Karl Löwith

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", 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.

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