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Hans Jonas

Hans Jonas (1903-1993) is one of the most important philosophers of the 20th century. Born in a German Jewish community in the Rhineland, Jonas' mentors included Edmund Husserl, Martin Heidegger and Rudolf Bultmann. The committed Zionist fled Germany in 1933 for Jerusalem, fought in the British Army against Hitler, and then left Israel for North America in 1949. Much of Jonas' philosophy responds to contemporary historical and political challenges: mass society, totalitarianism, the Holocaust, "nuclearism," environmental devastation (Chernobyl) and, later, the risks of genetic engineering.

When Hans Jonas died in 1993, he was revered among American scholars specializing in European philosophy, but his thought had not yet made great inroads...
Hans Jonas