Rüdiger Safranski (born 1 January 1945) is a German philosopher and author.

Life

From 1965 to 1972, Safranski studied philosophy (among others, with Theodor W. Adorno), German literature, history and history of art at Goethe University in Frankfurt am Main and as well at the Free University in Berlin (then

West Berlin West Berlin ( or , ) was a political enclave which comprised the western part of Berlin from 1948 until 1990, during the Cold War. Although West Berlin lacked any sovereignty and was under military occupation until German reunification in 1 ...

). There, he worked as an assistant lecturer for German literature from 1972 to 1977. He earned a PhD from FU Berlin in 1976 for a dissertation by the title of "Studies on the Development of Working-Class Literature in the Federal Republic of Germany" (original ). In the late 1970s, he worked as the co-publisher and editor of the ''Berliner Hefte'', a journal on literary life. From 1977 to 1982, Safranski worked as a lecturer in adult education. Since 1987 he has worked as a freelance writer. In 2005 he married his longtime girlfriend Gisela Nicklaus. He lives in Berlin and Badenweiler.

Works and TV appearances

Safranski's most popular works are monographs on Friedrich Schiller, E.T.A. Hoffmann, Arthur Schopenhauer,

Friedrich Nietzsche Friedrich Wilhelm Nietzsche (15 October 1844 – 25 August 1900) was a German philosopher. He began his career as a classical philology, classical philologist, turning to philosophy early in his academic career. In 1869, aged 24, Nietzsche bec ...

Martin Heidegger Martin Heidegger (; 26 September 1889 – 26 May 1976) was a German philosopher known for contributions to Phenomenology (philosophy), phenomenology, hermeneutics, and existentialism. His work covers a range of topics including metaphysics, art ...

, and Johann Wolfgang Goethe. Since 1994, he is a member of the P.E.N. Center, since 2001 member of the Deutsche Akademie für Sprache und Dichtung (''German Academy for Language and Poetry'') in

Darmstadt Darmstadt () is a city in the States of Germany, state of Hesse in Germany, located in the southern part of the Frankfurt Rhine Main Area, Rhine-Main-Area (Frankfurt Metropolitan Region). Darmstadt has around 160,000 inhabitants, making it the ...

. He co-directed '' Der Zauberer von Meßkirch'', a 1989 television documentary about Heidegger. From 2002 to 2012, he and Peter Sloterdijk co-hosted a bi-monthly debate on philosophical and ethical questions, '' Das Philosophische Quartett'' (), for German public-service TV station ZDF.

Selected works

* Einzeln sein. Eine philosophische Herausforderung.Munich, Hanser. 2021. * Goethe. Kunstwerk des Lebens. Goethe: Life as a Work of Art. München ua, Hanser. Munich, Hanser. 2013. * Goethe and Schiller. Geschichte einer Freundschaft. Story of a friendship. München ua, Hanser. Munich, Hanser. 2009. * Romantik. Eine deutsche Affäre. Romanticism. A German affair. München ua, Hanser. Munich, Hanser. 2007. eview of the English translation by Omid Mehrgan in Modern Language Notes, April 2015; see also: Hans-Dieter Gelfert in The Berlin Review of Books, 30 November 2009* Schiller als Philosoph – Eine Anthologie. Schiller as Philosopher – An Anthology. Berlin, wjs-Verlag. Berlin, wjs-Verlag. 2005. * Schiller oder die Erfindung des Deutschen Idealismus. Schiller, or the invention of

German idealism German idealism is 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 ...

. München ua, Hanser. Munich, Hanser. 2004. ezension: Manfred Koch in NZZ, 25.; see also: Manfred Koch in the NZZ, 25 September 2004* Wieviel Globalisierung verträgt der Mensch? How much

globalization Globalization is the process of increasing interdependence and integration among the economies, markets, societies, and cultures of different countries worldwide. This is made possible by the reduction of barriers to international trade, th ...

can a human being tolerate? München ua: Hanser. Munich: Hanser. 2003. * Nietzsche. Biographie seines Denkens. ietzsche: Biography of his thinking München ua, Hanser. Munich, Hanser. 2000. ezension: Ijoma Mangold in Berliner Zeitung, 18.; see also: Ijoma Mangold in Berliner Zeitung, 18 August 2000* Das Böse oder Das Drama der Freiheit. Evil or the drama of freedom. München ua, Hanser. Munich, Hanser. 1997. ezension: Micha Brumlik in Die Zeit, 19.; see also: Micha Brumlik in Die Zeit, 19 September 1997* Ein Meister aus Deutschland. Heidegger und seine Zeit. A master from Germany. Heidegger and his time. München ua, Hanser. Munich, Hanser. 1994. * Wieviel Wahrheit braucht der Mensch? How much truth do we need? Über das Denkbare und das Lebbare. About the thinkable and liveable. München ua, Hanser. Munich, Hanser. 1990. * Schopenhauer und die wilden Jahre der Philosophie. Schopenhauer and the wild years of philosophy. Eine Biographie. A biography. 2. 2. Aufl. München ua: Hanser. Munich et al. ed: Hanser. 1988. * E.T.A. Hoffmann. Das Leben eines skeptischen Phantasten. The life of a skeptical dreamer. München ua: Hanser. Munich: Hanser. 1984. * Studien zur Entwicklung der Arbeiterliteratur in der Bundesrepublik (Dissertation), Berlin, Freie Univ., 1976. Studies on the development of working-class literature in the Federal Republic (dissertation), Berlin, Freie Univ., 1976.

Awards

* 1995 Friedrich Märker Prize for Essayists * 1996 Wilhelm Heinse Medal of the Mainz Academy of Sciences and Literature * 1998 Ernst Robert Curtius Prize for Essay Writing * 2000 Friedrich Nietzsche Prize of the State of

Saxony-Anhalt Saxony-Anhalt ( ; ) is a States of Germany, state of Germany, bordering the states of Brandenburg, Saxony, Thuringia and Lower Saxony. It covers an area of and has a population of 2.17 million inhabitants, making it the List of German states ...

* 2003 Premio Internazionale Federico Nietzsche, the Italian Nietzsche Society * 2005 Leipzig Book Fair Prize in the category Non-Fiction/Essays for "Schiller, or The Invention of German

Idealism Idealism in philosophy, also known as philosophical realism or metaphysical idealism, is the set of metaphysics, metaphysical perspectives asserting that, most fundamentally, reality is equivalent to mind, Spirit (vital essence), spirit, or ...

" * 2006 Friedrich-Hölderlin-Preis of the City of Bad Homburg * 2006 ''Welt''-Literaturpreis * 2009 Corine Literature Prize, Lifetime Achievement prize from the

Bavaria Bavaria, officially the Free State of Bavaria, is a States of Germany, state in the southeast of Germany. With an area of , it is the list of German states by area, largest German state by land area, comprising approximately 1/5 of the total l ...

n Minister President * 2014 Thomas Mann Prize

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Safranski, Rudiger 1945 births Living people 20th-century German philosophers 21st-century German philosophers German male writers Goethe scholars Officers Crosses of the Order of Merit of the Federal Republic of Germany Heidegger scholars People from Rottweil German historians of philosophy Historians of the Romantic period Hoffmann scholars