Manfred Frank (born March 22, 1945) is a

German German(s) may refer to: * Germany (of or related to) **Germania (historical use) * Germans, citizens of Germany, people of German ancestry, or native speakers of the German language ** For citizens of Germany, see also German nationality law **Ger ...

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 ...

emeritus professor ''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 ...

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 ...

at the

University of Tübingen The University of Tübingen, officially the Eberhard Karl University of Tübingen (german: Eberhard Karls Universität Tübingen; la, Universitas Eberhardina Carolina), is a public research university located in the city of Tübingen, Baden-Wü ...

. His work focuses on

German idealism German idealism was a philosophical movement that emerged in Germany in the late 18th and early 19th centuries. It developed out of the work of Immanuel Kant in the 1780s and 1790s, and was closely linked both with Romanticism and the revolutionary ...

romanticism Romanticism (also known as the Romantic movement or Romantic era) was an artistic, literary, musical, and intellectual movement that originated in Europe towards the end of the 18th century, and in most areas was at its peak in the approximate ...

, and the concepts of

subjectivity Subjectivity in a philosophical context has to do with a lack of objective reality. Subjectivity has been given various and ambiguous definitions by differing sources as it is not often the focal point of philosophical discourse.Bykova, Marina F ...

and

self-consciousness Self-consciousness is a heightened sense of awareness of oneself. It is not to be confused with consciousness in the sense of qualia. Historically, "self-consciousness" was synonymous with " self-awareness", referring to a state of awareness that ...

. His 950-page study of German romanticism, ''Unendliche Annäherung'', has been described as "the most comprehensive and thoroughgoing study of early German romanticism" and "surely one of the most important books from the post-War period on the history of German philosophy."Fred Rush, "Review of ''The Philosophical Foundations of Early German Romanticism''
" ''Notre Dame Philosophical Reviews'' 9 Dec 2004. He has also written at length on

analytic philosophy Analytic philosophy is a branch and tradition of philosophy using analysis, popular in the Western world and particularly the Anglosphere, which began around the turn of the 20th century in the contemporary era in the United Kingdom, United Sta ...

and recent

French philosophy French philosophy, here taken to mean philosophy in the French language, has been extremely diverse and has influenced Western philosophy as a whole for centuries, from the medieval scholasticism of Peter Abelard, through the founding of modern ...

Life

Frank was born in

Elberfeld Elberfeld is a municipal subdivision of the German city of Wuppertal; it was an independent town until 1929. History The first official mentioning of the geographic area on the banks of today's Wupper River as "''elverfelde''" was in a docu ...

, Germany, and studied philosophy at the

University of Heidelberg } Heidelberg University, officially the Ruprecht Karl University of Heidelberg, (german: Ruprecht-Karls-Universität Heidelberg; la, Universitas Ruperto Carola Heidelbergensis) is a public research university in Heidelberg, Baden-Württemberg, ...

under teachers such as

Hans-Georg Gadamer Hans-Georg Gadamer (; ; February 11, 1900 – March 13, 2002) was a German philosopher of the continental tradition, best known for his 1960 ''magnum opus'', '' Truth and Method'' (''Wahrheit und Methode''), on hermeneutics. Life Family an ...

Karl Löwith Karl Löwith (9 January 1897 – 26 May 1973) was a German philosopher in the phenomenological tradition. A student of Husserl and Heidegger, he was one of the most prolific German philosophers of the twentieth century. He is known for his two ...

Ernst Tugendhat Ernst Tugendhat (born 8 March 1930) is a Czech-born German philosopher. He is a scion of the wealthy and influential Jewish Tugendhat family. Life and career He was born in Brno, Czechoslovakia, to Fritz and Greta Tugendhat, the wealthy Jewish fam ...

, and

Dieter Henrich Dieter Henrich (5 January 1927 – 17 December 2022) was a German philosopher. A contemporary thinker in the tradition of German idealism, Henrich is considered "one of the most respected and frequently cited philosophers in Germany today", who ...

. After teaching at the

University of Düsseldorf A university () is an institution of higher (or tertiary) education and research which awards academic degrees in several academic disciplines. Universities typically offer both undergraduate and postgraduate programs. In the United States, the ...

from 1971 to 1982, and at the

University of Geneva The University of Geneva (French: ''Université de Genève'') is a public research university located in Geneva, Switzerland. It was founded in 1559 by John Calvin as a theological seminary. It remained focused on theology until the 17th centu ...

from 1982 to 1987, Frank accepted a position at Tübingen in 1987. He is a specialist in the

philosophy of literature Philosophy and literature involves the literary treatment of philosophers and philosophical themes (the literature of philosophy), and the philosophical treatment of issues raised by literature (the philosophy of literature). The philosophy ...

Selected works

Books

He is the author of a wide range of books published in

, French, 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 ...

, including: * ''The Philosophical Foundations of Early German Romanticism.'' Albany, NY: State University of New York Press, 2004. * ''The Subject and the Text: Essays on Literary Theory and Philosophy.'' Cambridge, U.K. & New York : Cambridge University Press, 1997. *''What Is Neostructuralism?'' Minneapolis : University of Minnesota Press, 1989. *''Das Problem "Zeit" in der deutschen Romantik ; Zeitbewusstsein und Bewusstsein von Zeitlichkeit in der frühromantischen Philosophie und in Tiecks Dichtung.'' Paderborn : Winkler Verlag, 1972, 1990. *''L'ultime raison du sujet.'' Arles, France : Actes Sud, 1988. *''Einführung in die frühromantische Ästhetik. Vorlesungen'' Frankfurt a. M.: Suhrkamp (es 1563), 1989 *''Selbstbewußtsein und Selbsterkenntnis: Essays zur analytischen Philosophie der Subjektivität.'' Stuttgart: Reclam, 1991 *''"Unendliche Annäherung". Die Anfänge der philosophischen Frühromantik.'' Frankfurt a. M.: Suhrkamp (stw 1328), 1997 *''Auswege aus dem deutschen Idealismus.'' Frankfurt a. M.: Suhrkamp (stw 1851), 2007 *''Natura e Spirito. Lezioni sulla filosofia di Schelling.'', a cura di Emilio Carlo Corriero, Torino, Rosenberg & Sellier, 2010

Articles

*"The World as Will and Representation: Deleuze's and Guattari's Critique of Capitalism as Schizo-Analysis and Schizo-Discourse"
''Telos''
57 (Fall 1983). New York: Telos Press. *‘Non-objectal Subjectivity’, Journal of Consciousness Studies 14: 5–6, 152–173, May / June 2007. *"Qu’est-ce qu’un texte littéraire et que signifie sa compréhension?", in Revue Internationale de Philosophie, vol. 41, nº 162/163 (3-4), « Philosophie de la Littérature », 1987, p. 378-397. Partial translation of an article originally published in German.
Read online
.

Notes

External links