Christian Cyclopedia

(1883–1969). Philos.; b. Oldenburg, Ger.; studied law at Heidelberg and Munich, medicine at Berlin, Göttingen, and Heidelberg; asst. in psychiatry Heidelberg; prof. psychology Heidelberg 1916; prof. philos. Heidelberg 1921; deposed by Nazis 1937; reinstated 1945; taught at Basel 1948. Emphasized subjectivity of thought. Method distinguished 3 levels of interpretation: philos., orientation in world (based on physical, psychol., and soc. sciences); illumination of existence (i. e. of human reality; Existenzerhellung); metaphysics (concern with transcendence). Held that Existenz (experience of infinity of possibilities in man) is the eternal, Dasein (the observable and describable) the temporal in man. Existenz is limited by boundaries which authentic existence explores and accepts. God is beyond all metaphysical conceptualization. Works include Allgemeine Psychopathologie; Philosophie; Existenzphilosophie; Die Schuldfrage; Der philosophische Glaube.