Professor robert spaemann brain

Robert Spaemann

German philosopher (–)

Robert Spaemann (5 May – 10 December ) was a German Catholic philosopher.^[1] He is considered a member of the Ritter School.

Spaemann's focus was on Christian ethics. He was known for his work in bioethics, ecology and human rights. Although not yet widely translated into languages other than his native German, Spaemann was internationally known, and his work was highly regarded by Pope Benedict XVI^[2]^{[citation needed]} He was also a personal advisor of Pope John Paul II and a friend of Joseph Ratzinger.^[3]

Life

Robert Spaemann was born in Berlin in to Heinrich Spaemann and Ruth Krämer. His parents were originally radical atheists, but both entered the Catholic Church in , and after his mother's early death, his father was ordained a Catholic priest in ^[4]

Spaemann studied at the University of Münster, where in , he was awarded his Habilitation. He was Professor of Philosophy at the Universities of Stuttgart (until ), Heidelberg (until ) and Munich, where he worked until he was made Emeritus Professor in He also became Honorary Professor at University of Salzburg and was awarded an honorary doctorate by the Catholic University of Lublin in

Work

Spaemann's two most important works were Glück und Wohlwollen (Happiness and Benevolence, ) and Personen (Persons, ). In Happiness and Benevolence, Spaemann sets forth a thesis that happiness is derived from benevolent acting and that we are created by God as social beings to help one another find truth and meaning in an often confused and disordered world:

The paradigm of acting from benevolence is any action by which we come to the help of human life which requires this helponly when we are helped do we learn to help ourselves, that is, to enter into that indirect relationship with ourselves which is constitutive of for all rationality which is not strictly instrumental, [and instead] constitutive for all ethical practice."^[5]

He participated in the Ratzinger Circle of Alumni (Schülerkreis, a private conference with Joseph Ratzinger that was convened from the late s.^[6]

Proof of God from Grammar

In , Spaemann published an article for the German newspaper Die Welt, arguing for the existence of God using the future perfect. The argument goes as followed:

The future perfect is connected to the present, because something happening now is equivalent to something having happened in the future.
Every truth is eternal in this sense, because the present always remains real as the past of the future present.
The reality of the past is in it being remembered. But at some point, there will be no more people on Earth to remember it.
Since the past is always the past of a present, it will vanish along with its present, if the present ceases to be remembered. Thus, the future perfect will lose its meaning.
When the present will one day no longer have been, it is not real at all. If the future perfect is eliminated, the present is, too.

He concludes: To preserve the reality of the present, there must be an absolute consciousness in which everything that happens is stored. That conciousness being God.^[7]

Books in English

Basic Moral Concepts, trans. T.J. Armstrong. London: Routledge, ().
Essays in Anthropology: Variations on a Theme, trans. Guido De Graaff and James Mumford. Eugene, OR: Cascade Books, ().
Happiness and Benevolence, trans. J. Alberg. Edinburgh: T & T Clark, ().
Persons: The Difference between "Someone" and "Something", trans. Oliver O’Donovan. Oxford: Oxford University Press, ().
Love and the Dignity of Human Life: On Nature and Natural Law, Foreword by D. L. Schindler. Eerdmans Publishing Co.: Grand Rapids, Michigan,
A Robert Spaemann Reader: Philosophical Essays on Nature, God, and the Human Person, ed. & trans. D.C. Schindler & Jeanne Heffernan Schindler. Oxford: Oxford University Press,

Articles in English

"Remarks on the Problem of Equality," Ethics 87 (–77),
"Side-effects as a Moral Problem," trans. Frederick S. Gardiner, Contemporary German Philosophy, vol. 2, ed. Darrel E. Christensen, Manfred Riedel, Robert Spaemann, Reiner Wiehl, Wolfgang Wieland (University Park: Pennsylvania State University Press, ),
"Remarks on the Ontology of 'Right' and 'Left,'" Graduate Faculty Philosophy Journal (),
"Is Every Human Being a Person?," trans. Richard Schenk, O.P., The Thomist 60 (),
"Rationality and Faith in God," trans. D.C. Schindler, Communio: International Catholic Review (Winter ),
"When Death Becomes Inhuman," trans. Adrian J. Walker, Communio: International Catholic Review (Summer ),
"Begotten, Not Made," trans. Michelle K. Borras, Communio: International Catholic Review (Summer ),
with Holger Zabrowski, "An Animal That Can Promise and Forgive," trans. Lesley Rice, Communio: International Catholic Review (Winter ),
"How Could You Do What You Did?," trans. Lesley M. Rice, Communio: International Catholic Review (Winter ),
"Is Brain Death the Death of a Human Person?,"Communio: International Catholic Review (Summer ),
"The Courage to Educate," Communio: International Catholic Review (Spring ), 48–

Books in German

Rousseau – Mensch oder Bürger. Das Dilemma der Moderne. Klett-Cotta, Stuttgart , ISBN&#;
Der letzte Gottesbeweis. Pattloch Verlag , ISBN&#;
Das unsterbliche Gerücht. Die Frage nach Gott und der Aberglaube der Moderne. Klett-Cotta, Stuttgart , ISBN&#; Neuausgabe als: Natürliche Ziele. Klett-Cotta, Stuttgart , ISBN&#;
Natürliche Ziele. Geschichte und Wiederentdeckung des teleologischen Denkens. Stuttgart: Klett-Cotta, , ISBN&#;
Grenzen. Zur ethischen Dimension des Handelns. Klett-Cotta, Stuttgart , ISBN&#;
Der Ursprung der Soziologie aus dem Geist der Restauration. Studien über Louise-Gabriel de Bonald. Kösel, München ; 2. A. Klett-Cotta, Stuttgart , ISBN&#;X
Töten oder sterben lassen? Worum es in der Euthanasiedebatte geht. (Mit Thomas Fuchs). Herder Verlag
Personen. Versuche über den Unterschied zwischen „etwas“ und „jemand“. Klett-Cotta, Stuttgart , ISBN&#;
Zur kirchlichen Erbsündenlehre. Stellungnahmen zu einer brennenden Frage. (Mit Albert Görres, Christoph Schönborn). (Sammlung Kriterien 87), Johannes Verlag Einsiedeln Freiburg , ISBN&#;
Reflexion und Spontanität. Studien über Fénelon.Kohlhammer Verlag, Stuttgart ; 2. A. Klett-Cotta, Stuttgart , ISBN&#;
Glück und Wohlwollen. Versuch über Ethik. Klett-Cotta, Stuttgart , ISBN&#;
Das Natürliche und Vernünftige. Aufsätze zur Anthropologie. Piper Verlag (Serie Piper ), München ,
Philosophische Essays. Reclam (UB ), Stuttgart ; 2., erw. A. ebd. , ISBN&#;
Moralische Grundbegriffe. Beck Verlag (Beck’sche Reihe ), München , ISBN&#;
Rousseau – Bürger ohne Vaterland. Von der Polis zur Natur. Piper Verlag, München , ISBN&#;
Einsprüche. Christliche Reden. Johannes Verlag Einsiedeln Freiburg , ISBN&#;
Die Frage Wozu? Geschichte und Wiederentdeckung des teleologischen Denkens. (Mit Reinhard Löw). Piper (Serie Piper ), München
Zur Kritik der politischen Utopie. Zehn Kapitel politischer Philosophie. Klett-Cotta, Stuttgart , ISBN&#;

Articles in German

Hermann Lübbe (Hrsg.): Wozu Philosophie? Stellungnahmen eines Arbeitskreises. De Gruyter, Berlin , ISBN&#;X.
Robert Spaemann: Die christliche Religion und das Ende des modernen Bewusstseins. In: Internationale Katholische Zeitschrift Communio. Nr. 3. , S. f.
Robert Spaemann: Bestialische Quälereien Tag für Tag. In: Deutsche Zeitung. 33, Auch veröffentlicht unter: Welt des Grauens. In: Kritik der Tierversuche. Kübler Verlag, Lambertheim , ISBN&#;X, S.
Peter Thomas Geach, Fernando Inciarte, Robert Spaemann: Persönliche Verantwortung. Adamas, Köln , ISBN&#;
Robert Spaemann: Tierschutz und Menschenwürde. In: Ursula M. Händel (Hrsg.): Tierschutz - Testfall unserer Menschlichkeit. Fischer Taschenbuchverlag GmbH, Frankfurt am Main , ISBN&#;, S. 71–
Robert Spaemann, Wolfgang Welsch, Walther Christoph Zimmerli: Zweckmässigkeit und menschliches Glück. Fränkischer Tag, Bamberg , ISBN&#;
Oswald Georg Bauer (Red.): Was heißt „wirklich“? Unsere Erkenntnis zwischen Wahrnehmung und Wissenschaft. Oreos, Waakirchen-Schaftlach , ISBN&#;
Walter Schweidler (Hrsg.): Menschenleben – Menschenwürde. Interdisziplinäres Symposium zur Bioethik. Lit, Münster , ISBN&#;
Georg Muschalek (Hrsg.): Der Widerstand gegen die Alte Messe. Van Seth, Denkendorf , ISBN&#;
Robert Spaemann: Die schlechte Lehre vom guten Zweck. Der korrumpierende Kalkül hinter der Schein-Debatte. In: FAZ vom Oktober , Bilder und Zeiten I.

References

^"Josef Seifert's Introduction of Spaemann at the Dietrich von Hildebrand Legacy Project Conference, "Christian Personalism and Hildebrand's Philosophy of Love," May 28, (Video link)". Archived from the original on October 18, Retrieved May 19,
^"Katholische Philosophen"(PDF). Die Neue Ordnung (in German) (5): October Archived from the original(PDF) on
^"Interview with Robert Spaemann on Amoris Laetitia". Munich, DE: Catholic News Agency. April 29, Retrieved January 14,
^"Beiträge von Prof. Dr. Robert Spaemann". .
^Spaemann, Robert Happiness and Benevolence, Notre Dame: Univ of Notre Dame Press, , pp
^Hooper, John (August 28, ). "Pope prepares to embrace theory of intelligent design" &#; via The Guardian.
^"Der Gottesbeweis - WELT". DIE WELT (in German). Retrieved