Karl Löwith

Karl Löwith (1897–1973) was a German philosopher and historian of ideas who traced modern philosophies of history to theological patterns in Christian eschatology.

Philosophy of history: The philosophical study of history’s meaning, structure, causes, and direction. This is the field whose modern claims about historical direction Löwith examined.
Meaning in History: Karl Löwith’s 1949 book arguing that modern philosophies of history derive from biblical eschatology. This book gives the clearest statement of his account of secular historical meaning.
Hans Blumenberg: A German philosopher who argued that modernity is not merely a secularized form of Christian theology. Blumenberg directly challenged Löwith’s account of modern ideas as theological inheritances.
Edmund Husserl: A German philosopher who founded phenomenology as a method for investigating structures of experience. Husserl’s phenomenology formed part of the philosophical milieu in which Löwith trained.
Eschatology: Theological teaching about the final events of history and the destiny of humanity. Löwith identified Christian expectations of an end to history beneath modern historical schemes.
Joachim of Fiore: A twelfth-century Christian theologian who interpreted history through successive ages culminating in spiritual renewal. Löwith discusses Joachim as a major source for later expectations of historical transformation.
Carl Schmitt: A German jurist and political theorist who argued that modern political concepts are secularized theological concepts. Schmitt’s related genealogy helps situate Löwith’s account within debates on secularization.
Leo Strauss: A German-American political philosopher known for interpreting classical political philosophy and modernity. Strauss and Löwith were fellow émigré scholars who exchanged ideas about modern thought.
Secularization: The process by which ideas or institutions lose religious authority or acquire nonreligious forms. His account treats modern progress ideas as transformed theological expectations.
Auguste Comte: A French philosopher who proposed a three-stage account of intellectual and social development. Comte’s staged history exemplifies a modern scheme Löwith connects to theological patterns.

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