Heinz Heimsoeth (12 August 1886,

Cologne Cologne ( ; german: Köln ; ksh, Kölle ) is the largest city of the German western state of North Rhine-Westphalia (NRW) and the fourth-most populous city of Germany with 1.1 million inhabitants in the city proper and 3.6 millio ...

– 10 September 1975, Cologne) was a German historian of philosophy.

Biography

Heimsoeth began his studies at

Heidelberg Heidelberg (; Palatine German: ') is a city in the German state of Baden-Württemberg, situated on the river Neckar in south-west Germany. As of the 2016 census, its population was 159,914, of which roughly a quarter consisted of students ...

in 1905, but soon transferred to

Berlin Berlin ( , ) is the capital and largest city of Germany by both area and population. Its 3.7 million inhabitants make it the European Union's most populous city, according to population within city limits. One of Germany's sixteen constitu ...

, where he studied with

Wilhelm Dilthey Wilhelm Dilthey (; ; 19 November 1833 – 1 October 1911) was a German historian, psychologist, sociologist, and hermeneutic philosopher, who held G. W. F. Hegel's Chair in Philosophy at the University of Berlin. As a polymathic philosopher, w ...

Alois Riehl Alois Adolf Riehl (; 27 April 1844 – 21 November 1924) was an Austrian neo-Kantian philosopher. He was born in Bozen (Bolzano) in the Austrian Empire (now in Italy). He was the brother of . Biography Riehl studied at Vienna, Munich, Innsbruck ...

, and Ernst Cassirer. Due to his interest in

Kant Immanuel Kant (, , ; 22 April 1724 – 12 February 1804) was a German philosopher and one of the central Enlightenment thinkers. Born in Königsberg, Kant's comprehensive and systematic works in epistemology, metaphysics, ethics, and aest ...

he transferred in 1907 to

Marburg Marburg ( or ) is a university town in the German federal state (''Bundesland'') of Hesse, capital of the Marburg-Biedenkopf district (''Landkreis''). The town area spreads along the valley of the river Lahn and has a population of approximat ...

, where he studied with Hermann Cohen and

Paul Natorp Paul Gerhard Natorp (24 January 1854 – 17 August 1924) was a German philosopher and educationalist, considered one of the co-founders of the Marburg school of neo-Kantianism. He was known as an authority on Plato. Biography Paul Natorp was ...

. He graduated in 1911 with a thesis on Descartes. After a year studying in Paris with

Henri Bergson Henri-Louis Bergson (; 18 October 1859 – 4 January 1941) was a French philosopherHenri Bergson. 2014. Encyclopædia Britannica Online. Retrieved 13 August 2014, from https://www.britannica.com/EBchecked/topic/61856/Henri-Bergson Le Roy, ...

he was

habilitated Habilitation is the highest university degree, or the procedure by which it is achieved, in many European countries. The candidate fulfills a university's set criteria of excellence in research, teaching and further education, usually including a ...

with a thesis on

Leibniz Gottfried Wilhelm (von) Leibniz . ( – 14 November 1716) was a German polymath active as a mathematician, philosopher, scientist and diplomat. He is one of the most prominent figures in both the history of philosophy and the history of ma ...

. After two years teaching at Marburg, he was appointed Professor at the University of Königsberg in 1923. In 1931 he transferred to a chair in philosophy at

. After the

Nazi seizure of power Adolf Hitler's rise to power began in the newly established Weimar Republic in September 1919 when Hitler joined the '' Deutsche Arbeiterpartei'' (DAP; German Workers' Party). He rose to a place of prominence in the early years of the party. Be ...

in 1933 Heimsoeth himself joined the

Nazi Party The Nazi Party, officially the National Socialist German Workers' Party (german: Nationalsozialistische Deutsche Arbeiterpartei or NSDAP), was a far-right political party in Germany active between 1920 and 1945 that created and supported t ...

and was named Dean of his faculty, a position he held again in 1943/44. He became

Professor Emeritus ''Emeritus'' (; female: ''emerita'') is an adjective used to designate a retired chair, professor, pastor, bishop, pope, director, president, prime minister, rabbi, emperor, or other person who has been "permitted to retain as an honorary title ...

in 1954.

Works

*''Die sechs großen Themen der abendländischen Metaphysik und der Ausgang des Mittelalters'', Stilke, Berlin 1922, Nachdruck der unveränderten 3. Auflage, Wissenschaftliche Buchgesellschaft, Darmstadt 1987, , translated into English as ''The Six Great Themes of Western Metaphysics and The End Of The Middle Ages'', Wayne State University Press, 1994, *''Fichte'', E. Reinhardt, München 1923 *''Metaphysik der Neuzeit'', München/Berlin 1934, Nachdruck Oldenboug, München 1967 *''Geschichtsphilosophie'', Bouvier, Bonn 1948 *''Metaphysische Voraussetzungen und Antriebe in Nietzsches "Immoralismus"'', Steiner, Mainz 1955 *'' Windelband, Wilhelm: Lehrbuch der Geschichte der Philosophie. Mit einem Schlußkapitel "Die Philosophie im 20. Jahrhundert" und einer Übersicht über den Stand der philosophiegeschichtlichen Forschung'', edited by Heinz Heimsoeth, Tübingen 1957, *''Atom, Seele, Monade. Historische Ursprünge und Hintergründe von Kants Antinomie der Teilung'', Steiner, Mainz 1960 *''Studien zur Philosophiegeschichte'', Kölner Universitätsverlag, Köln 1961 *''Hegels Philosophie der Musik'', Bouvier, Bonn 1964 (aus Hegel-Studien Bd. 2, 1963, S. 162 – 201) *''Transzendentale Dialektik. Ein Kommentar zu Kants Kritik der reinen Vernunft'', 4 Bände, de Gruyter, Berlin 1966–71 *''Studien zur Philosophie Immanuel Kants'', Bouvier, Bonn 2. Aufl. 1971, *''Nicolai Hartmann und Heinz Heimsoeth im Briefwechsel'', Frida Hartmann & Renate Heimsoeth (Hrsg.), Bonn, 1978.

References

* "Heinz Heimsoeth," in: Ludwig J. Pongratz (ed.): ''Philosophie in Selbstdarstellungen''. Vol. III. Hamburg 1975, pp. 102–132, 119. 1886 births 1975 deaths Writers from Cologne People from the Rhine Province Heidelberg University alumni Humboldt University of Berlin alumni University of Marburg alumni University of Marburg faculty University of Königsberg faculty University of Cologne faculty German historians of philosophy German male non-fiction writers 20th-century German philosophers {{Germany-philosopher-stub