Paul Natorp
Encyclopedia
Paul Gerhard Natorp was a German philosopher and educationalist, considered one of the co-founders of the Marburg school of neo-Kantianism
. He was known as an authority on Plato
.
Paul Natorp was born in Düsseldorf
, the son of the Protestant minister Adelbert Natorp and his wife Emilie Keller. From 1871 he studied music, history, classical philology and philosophy in Berlin, Bonn and Strasbourg. He completed his dissertation in 1876 in Strasbourg under the supervision of the positivist Ernst Laas
and in 1881 completed his Habilitation
under Hermann Cohen
. In 1885 he became extraordinary professor and in 1893 became ordinary professor in philosophy and pedagogics at Marburg University, a position he retained until his retirement in 1922. In the winter semester of 1923-24 Natorp conducted an intensive exchange of ideas with Martin Heidegger
, who had been called to Marburg and whose work on Duns Scotus
Natorp had read very early on.
In 1887 he married his cousin Helene Natorp; they had five children. Natorp was an ambitious composer, who wrote chiefly chamber music (including a cello sonata, a violin sonata, and a piano trio). He also wrote some 100 songs and two choral works. He conducted a correspondence with Johannes Brahms
, who dissuaded him from becoming a professional composer.
He was an influence on the early work of Hans-Georg Gadamer
and had a profound effect upon the thought of Edmund Husserl
, the "father" of phenomenology. Further, it was to Natorp's scholarly influence and reputation that Husserl owed some of his success. His students included the philosopher and historian Ernst Cassirer
, and the author of Doctor Zhivago
, Boris Pasternak
.
Neo-Kantianism
Neo-Kantianism refers broadly to a revived type of philosophy along the lines of that laid down by Immanuel Kant in the 18th century, or more specifically by Schopenhauer's criticism of the Kantian philosophy in his work The World as Will and Representation , as well as by other post-Kantian...
. He was known as an authority on Plato
Plato
Plato , was a Classical Greek philosopher, mathematician, student of Socrates, writer of philosophical dialogues, and founder of the Academy in Athens, the first institution of higher learning in the Western world. Along with his mentor, Socrates, and his student, Aristotle, Plato helped to lay the...
.
Paul Natorp was born in Düsseldorf
Düsseldorf
Düsseldorf is the capital city of the German state of North Rhine-Westphalia and centre of the Rhine-Ruhr metropolitan region.Düsseldorf is an important international business and financial centre and renowned for its fashion and trade fairs. Located centrally within the European Megalopolis, the...
, the son of the Protestant minister Adelbert Natorp and his wife Emilie Keller. From 1871 he studied music, history, classical philology and philosophy in Berlin, Bonn and Strasbourg. He completed his dissertation in 1876 in Strasbourg under the supervision of the positivist Ernst Laas
Ernst Laas
Ernst Laas was a German philosopher.-Biography:...
and in 1881 completed his Habilitation
Habilitation
Habilitation is the highest academic qualification a scholar can achieve by his or her own pursuit in several European and Asian countries. Earned after obtaining a research doctorate, such as a PhD, habilitation requires the candidate to write a professorial thesis based on independent...
under Hermann Cohen
Hermann Cohen
Hermann Cohen was a German-Jewish philosopher, one of the founders of the Marburg School of Neo-Kantianism, and he is often held to be "probably the most important Jewish philosopher of the nineteenth century".-Life:...
. In 1885 he became extraordinary professor and in 1893 became ordinary professor in philosophy and pedagogics at Marburg University, a position he retained until his retirement in 1922. In the winter semester of 1923-24 Natorp conducted an intensive exchange of ideas with Martin Heidegger
Martin Heidegger
Martin Heidegger was a German philosopher known for his existential and phenomenological explorations of the "question of Being."...
, who had been called to Marburg and whose work on Duns Scotus
Duns Scotus
Blessed John Duns Scotus, O.F.M. was one of the more important theologians and philosophers of the High Middle Ages. He was nicknamed Doctor Subtilis for his penetrating and subtle manner of thought....
Natorp had read very early on.
In 1887 he married his cousin Helene Natorp; they had five children. Natorp was an ambitious composer, who wrote chiefly chamber music (including a cello sonata, a violin sonata, and a piano trio). He also wrote some 100 songs and two choral works. He conducted a correspondence with Johannes Brahms
Johannes Brahms
Johannes Brahms was a German composer and pianist, and one of the leading musicians of the Romantic period. Born in Hamburg, Brahms spent much of his professional life in Vienna, Austria, where he was a leader of the musical scene...
, who dissuaded him from becoming a professional composer.
He was an influence on the early work of Hans-Georg Gadamer
Hans-Georg Gadamer
Hans-Georg Gadamer was a German philosopher of the continental tradition, best known for his 1960 magnum opus, Truth and Method .-Life:...
and had a profound effect upon the thought of Edmund Husserl
Edmund Husserl
Edmund Gustav Albrecht Husserl was a philosopher and mathematician and the founder of the 20th century philosophical school of phenomenology. He broke with the positivist orientation of the science and philosophy of his day, yet he elaborated critiques of historicism and of psychologism in logic...
, the "father" of phenomenology. Further, it was to Natorp's scholarly influence and reputation that Husserl owed some of his success. His students included the philosopher and historian Ernst Cassirer
Ernst Cassirer
Ernst Cassirer was a German philosopher. He was one of the major figures in the development of philosophical idealism in the first half of the 20th century...
, and the author of Doctor Zhivago
Doctor Zhivago (novel)
Doctor Zhivago is a 20th century novel by Boris Pasternak, first published in 1957. The novel is named after its protagonist, Yuri Zhivago, a physician and poet...
, Boris Pasternak
Boris Pasternak
Boris Leonidovich Pasternak was a Russian language poet, novelist, and literary translator. In his native Russia, Pasternak's anthology My Sister Life, is one of the most influential collections ever published in the Russian language...
.
Works
- Sozialpädagogik (1899)
- Logik in Leitsätzen (1904)
- Gesammelte Abhandlungen zur Sozialpädagogik (3 volumes, 1907)
- Pestalozzi. Leben und Lehre (1909)
- Die logischen Grundlagen der exakten Wissenschaften (1910)
- Philosophie; ihr Problem und ihre Probleme (1911), new edition: Edition Ruprecht, Göttingen 2008 (ed. and introduction by Karl-Heinz Lembeck), ISBN 978-3-7675-3055-3
- Sozialidealismus (1920)
- Beethoven und wir (1920)
- "Platos Ideenlehre" (1921)
- Allgemeine Logik (in: Flach und Holzhey, Erkenntnistheorie und Logik im Neukantianismus, 1979)