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Karl Löwith (January 9, 1897 in Munich – May 26, 1973 in Heidelberg) was a German-Jewish philosopher, a student of Heidegger. Like most of his ethnicity and profession he left Germany during the Nazizeit, spending five of those years (1936-1941) in Japan, but returned in 1952 to teach as Professor of Philosophy at Heidelberg.

He is probably most known for his two books From Hegel to Nietzsche, which describes the decline of German classical philosophy, and Meaning in History, which discusses the problematic relationship between theology and history. Löwith's argument in Meaning in History is that the western view of history is confused by the relationship between Christian faith and the modern view, which is neither Christian nor pagan. Löwith describes this relationship through famous western philosophers and historians, including Burckhardt, Marx, Hegel, Voltaire, Vico, Bossuet, Augustine and Orosius. The modern historical consciousness is, according to Löwith, derived from Christianity. But, Christians are not a historical people, as their view of the world is based on faith. This explains the tendency in history (and philosophy) to an eschatological view of human progress.

Bibliography

• Löwith, Karl (1949). Meaning in History: The Theological Implications of the Philosophy of History. University of Chicago Press. ISBN 0224695558. {{cite book}}: Check |isbn= value: checksum (help)
• Löwith, Karl (1964). From Hegel to Nietzsche. Columbia University Press. ISBN 0231074999.
• Löwith, Karl (1993isbn=0415093813). Max Weber and Karl Marx. Routledge. {{cite book}}: Check date values in: |year= (help)CS1 maint: year (link)

References

1. ^ Richard Wolin (2001). "Karl Löwith: The Stoic Response to Modern Nihilism". Heidegger's Children: Hannah Arendt, Karl Lowith, Hans Jonas, and Herbert Marcuse. Princeton University Press. pp. 70–100. ISBN 069111479X,. Retrieved 2009-04-08. {{cite book}}: Check |isbn= value: invalid character (help); External link in |chapterurl= (help); Unknown parameter |chapterurl= ignored (|chapter-url= suggested) (help)CS1 maint: extra punctuation (link)
2. ^ Karl Löwith (1949). Meaning in history: The Theological Implications of the Philosophy of History. University of Chicago Press. p. 257. ISBN 0226495558. Retrieved 2009-04-08. {{cite book}}: Cite has empty unknown parameter: |chapterurl= (help)

• 1897 births
• 1973 deaths
• German Jews
• German philosophers
• Jewish philosophers
• German expatriates in Japan
• Jews and Judaism in Japan
• German military personnel of World War I
• People from Munich
• People from the Kingdom of Bavaria
• People who emigrated to escape Nazism
• University of Freiburg alumni
• University of Munich alumni
• University of Marburg faculty
• University of Heidelberg faculty