Background

Robert Spaemann was born on May 5, 1927, in Berlin, Germany. He was the son of Heinrich and Ruth Spaemann.

Education

Robert Spaemann studied philosophy, history, theology, and romance languages at the universities of Münster, Munich, Fribourg, and Paris. He received a Doctor of Philosophy degree from the University of Münster, writing a dissertation on Louis-Gabriel-Ambroise de Bonald and the origins of sociology out of the spirit of restoration under Joachim Ritter.

Career

After working as an assistant to Joachim Ritter in Münster, Robert Spaemann was a professor of philosophy at the universities of Stuttgart (till 1968), Heidelberg (till 1972), and Munich (till his retirement in 1992). For Spaemann, the reasonableness of the belief in God is the center of his philosophy. He explains the traditional philosophical proofs of God and points out that these proofs of God still found philosophical admirers in the 20th century.

His main works include Happiness and Goodwill: Trying on Ethics (1989), Individuals, The Difference between "Something" and "Somebody" (1996), and Limits to the Ethical Dimension of Action (2001). One of his most important books was titled The Immortal Rumor - The Question of God and the Deception of Modernity. The work, published in 2005, was a fundamental philosophical reflection on the question of God and the proof of God, a theme to which Robert Spaemann repeatedly returned in his more than 60 years of creative work.

Achievements

• Robert Spaemann made an important contribution to a number of contemporary debates in philosophy and theology, opening up possibilities for conversation between these disciplines. He was considered one of the first ecologically oriented philosophers and commented on abortion, euthanasia, and brain death. His work is highly regarded by Pope Benedict XVI. His numerous honors include the Karl Jaspers Prize and the Bavarian Maximilian Order for Science and Art.

Works

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  • Essays in Anthropology: Variations on a Theme

    (In this intriguing and provocative collection of essays, ...)

    1987
  • Persons: The Difference between "Someone" and "Something"

    (An examination and defense of the concept of personality,...)

    1996
  • Love and the Dignity of Human Life: On Nature and Natural Law

    (Renowned German philosopher Robert Spaemann addresses the...)

    2012
  • Happiness and Benevolence

    (Takes the reader on a quest for the fundamental principle...)

    1989
  • Basic Moral Concepts 1982
  • A Robert Spaemann Reader: Philosophical Essays on Nature, God, and the Human Person 2015

Religion

In 1930 Robert Spaemann's parents converted to Catholicism, and the three-year-old Spaemann was also baptized.

Politics

As a political thinker, Robert Spaemann was a sharp critic of Marxist utopianism, at a time when much of German academic philosophy was under the Marxist influence.

Views

As a philosopher, Robert Spaemann was much concerned with defending the Aristotelian teleological understanding of nature, and the relevance of that understanding for philosophical anthropology, ethics, and politics. His landmark 1978 essay "Nature," argued that the abandonment of a teleological understanding of nature in early modernity was one of the roots of the crisis of civilization.

Another focus of his work was the recovery of the Aristotelian and Christian understanding of happiness as the foundation of ethics. His 1989 monograph Happiness and Benevolence recovered the classical understanding of happiness from modern misunderstandings. As an ethicist, Spaemann was one of the most important European defenders of the lives of unborn children.

Membership

Robert Spaemann was a member of the Akademie der Wissenschaften, the Pontifical Academy for Life. He was also an honorary member of the Chilean Academy.

Connections

In 1950 Robert Spaemann married Cordelia Steiner. They had three children: Ruth, Christian, Susanne. In 2003 his wife died.

Father:

Heinrich Spaemann

Mother:

Ruth Spaemann

Spouse:

Cordelia Steiner

Daughter:

Ruth Spaemann

Son:

Christian Spaemann

Daughter:

Susanne Spaemann

Friend:

Pope Benedict XVI

References

• Contemporary Authors
  2011