Richard David Precht

Richard David Precht (; born 8 December 1964) is a German philosopher and author of successful popular science books about philosophical issues. He hosts the TV show "Precht" on ZDF.

He was an honorary professor of philosophy at the Leuphana University of Lüneburg from 2011 to October 2023 and is an honorary professor of philosophy and aesthetics at the Hanns Eisler University of Music in Berlin. Since the great success with Wer bin ich – und wenn ja, wie viele? (English title: Who am I – and if so, how many?), Precht's books on philosophical or sociopolitical topics became bestsellers.

Life Richard David Precht was born and raised in Solingen. His father, Hans-Jürgen Precht, was born in Hanover in 1933, and his mother in Neuhof bei Berlin in 1938. After higher secondary schooling Abitur at the Gymnasium Schwertstraße in Solingen, Precht did his alternative service as a parish worker. Later he studied philosophy, German studies and history of art at the University of Cologne. In 1994, he obtained a doctorate (Dr. phil.) in German studies. From 1991 to 1995 he worked as a scientific assistant in a cognitive science research project.

In 1997, Precht was Arthur F. Burns Fellow at Chicago Tribune. Two years later, Precht received the Heinz-Kühn-Scholarship. In 2000–01, he was Fellow at the European College of Journalism, and in 2001, he was awarded for journalism in the field of biomedical studies.

As an essayist, Precht has written for German newspapers and magazines. From 2002 to 2004 he was a columnist of Literaturen, a sophisticated intellectual literary magazine, and from 2005 to 2008 he was freelance moderator of Tageszeichen, a broadcast program of WDR.

Precht has a son and three stepchildren.

Awards 2011: IQ Award

Positions and reception

Precht is an advocate of a new civil society. He stands philosophically close to the American communitarianism, the idea of democratizing society with a higher civic sense of community. He considers the obligation of economy and politics for constant economic growth as damaging. He is in favour of a basic income. In the debate about the thesis of Thilo Sarrazin Precht views the accusations toward the migrants as a diversion with regard to the more fundamental question about the distribution, the growing gap between rich and poor and the establishment of moral-distant settings in the upper class as well as the under class. Precht is a severe critic of the Bundeswehr mission in Afghanistan. He is also a sharp critic of the school system in Germany.

During the Russian invasion of Ukraine, Precht was criticized for his positions. Most notably, during the first days of the invasion in early March 2022, he had concluded on multiple occasions that Ukraine could not win the war and despite having the right of self-defense, should have the wisdom to know when to surrender.