Michael Landmann was a Jewish Swiss Philosopher.

Life

Michael Landmann was the son of economist Julius Landmann and philosopher Edith Landmann. Philologist Georg Peter Landmann is his brother. His parents were friends of Stefan George

Stefan George

Stefan Anton George was a German poet, editor, and translator.-Biography:George was born in Bingen in Germany in 1868. He spent time in Paris, where he was among the writers and artists who attended the Tuesday soireés held by the poet Stéphane Mallarmé. He began to publish poetry in the 1890s,...

 and were connected to the Georgekreis, a circle of writers inspired by George.

Since his father had worked in Kiel

Kiel

Kiel is the capital and most populous city in the northern German state of Schleswig-Holstein, with a population of 238,049 .Kiel is approximately north of Hamburg. Due to its geographic location in the north of Germany, the southeast of the Jutland peninsula, and the southwestern shore of the...

, Landmann attended a gymnasium there from 1927 to 1933. Having returned to Switzerland, he studied philosophy, psychology and German studies at the University of Basel

University of Basel

The University of Basel is located in Basel, Switzerland, and is considered to be one of leading universities in the country...

. Herman Schmalenbach, Paul Häberlin und Walter Muschg were among his teachers. 1939 he received his doctorate with a thesis on Socratic philosophy as an ethic of values (Der Sokratismus als Wertethik). After assisting Schmalenbach and Karl Jaspers

Karl Jaspers

Karl Theodor Jaspers was a German psychiatrist and philosopher who had a strong influence on modern theology, psychiatry and philosophy. After being trained in and practicing psychiatry, Jaspers turned to philosophical inquiry and attempted to discover an innovative philosophical system...

, Landmann earned his habilitation under the mentorship of Otto Friedrich Bollnow

Otto Friedrich Bollnow

Otto Friedrich Bollnow was a German philosopher and teacher.He was born the son of a rector in Stettin in what was then northwest Germany and went to school in the town of Anklam...

 at the University of Mainz. From 1951 till 1978 Michael Landmann was Professor of philosophy at the Free University of Berlin

Free University of Berlin

Freie Universität Berlin is one of the leading and most prestigious research universities in Germany and continental Europe. It distinguishes itself through its modern and international character. It is the largest of the four universities in Berlin. Research at the university is focused on the...

. His main field of study was philosophical anthropology

Philosophical anthropology

Philosophical anthropology is a discipline dealing with questions of metaphysics and phenomenology of the human person, and interpersonal relationships. It is the attempt to unify disparate ways of understanding behaviour of humans as both creatures of their social environments and creators of...

Since 1939, Michael Landmann was married to the Jewish writer Salcia Landmann

Salcia Landmann

Salcia Landmann, born Salcia Passweg was a Jewish writer. She was born in Zhovkva, Galicia, but died in St. Gallen, Switzerland. She worked on preserving the Yiddish language, and she wrote the important work Der Jüdische Witz . She was one of the founders of the International PEN in Liechtenstein...

, born Passweg.

Select bibliography

• Philosophical anthropology, Westminster Press, Philadelphia, 1974
• Fundamental Anthropology, Center for Advanced Research in Phenomoenology, University Press of America, 1985
• De Homine: Man in the Mirror of His Thought