Hermann Lübbe (born 31 December 1926) is a German philosopher. He is considered a member of the Ritter School.

Biography

Lübbe was born in

Aurich Aurich (; East Frisian Low Saxon: ''Auerk'', West Frisian: ''Auwerk'', ) 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 in popula ...

. From 1947 to 1951, he studied philosophy, theology and sociology in

Göttingen Göttingen (, ; ; ) is a college town, university city in Lower Saxony, central Germany, the Capital (political), capital of Göttingen (district), the eponymous district. The River Leine runs through it. According to the 2022 German census, t ...

Münster Münster (; ) is an independent city#Germany, independent city (''Kreisfreie Stadt'') in North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany. It is in the northern part of the state and is considered to be the cultural centre of the Westphalia region. It is also a ...

and

Freiburg Freiburg im Breisgau or simply Freiburg is the List of cities in Baden-Württemberg by population, fourth-largest city of the German state of Baden-Württemberg after Stuttgart, Mannheim and Karlsruhe. Its built-up area has a population of abou ...

. Among his academic teachers were Joachim Ritter and

Heinrich Scholz Heinrich Scholz (; 17 December 1884 – 30 December 1956) was a German logician, philosopher, and Protestant theologian. He was a peer of Alan Turing who mentioned Scholz when writing with regard to the reception of "On Computable Numbers, wit ...

. From 1963 to 1969, Lübbe was professor in

Bochum Bochum (, ; ; ; ) is a city in North Rhine-Westphalia. With a population of 372,348 (April 2023), it is the sixth-largest city (after Cologne, Düsseldorf, Dortmund, Essen and Duisburg) in North Rhine-Westphalia, the most populous German federa ...

. Since 1966, he was also secretary of state in the education ministry of the German state

North Rhine-Westphalia North Rhine-Westphalia or North-Rhine/Westphalia, commonly shortened to NRW, is a States of Germany, state () in Old states of Germany, Western Germany. With more than 18 million inhabitants, it is the List of German states by population, most ...

. In 1969, Lübbe became professor in

Bielefeld Bielefeld () is a city in the Ostwestfalen-Lippe Region in the north-east of North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany. With a population of 341,755, it is also the most populous city in the administrative region () of Detmold (region), Detmold and the L ...

and secretary of state with the minister-president of North Rhine-Westphalia. From 1971 to 1991, he was professor of philosophy and political theory in

Zurich Zurich (; ) is the list of cities in Switzerland, largest city in Switzerland and the capital of the canton of Zurich. It is in north-central Switzerland, at the northwestern tip of Lake Zurich. , the municipality had 448,664 inhabitants. The ...

. Lübbe's philosophical work focuses on a theory of modern civilization and

liberal democracy Liberal democracy, also called Western-style democracy, or substantive democracy, is a form of government that combines the organization of a democracy with ideas of liberalism, liberal political philosophy. Common elements within a liberal dem ...

. A prominent opponent of the

protests of 1968 The protests of 1968 comprised a worldwide escalation of social conflicts, which were predominantly characterized by the rise of left-wing politics, Anti-war movement, anti-war sentiment, Civil and political rights, civil rights urgency, youth C ...

in Germany, he analyzed the acceleration of social change and emphasized the relevance of

common sense Common sense () is "knowledge, judgement, and taste which is more or less universal and which is held more or less without reflection or argument". As such, it is often considered to represent the basic level of sound practical judgement or know ...

, traditional

virtues A virtue () is a trait of excellence, including traits that may be moral, social, or intellectual. The cultivation and refinement of virtue is held to be the "good of humanity" and thus is valued as an end purpose of life or a foundational pri ...

, stable political

institution An institution is a humanly devised structure of rules and norms that shape and constrain social behavior. All definitions of institutions generally entail that there is a level of persistence and continuity. Laws, rules, social conventions and ...

s and religious orientations in modern, highly dynamic societies. Criticized by

Jürgen Habermas Jürgen Habermas ( , ; ; born 18 June 1929) is a German philosopher and social theorist in the tradition of critical theory and pragmatism. His work addresses communicative rationality and the public sphere. Associated with the Frankfurt S ...

as one of the leading representatives of German

neoconservatism Neoconservatism (colloquially neocon) is a political movement which began in the United States during the 1960s among liberal hawks who became disenchanted with the increasingly pacifist Democratic Party along with the growing New Left and ...

in the 1970s and 1980s, Lübbe is now widely recognized as one of the most influential German political philosophers in the last decades. Lübbe and Habermas frequently clashed about the role of political intellectuals in a liberal democracy.

Select bibliography

* ''Politische Philosophie in Deutschland: Studien zu ihrer Geschichte.'' (1963) * ''Säkularisierung: Geschichte eines ideenpolitischen Begriffs.'' (1965) * ''Theorie und Entscheidung: Studien zum Primat der praktischen Vernunft.'' (1971) * ''Hochschulreform und Gegenaufklärung: Analysen, Postulate, Polemik zur aktuellen Hochschul- und Wissenschaftspolitik.'' (1972) * ''Bewusstsein in Geschichten: Studien zur Phänomenologie der Subjektivität: Mach, Husserl, Schapp, Wittgenstein'' (1972) * ''Fortschritt als Orientierungsproblem: Aufklärung in der Gegenwart.'' (1975) * ''Geschichtsbegriff und Geschichtsinteresse: Analytik und Pragmatik der Historie.'' (1977) * ''Endstation Terror: Rückblick auf lange Märsche.'' (1978) * ''Philosophie nach der Aufklärung: Von der Notwendigkeit pragmatischer Vernunft.'' (1980) * ''Religion nach der Aufklärung.'' (1986, 3rd edition 2004) * ''Politischer Moralismus: Der Triumph der Gesinnung über die Urteilskraft.'' (1987) * ''Fortschrittsreaktionen: Über konservative und destruktive Modernität.'' 1987 * ''Im Zug der Zeit: Verkürzter Aufenthalt in der Gegenwart.'' (1992) * ''Abschied vom Superstaat: Vereinigte Staaten von Europa wird es nicht geben.'' (1994) * ''„Ich entschuldige mich.“ Das neue politische Bußritual.'' (2001) * ''Politik nach der Aufklärung: Philosophische Aufsätze.'' (2001) * ''Wissenschaft und Religion nach der Aufklärung: Über den kulturellen Bedeutsamkeitsverlust wissenschaftlicher Weltbilder.'' (2001) * ''Modernisierungsgewinner: Religion, Geschichtssinn, direkte Demokratie und Moral.'' (2004) * ''Die Zivilisationsökumene: Globalisierung kulturell, technisch und politisch.'' (2005) * ''Vom Parteigenossen zum Bundesbürger: Über beschwiegene und historisierte Vergangenheiten.'' (2007) * ''Hermann Lübbe im Gespräch''. Wilhelm Fink: Paderborn 2010.

References

External links

Hermann Lübbe
(in German) from the online-archive of the

Österreichische Mediathek The Österreichische Mediathek ("Austrian Mediatheque") is the Austrian archive for sound recordings and videos on cultural and contemporary history. It was founded in 1960 as Österreichische Phonothek (Austrian Phonothek) by the Ministry of Educ ...

{{DEFAULTSORT:Lubbe, Hermann 21st-century German philosophers 1926 births Living people People from Aurich University of Münster alumni University of Göttingen alumni University of Freiburg alumni Academic staff of Ruhr University Bochum Academic staff of Bielefeld University Academic staff of the University of Zurich 20th-century German philosophers Commanders Crosses of the Order of Merit of the Federal Republic of Germany

Biography

Select bibliography

References

Further reading

External links