Rudolf Christoph Eucken (/ˈɔɪkən/;[2]German:[ˈʁuːdɔlfˈɔʏkn̩]ⓘ; 5 January 1846 – 14 September 1926[3]) was a Germanphilosopher. He received the1908 Nobel Prize in Literature "in recognition of his earnest search for truth, his penetrating power of thought, his wide range of vision, and the warmth and strength in presentation with which in his numerous works he has vindicated and developed an idealistic philosophy of life", after he had been nominated by a member of theSwedish Academy.[4]
Eucken was born on 5 January 1846 inAurich, then in theKingdom of Hanover (nowLower Saxony). His father, Ammo Becker Eucken died when he was a child, and he was brought up by his mother, Ida Maria (née Gittermann).[5] He was educated at Aurich, where one of his teachers was theclassical philologist and philosopher Ludwig Wilhelm Maximilian Reuter.[6] He studied atGöttingen University (1863–1866), whereHermann Lotze was one of his teachers, andBerlin University.[5] In the latter place,Friedrich Adolf Trendelenburg was a professor whose ethical tendencies and historical treatment of philosophy greatly attracted him.
Eucken received hisPhD in classicalphilology andancient history fromGöttingen University in 1866 with a dissertation titledDe Aristotelis dicendi ratione.[7] However, the inclination of his mind was definitely towards the philosophical side oftheology.[6] In 1871, after five years working as a school teacher atHusum, Berlin undFrankfurt, he was appointed Professor ofPhilosophy at theUniversity of Basel,Switzerland, succeeding another of his former teachers at Göttingen,Gustav Teichmüller, and beating Friedrich Nietzsche in competition for the position. He stayed there until 1874 when he took up a similar position at theUniversity of Jena.[6] He stayed there until he retired in 1920. In 1912–13, Eucken spent half of the year as an exchange professor atHarvard University, and in 1913 he served as a Deem lecturer atNew York University.[8][9] DuringWorld War I, Eucken, like many of his academic colleagues, took a strong line in favour of the causes with which his country had associated itself.[5][10][11]
Birthplace of Rudolf Eucken in Aurich, Osterstraße 27 (September 2015)
Eucken's philosophical work is partly historical and partlyconstructive, the former side being predominant in his earlier, the latter in his later works. Their most striking feature is the close organic relationship between the two parts. The aim of the historical works is to show the necessary connection between philosophical concepts and the age to which they belong; the same idea is at the root of his constructive speculation. All philosophy isphilosophy of life, the development of a new culture, not mereintellectualism, but the application of a vital religious inspiration to the practical problems of society. This practical idealism Eucken described by the term "ethical activism" (German:Aktivismus).[1] In accordance with this principle, Eucken gave considerable attention to social and educational problems.[6]
He maintained that humans havesouls, and that they are therefore at the junction between nature and spirit. He believed that people should overcome their non-spiritual nature by continuous efforts to achieve aspiritual life, another aspect of hisethicalactivism andmeaning of life.
Rudolf Eucken married Irene Passow in 1882 and had a daughter and two sons. His sonWalter Eucken became a famous founder ofordoliberal thought ineconomics. His sonArnold Eucken was a chemist and physicist.[5]
Rudolf Eucken died on 15 September 1926 inJena at the age of 80.[5]
He was a prolific writer; his best-known works are:
Die Lebensanschauungen der großen Denker (1890; 7th ed., 1907; 1918; Eng. trans., W. Hough and Boyce Gibson,The Problem of Human Life, 1909) (The Problem of Human Life as Viewed by the Great Thinkers)
Der Kampf um einen geistigen Lebensinhalt (1896) (The Struggle for a Spiritual Content of Life)
Geistige Strömungen der Gegenwart (1908; first appeared in 1878 asDie Grundbegriffe der Gegenwart; Eng. trans. by M. Stuart Phelps, New York, 1880) (Main Currents of Modern Thought)
Gesammelte Aufsätze zu Philosophische und Lebensanschauung (1903) (Collected Essays on Views of Philosophy and Life)
Philosophie der Geschichte (1907) (Philosophy of History)
Einführung in die Philosophie der Geisteslebens (1908; Eng. trans., The Life of the Spirit, F. L. Pogson, 1909, Crown Theological Library) (Introduction to the Philosophy of the Life of the Spirit)
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