Robert Zimmer (born 25 October 1953 in
Trier
Trier ( , ; lb, Tréier ), formerly known in English as Trèves ( ;) and Triers (see also names in other languages), is a city on the banks of the Moselle in Germany. It lies in a valley between low vine-covered hills of red sandstone in the ...
,
West Germany
West Germany is the colloquial term used to indicate the Federal Republic of Germany (FRG; german: Bundesrepublik Deutschland , BRD) between its formation on 23 May 1949 and the German reunification through the accession of East Germany on 3 O ...
) 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
**Ge ...
philosopher and
essayist
An essay is, generally, a piece of writing that gives the author's own argument, but the definition is vague, overlapping with those of a letter, a paper, an article, a pamphlet, and a short story. Essays have been sub-classified as formal ...
who writes biographies and popular introductions to
philosophy and to the
history of philosophy.
Life
Robert Zimmer was educated at the German universities of
Saarbrücken and
Düsseldorf
Düsseldorf ( , , ; often in English sources; Low Franconian and Ripuarian language, Ripuarian: ''Düsseldörp'' ; archaic nl, Dusseldorp ) is the capital city of North Rhine-Westphalia, the most populous state of Germany. It is the second- ...
and wrote his doctoral dissertation on
Edmund Burke
Edmund Burke (; 12 January NS.html"_;"title="New_Style.html"_;"title="/nowiki>New_Style">NS">New_Style.html"_;"title="/nowiki>New_Style">NS/nowiki>_1729_–_9_July_1797)_was_an_NS.html"_;"title="New_Style.html"_;"title="/nowiki>New_Style">N ...
. From 1986 - 2013 he lived as a freelance writer and publicist in
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 ...
. In 2013 he moved to
Stuttgart. His most popular book so far has been “Das Philosophenportal”, a collection of 16 essays on 16 different classical works of philosophy, which has been translated into more than a dozen languages (not yet in English). In 2010 he published a biography of
Arthur Schopenhauer. He also translated a selection of essays by the 19th Century French critic and writer
Charles Augustin Sainte-Beuve.
Zimmer is a follower of
critical rationalism
Critical rationalism is an epistemological philosophy advanced by Karl Popper on the basis that, if a statement cannot be logically deduced (from what is known), it might nevertheless be possible to logically falsify it. Following Hume, Poppe ...
. Together with Martin Morgenstern he wrote a short and popular biography of
Karl Popper and edited the correspondence between Popper and
Hans Albert
Hans Albert (born 8 February 1921) is a German philosopher. Born in Cologne, he lives in Heidelberg.
His fields of research are Social Sciences and General Studies of Methods. He is a critical rationalist, paying special attention to rational ...
.
Selected works
* 2011 (with M. Morgenstern) ''Gespräche mit Hans Albert''
* 2010 ''Arthur Schopenhauer. Ein philosophischer Weltbürger''
* 2009 ''Basis-Bibliothek Philosophie''
* 2009 ''Das große Philosophenportal''
* 2005 (ed., with M. Morgenstern) ''Hans Albert / Karl Popper: Briefwechsel''
* 2004 ''Das Philosophenportal''
* 2002 (with Martin Morgenstern) ''Karl Popper''
* 1995 ''Edmund Burke zur Einführung''
External links
Official website
1953 births
20th-century essayists
20th-century German non-fiction writers
20th-century German philosophers
21st-century essayists
21st-century German non-fiction writers
21st-century German philosophers
Critical rationalists
German male essayists
German male non-fiction writers
German male writers
Historians of philosophy
Living people
Philosophy writers
Rationalists
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