators Frankfurt School German male writers German philosophers Goethe University Frankfurt faculty Recipients of the Cross of the Order of Merit of the Federal Republic of Germany