Manfred Frank

Manfred Frank (born March 22, 1945) is a German philosopher who is emeritus professor of philosophy at the University of Tübingen.

Life and work

Frank was born in Elberfeld, Germany, and studied philosophy at the University of Heidelberg under teachers such as Hans-Georg Gadamer, Karl Löwith, Ernst Tugendhat, and Dieter Henrich. After teaching at the University of Düsseldorf from 1971 to 1982, and at the University of Geneva from 1982 to 1987, Frank accepted a position at Tübingen in 1987. He is a specialist in the philosophy of literature.

Frank's work focuses on German idealism, romanticism, and the concepts of subjectivity and self-consciousness. His 950-page study of German romanticism, Unendliche Annäherung, has been described as "the most comprehensive and thoroughgoing study of early German romanticism" and "surely one of the most important books from the post-War period on the history of German philosophy." He has also written at length on analytic philosophy and recent French philosophy.

Selected works Books In English

In German Das Problem "Zeit" in der deutschen Romantik; Zeitbewusstsein und Bewusstsein von Zeitlichkeit in der frühromantischen Philosophie und in Tiecks Dichtung. Paderborn: Winkler Verlag, 1972, 1990. Einführung in die frühromantische Ästhetik. Vorlesungen. Frankfurt a. M.: Suhrkamp, 1989. Selbstbewußtsein und Selbsterkenntnis: Essays zur analytischen Philosophie der Subjektivität. Stuttgart: Reclam, 1991. "Unendliche Annäherung". Die Anfänge der philosophischen Frühromantik. Frankfurt a. M.: Suhrkamp, 1997. Auswege aus dem deutschen Idealismus. Frankfurt a. M.: Suhrkamp, 2007. Die Unhintergehbarkeit von Individualität. Reflexionen über Subjekt, Person und Individuum aus Anlaß ihrer "postmodernen" Toterklärung. Frankfurt a. M.: Suhrkamp, 1986.

In French L'ultime raison du sujet. Arles, France: Actes Sud, 1988.

In Italian Natura e Spirito – Lezioni sulla filosofia di Schelling, a cura di Emilio Carlo Corriero, Torino, Rosenberg & Sellier, 2010.

Articles "The World as Will and Representation: Deleuze's and Guattari's Critique of Capitalism as Schizo-Analysis and Schizo-Discourse". Telos 57 (Fall 1983). New York: Telos Press.

"Qu’est-ce qu’un texte littéraire et que signifie sa compréhension?", in Revue Internationale de Philosophie, vol. 41, nº 162/163 (3-4), « Philosophie de la Littérature », 1987, p. 378-397. Partial translation of an article originally published in German. .