PROF CHRISTIAN WIESE The Life and Thought of Hans Jonas: Jewish Dimensions 24 October 2007, 6.00 - 7.30pm

Christian Wiese, The Life and Thought of Hans Jonas: Jewish Dimensions
(Waltham, Mass.: Brandeis University Press, 2007). Introduction by Prof.
Michael Berkowitz (University College London) and remarks by Prof.
Christian Wiese (Centre for German-Jewish Studies at the University of
Sussex).

Hans Jonas (1903-1993) is one of the most important philosophers of the
20th century. Born in a German Jewish community in the Rhineland, Jonas’s
mentors included Edmund Husserl, Martin Heidegger, and Rudolf Bultmann. The
committed Zionist fled Germany in 1933 for Jerusalem, fought in the British
Army against Hitler, and then left Israel for North America in 1949. Much
of Jonas’s philosophy responds to contemporary historical and political
challenges: mass society, totalitarianism, the Holocaust, “nuclearism,”
environmental devastation (Chernobyl), and, later, the risks of genetic
engineering.

Wiese’s study examines how Jonas’s Jewish background influenced his
intellectual development and shows how philosophical ethics and Jewish
identity were two inseparable aspects of his thinking, with the fight
against Nihilism as the most important link. Drawing on a wealth of
unpublished material and exploring momentous encounters with major figures
of 20th century life and letters like Gershom Scholem and Hannah Arendt,
Wiese demonstrates how Jonas combined religious and philosophical elements
in his thought, and offers new insights into the work of this eminent
thinker.


Books will be offered at a specially reduced price.


The book launch will be held at the Wiener Library.

Wiener Library, Memorial Hall, 4 Devonshire Street, London W1W 5BH
Underground: Regent's Park, Great Portland Street
Bus: C2, 18, 27, 30, 88, 135

The book launch will begin promptly at 6.00 pm.
Places are strictly limited and must be reserved in advance by telephoning the Leo Baeck Institute or emailing Vera Schilf (v.schilf@leobaeck.co.uk).