CONSTANTIN BRUNNER, PHILOSOPHER, CRITIC AND WRITER, DIED YESTERDAY. HE WOULD HAVE BEEN 75 YEARS OLD TODAY.
AN ADHERENT OF SPINOZA’S SYSTEM AND AN ARDENT OPPONENT OF THE KANTIAN SCHOOL, BRUNNER BUILT UP AN EXPLANATION OF STATE AND SOCIETY BASED ON EGOISM. HE OPPOSED ZIONISM ON PHILOSOPHIC GROUNDS, BUT FREQUENTLY IN HIS WORKS PAID TRIBUTE TO JEWISH TEACHINGS AND CONDEMNED ANTI-SEMITISM.
BRUNNER WAS A PSEUDONYM, HIS REAL NAME BEING LEOPOLD WERTHEIMER. BORN IN ALTONA, GERMANY, THE GRANDSON OF CHIEF RABBI AKIBA WERTHEIMER, HE RECEIVED A TRADITIONAL JEWISH EDUCATION AND THEN ATTENDED THE UNIVERSITY OF BERLIN, WHERE HE SOON AROUSED THE INTERESTED ATTENTION OF HIS INSTRUCTORS FOR HIS SPIRITED ATTACK ON KANT’S PHILOSOPHY.
HE ERECTED A PHILOSOPHY OF “FACULTY TEACHING” BASED ON THREE “FACULTIES,” OR POTENTIALITIES OF THOUGHT. HE FOUGHT DOGMA AND SUPERSTITION AND SOUGHT TO ENCOURAGE CRITICAL AND ANALYTICAL THOUGHT. AT ONE TIME HE ISSUED AN ARTISTIC AND LITERARY PUBLICATION ENTITLED “DER ZUSCHAUER.”
BRUNNER REGARDED JEWISH TEACHINGS, AND CHRISTIANITY, WHICH HE BELIEVED TO HAVE STEMMED FROM JUDAISM, AS AMONG THE GREATEST ACCOMPLISHMENTS OF HUMANITY. IN 1924 THE CONSTANTIN BRUNNER SOCIETY WAS FOUNDED TO SPREAD HIS IDEAS.
HIS CHIEF WORK IS “DIE LEHRE VON DEN GEISTIGEN UND VOM VOLK.” OTHERS OF HIS WORKS ARE “SPINOZA GEGEN KANT,” “DER JUDENHASS UND DIE JUDEN,” “HERRSCHAFT DES FREVELS,” “UNSER CHRISTUS ODER PAS WESEN DES GENIES,” “LIEBE, EHE, MANN UND WEIB” AND “MATERIALISMUS UND IDEALISMUS.”
JTA has documented Jewish history in real-time for over a century. Keep our journalism strong by joining us in supporting independent, award-winning reporting.
The Archive of the Jewish Telegraphic Agency includes articles published from 1923 to 2008. Archive stories reflect the journalistic standards and practices of the time they were published.
