Rudolf Christoph Eucken (; 5 January 184615 September 1926) was a German

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 ...

. He received the 1908 Nobel Prize in Literature "in recognition of his earnest search for truth, his penetrating power of thought, his wide range of vision, and the warmth and strength in presentation with which in his numerous works he has vindicated and developed an idealistic philosophy of life", after he had been nominated by a member of the

Swedish Academy The Swedish Academy ( sv, Svenska Akademien), founded in 1786 by King Gustav III, is one of the Royal Academies of Sweden. Its 18 members, who are elected for life, comprise the highest Swedish language authority. Outside Scandinavia, it is bes ...

Early life

Eucken was born on 5 January 1846 in

Aurich Aurich (; East Frisian Low Saxon: ''Auerk'', West Frisian: ''Auwerk'', stq, Aurk) is a town in the East Frisian region of Lower Saxony, Germany. It is the capital of the district of Aurich and is the second largest City in East Frisia, both i ...

, then in the

Kingdom of Hanover The Kingdom of Hanover (german: Königreich Hannover) was established in October 1814 by the Congress of Vienna, with the restoration of George III to his Hanoverian territories after the Napoleonic era. It succeeded the former Electorate of Ha ...

(now

Lower Saxony Lower Saxony (german: Niedersachsen ; nds, Neddersassen; stq, Läichsaksen) is a German state (') in northwestern Germany. It is the second-largest state by land area, with , and fourth-largest in population (8 million in 2021) among the 16 ...

). His father, Ammo Becker Eucken (1792–1851) died when he was a child, and he was brought up by his mother, Ida Maria (1814–1872, née Gittermann). He was educated at Aurich, where one of his teachers was the classical philologist and philosopher Ludwig Wilhelm Maximilian Reuter (1803–1881). He studied at

Göttingen University Göttingen (, , ; nds, Chöttingen) is a university city in Lower Saxony, central Germany, the capital of the eponymous district. The River Leine runs through it. At the end of 2019, the population was 118,911. General information The ori ...

(1863–66), where Hermann Lotze was one of his teachers, and

Berlin University Humboldt-Universität zu Berlin (german: Humboldt-Universität zu Berlin, abbreviated HU Berlin) is a German public research university in the central borough of Mitte in Berlin. It was established by Frederick William III on the initiative o ...

. In the latter place, Friedrich Adolf Trendelenburg was a professor whose ethical tendencies and historical treatment of philosophy greatly attracted him.

Career

Eucken received his

PhD PHD or PhD may refer to: * Doctor of Philosophy (PhD), an academic qualification Entertainment * '' PhD: Phantasy Degree'', a Korean comic series * '' Piled Higher and Deeper'', a web comic * Ph.D. (band), a 1980s British group ** Ph.D. (Ph.D. al ...

in 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 ...

and

ancient history Ancient history is a time period from the beginning of writing and recorded human history to as far as late antiquity. The span of recorded history is roughly 5,000 years, beginning with the Sumerian cuneiform script. Ancient history cove ...

in 1866 with a dissertation under the title ''De Aristotelis dicendi ratione''. However, the inclination of his mind was definitely towards the philosophical side of

theology Theology is the systematic study of the nature of the divine and, more broadly, of religious belief. It is taught as an academic discipline, typically in universities and seminaries. It occupies itself with the unique content of analyzing th ...

. In 1871, after five years working as a school teacher at

Husum Husum (, frr, Hüsem) is the capital of the ''Kreis'' (district) Nordfriesland in Schleswig-Holstein, Germany. The town was the birthplace of the novelist Theodor Storm, who coined the epithet "the grey town by the sea". It is also the home o ...

, Berlin und

Frankfurt 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 it ...

, he was appointed Professor of

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. ...

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 universiti ...

Switzerland ). Swiss law does not designate a ''capital'' as such, but the federal parliament and government are installed in Bern, while other federal institutions, such as the federal courts, are in other cities (Bellinzona, Lausanne, Luzern, Neuchâtel ...

, succeeding another of his former teachers at Göttingen,

Gustav Teichmüller Gustav Teichmüller (November 19, 1832 – May 22, 1888) was a German philosopher. His works, particularly his notion of perspectivism, influenced Friedrich Nietzsche's philosophy. Biography Teichmüller was born in Braunschweig in the Duc ...

, and beating Friedrich Nietzsche in competition for the position. He stayed there until 1874 when he took up a similar position at the

University of Jena The University of Jena, officially the Friedrich Schiller University Jena (german: Friedrich-Schiller-Universität Jena, abbreviated FSU, shortened form ''Uni Jena''), is a public research university located in Jena, Thuringia, Germany. The ...

. He stayed there until he retired in 1920. In 1912–13, Eucken spent half of the year as an exchange professor at

Harvard University Harvard University is a private Ivy League research university in Cambridge, Massachusetts. Founded in 1636 as Harvard College and named for its first benefactor, the Puritan clergyman John Harvard, it is the oldest institution of highe ...

, and in 1913 he served as a Deem lecturer at

New York University New York University (NYU) is a private research university in New York City. Chartered in 1831 by the New York State Legislature, NYU was founded by a group of New Yorkers led by then- Secretary of the Treasury Albert Gallatin. In 1832, th ...

. During

World War I World War I (28 July 1914 11 November 1918), often abbreviated as WWI, was List of wars and anthropogenic disasters by death toll, one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, ...

, Eucken, like many of his academic colleagues, took a strong line in favour of the causes with which his country had associated itself.

Ethical activism

Eucken's philosophical work is partly historical and partly

constructive Although the general English usage of the adjective constructive is "helping to develop or improve something; helpful to someone, instead of upsetting and negative," as in the phrase "constructive criticism," in legal writing ''constructive'' has ...

, the former side being predominant in his earlier, the latter in his later works. Their most striking feature is the close organic relationship between the two parts. The aim of the historical works is to show the necessary connection between philosophical concepts and the age to which they belong; the same idea is at the root of his constructive speculation. All philosophy is philosophy of life, the development of a new culture, not mere

intellectualism Intellectualism is the mental perspective that emphasizes the use, the development, and the exercise of the intellect; and also identifies the life of the mind of the intellectual person. (Definition) In the field of philosophy, the term ''inte ...

, but the application of a vital religious inspiration to the practical problems of society. This practical idealism Eucken described by the term "ethical activism." In accordance with this principle, Eucken gave considerable attention to social and educational problems. He maintained that humans have

soul In many religious and philosophical traditions, there is a belief that a soul is "the immaterial aspect or essence of a human being". Etymology The Modern English noun '' soul'' is derived from Old English ''sāwol, sāwel''. The earliest att ...

s, and that they are therefore at the junction between nature and spirit. He believed that people should overcome their non-spiritual nature by continuous efforts to achieve a spiritual life, another aspect of his ethical activism and

meaning of life The meaning of life, or the answer to the question: "What is the meaning of life?", pertains to the significance of living or existence in general. Many other related questions include: "Why are we here?", "What is life all about?", or "Wha ...

Later life and death

Rudolf Eucken married Irene Passow (1863–1941) in 1882 and had a daughter and two sons. His son Walter Eucken became a famous founder of ordoliberal thought in

economics Economics () is the social science that studies the production, distribution, and consumption of goods and services. Economics focuses on the behaviour and interactions of economic agents and how economies work. Microeconomics anal ...

. His son Arnold Eucken was a chemist and physicist. Rudolf Eucken died on 15 September 1926 in

Jena Jena () is a German city and the second largest city in Thuringia. Together with the nearby cities of Erfurt and Weimar, it forms the central metropolitan area of Thuringia with approximately 500,000 inhabitants, while the city itself has a po ...

at the age of 80.

Major works

He was a prolific writer; his best-known works are:
''Die Lebensanschauungen der großen Denker''
(1890; 7th ed., 1907; 1918; Eng. trans., W. Hough and Boyce Gibson, ''The Problem of Human Life'', 1909) (The Problem of Human Life as Viewed by the Great Thinkers) * ''Der Kampf um einen geistigen Lebensinhalt'' (1896) (The Struggle for a Spiritual Content of Life)
''Der Wahrheitsgehalt der Religion''
(1901) (The Truth of Religion)
''Grundlinien einer neuen Lebensanschauung''
(1907) (Life's Basis and Life's Ideal: The Fundamentals of a New Philosophy of Life)
''Der Sinn und Wert des Lebens''
(1908) (The Meaning and Value of Life) * ''Geistige Strömungen der Gegenwart'' (1908; first appeared in 1878 a
''Die Grundbegriffe der Gegenwart''
Eng. trans. by M. Stuart Phelps, New York, 1880) (Main Currents of Modern Thought) * ''Können wir noch Christen sein?'' (1911)
Can We Still Be Christians?
1914) * ''Present Day Ethics in their Relation to the Spiritual Life'' (1913) (Deem Lectures given at New York University) * ''Der Sozialismus und seine Lebensgestaltung'' (1920)
Socialism: an Analysis
(1922)) Other notable works are: * ''Die Methode der aristotelischen Forschung'' (1872) (The Aristotelian Method of Research) * ''Geschichte der philosophische Terminologie'' (1879) (History of Philosophical Terminology) * ''Prolegomena zu Forschungen über die Einheit des Geisteslebens'' (1885) (Prolegomena to Research on the Unity of the Spiritual Life) * ''Beiträge zur Geschichte der neueren Philosophie'' (1886, 1905) (Contributions to the History of the Newer Philosophies) * ''Die Einheit des Geisteslebens'' (1888) (The Unity of the Spiritual Life)
''Thomas von Aquino und Kant''
(1901) (Thomas Aquinas and Kant) * ''Gesammelte Aufsätze zu Philosophische und Lebensanschauung (1903) (Collected Essays on Views of Philosophy and Life) * ''Philosophie der Geschichte'' (1907) (Philosophy of History) * ''Einführung in die Philosophie der Geisteslebens'' (1908; Eng. trans., The Life of the Spirit, F. L. Pogson, 1909, Crown Theological Library) (Introduction to the Philosophy of the Life of the Spirit)
''Hauptprobleme der Religionsphilosophie der Gegenwart''
(1907) (Main Problems of the Current Philosophy of Religion) Other English translations of his work include: * ''Liberty in Teaching in the German Universities'' (1897) * ''Are the Germans still a Nation of Thinkers?'' (1898) * ''Progress of Philosophy in the 19th Century'' (1899) * ''The Finnish Question'' (1899) * ''The Present Status of Religion in Germany'' (1901)
''The Problem of Human Life as Viewed by the Great Thinkers from Plato to the Present Time''
Charles Scribner's Sons, 1909.
''Back to Religion''
1912.
''Main Currents of Modern Thought: A Study of the Spiritual and Intellectual Movements of the Present Day''
T. Fisher Unwin, 1912.
''The Meaning and Value of Life''
A. and C. Black, 1913.
''Can we Still be Christians?''
The Macmillan Company, 1914.
''Collected Essays''
T. Fisher Unwin, 1914.
''Knowledge and Life''
(translation), G.P. Putnam's Sons, 1914. He delivered lectures in England in 1911 and spent six months lecturing at

and elsewhere in the United States in 1912–1913.

References

External links

*

at Nobel-winners.com *
List of Works
* * * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Eucken, Rudolf Christoph 1846 births 1926 deaths German male writers German Nobel laureates German philosophers German spiritualists Harvard University staff Humboldt University of Berlin alumni Moral philosophers Nobel laureates in Literature People from Aurich People from the Kingdom of Hanover University of Göttingen alumni University of Jena faculty