Fellow Lecture by Professor Dr Christoph Schulte (Fellow of the Alfried Krupp Wissenschaftskolleg Greifswald / University of Potsdam)

Immediately after the catastrophes of the Second World War and the Shoah, two philosophers presented fundamental critiques of the progress-optimistic philosophy of history of the Enlightenment and the 19th century: Karl Löwith (1897-1973) and Jacob Taubes (1923-1987). Löwith deconstructs the hopes for the future of the philosophy of history from Vico via Kant and Hegel to Marx and Comte as a secularised Christian theology of history; Taubes analyses the philosophy of history as a modern continuation of biblical theology of salvation, but also as an expression of modern hubris. The Fellow Lecture will show that World War II and the Shoah are the implicit background to this critique of the philosophy of history.

After studying in Heidelberg and Berlin as well as research and teaching stays in Jerusalem, Montreal, Paris, Chicago and Aix-en-Provence, Christoph Schulte was Professor of Philosophy and Jewish Studies at the University of Potsdam from 2001 to 2024; he was also a visiting professor in Philadelphia, Zurich, Basel, Hamburg and Haifa. His work focuses on Jewish and Christian philosophy of religion, Jewish religious and intellectual history of the modern era, philosophy of the Enlightenment and the science of Judaism. He lives in Berlin and is also a Research Fellow at the Bucerius Institute at the University of Haifa. In the academic year 2025/26, Christoph Schulte is a Senior Fellow at the Alfried Krupp Wissenschaftskolleg Greifswald.

Moderation: Professor Dr Heinrich Assel