Jonas, Hans
The intellectual heritage of Hans Jonas (1903–1993) spans and reflects the twentieth century. Born in Mönchengladbach, Germany, on October 4, he died in New Rochelle, New York, on February 5, having become one of the most important contributors to philosophical reflection on science, technology, and ethics. For more than half a century, Jonas worked consistently to develop a persuasive alternative to modern nihilism in its diverse existentialist, positivist, scientific, and technological manifestations.
Life and Works
In Germany Jonas studied with the major figures of philosophy such as Edmund Husserl (1859–1938), Martin Heidegger (1889–1976), and the Protestant theologian Rudolf Bultmann (1884–1976). His doctoral dissertation adapted Heidegger's Dasein analysis from Time and Being (1927) to demythologize Gnostic texts from the early centuries of the Common Era, revealing the extreme dualism and world estrangement of this ancient religious literature. Increasingly aware of the social estrangement of Jews in Europe (his mother would be murdered in Auschwitz), Jonas joined the Zionist movement and, as the Nazi's came to power, left Germany for Palestine. During World War II he joined the Jewish Brigade of the British forces in Italy as an artillery soldier; in 1948 he fought in the Israeli War of Independence.
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