Ludwig Klages

Ludwig Klages
Born	(1872-12-10)10 December 1872 Hannover, Prussia, German Empire
Died	29 July 1956(1956-07-29) (aged 83) Kilchberg, Zurich, Switzerland
Nationality	German
Alma mater	Leipzig University Technische Hochschule Hannover University of Munich
Awards	Goethe Medal for Art and Science (1932)
Era	20th-century philosophy
Region	Western philosophy
School	Continental philosophy Anti-foundationalism Anti-militarism Biocentrism Lebensphilosophie[1] Perspectivism
Main interests	Aesthetics, anthropology, classical studies, eroticism, handwriting, intellectual history, metaphysics, philosophy of history, philosophy of language, philosophy of mind, poetry, psychology
Notable ideas	Ausdruckskunde Geist–Seele dialectic Id (psychology)[2] Logocentrism Reality of images
Co-founder of	Munich Cosmic Circle
Scientific career
Fields	Theoretical psychology, characterology, chemistry
Institutions	University of Munich (1893–) Chemisches Institut (1893–)[3] Psychodiagnostisches Seminar (1905–1914)[4]
Thesis	Attempt at a Synthesis of Menthone[3]  (1901)
Doctoral advisor	Alfred Einhorn[3]
Other academic advisors	Theodore Lipps[5]
Influences Bachofen Bahnsen Busse Carus George Goethe Ibsen Huch Nietzsche[6] Schopenhauer[7] Schuler
Influenced Adorno[8] Agamben[8] Bataille[8] Benjamin Cassirer Cioran Cortázar Derrida[9] Ewald [de] Foucault[10] Guattari[8] Habermas Heidegger[8] Hesse Hoffmann Homburger Horkheimer[8] Kahn Kronfeld Kubin Lacan[8] Lange [de] Löwith[8] Lukács de Man Mann Schneider Schuler Schultz Voigtländer

Friedrich Konrad Eduard Wilhelm Ludwig Klages (10 December 1872 – 29 July 1956) was a German philosopher, psychologist, graphologist, poet, writer, and lecturer, who was a two-time nominee for the Nobel Prize in Literature.^[11] In the Germanosphere, he is considered one of the most important thinkers of the 20th century.^[12] He began his career as a research chemist according to his family's wishes, though soon returned to his passions for poetry, philosophy and classical studies. He held a post at the University of Munich, where in 1905 he founded the Psychodiagnostisches Seminar; the latter was forced to close in 1914 with the outbreak of World War I.^[13] In 1915, Klages moved to neutral Switzerland, where over the following decades much of his mature philosophical works were written. Klages died in 1956.^[14]

Klages was a central figure of characterological psychology and the Lebensphilosophie school of thought. Prominent elements of his philosophy include: the opposition between life-affirming Seele and life-denying Geist; reality as the on-going creation and interpretation of sensory images, rather than feelings; a biocentric ethics in response to modern ecological issues and militarism;^[2] an affirmation of eroticism in critique of both Christian patriarchy and the notion of the "sexual";^[15] a theory of psychology focused on expression, including handwriting analysis;^[16] and a science of character aimed at reconciling the human ego to the divide it effectuates between living beings.^[17] Central to Klages' thought is a linguistic opposition to logocentrism, a term introduced by Klages to diagnose a fixation on language or words to the detriment of the things to which they refer.^[18] His formulation of this concept came to be of significant importance to semiotic studies of Western science and philosophy, namely within Derridean deconstruction.^[19] Klages is similarly seen as a forebear to critical theory,^[20] deep ecology,^[2] and existential phenomenology.

Klages' place in modern psychology has been likened to those of his contemporaries Sigmund Freud and Carl Jung.^[21] His philosophy was roundly attacked by Nazi leaders during the height of his career, though his proximity has since fallen to dispute.^[22] Though little of his literary output has historically been available in English, Klages' thought has exhibited sweeping influence on German developments in psychology, psychiatry, literature, and various other disciplines.^[23]