Hans Jonas

German-born philosopher Hans Jonas (may 10 1903 - February 5 1993) studied under Martin Heidegger and Rudolf Bultmann in the 1920s. In 1933 he emigrated to England; in 1935 he went to Palestine, in 1949 to Canada. In 1955 he took up lecturing in New York.

Biography

Jonas was born in Mönchengladbach may 10 1903. He studied philosophy and theology in Freiburg, Berlin and Heidelberg, and finally achieved his Doctor of Philosophy at Marburg where he studied for Martin Heidegger and Rudolf Bultmann. In Marburg he met Hannah Arendt who was also pursuing her PhD there, and the two of them were to become friends for the rest of their lives.

Related Topics:
Mönchengladbach - May 10 - 1903 - Philosophy - Theology - Freiburg - Berlin - Heidelberg - Doctor of Philosophy - Marburg - Martin Heidegger - Rudolf Bultmann - Hannah Arendt

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In 1933, Heidegger joined the German Nazi party, which Jonas took personally as he was of Jewish descent and active Zionist. The fact that the great philosopher was capable of such political folly made Jonas doubt the value of philosophy.

Related Topics:
1933 - Nazi - Zionist

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He left Germany for England in the same year, and from England he moved to Palestine, 1934. There he met Lore Weiner, to whom he became betrothed. In 1940 he returned to Europe to join the British Army, who had been arranging a special brigade for German Jews wanting to fight against Hitler. He was sent to Italy, and in the last phase of the war moved into Germany. Thus, he kept his promise that he would return only as a soldier in the victorious army. In this time he wrote several letters to Lore about philosophy as well as love. They finally married in 1943.

Related Topics:
England - 1934 - Lore Weiner - 1940 - British Army - Hitler - Italy - 1943

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Immediately after the war he returned to Mönchengladbach to search for his mother, but found that she had been sent to the gas chambers in Auschwitz concentration camp. Having heard this, he refused to live in Germany again. So he returned to Palestine and took part in Israel's war against the Arabic states in 1948. However, he felt that his destiny was not to live as a Zionist, but to teach philosophy, for which the best possibilities lay abroad. In 1950 he left for Canada and from there moved to New York City in 1955 where he was to live for the rest of his life. He worked for New School of Social Research 1955 to 1976 and died in New York City on February 5th, 1993.

Related Topics:
Auschwitz concentration camp - Israel - 1948 - 1950 - Canada - New York City - 1955 - New School of Social Research - 1976 - February 5th - 1993

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