Alfred Schmidt – författare

Ludwig Wittgenstein and Ben Richards met in the autumn of 1945, when Richards – a medical student – was attending one of Wittgenstein’s courses. The ‘loving friendship’ (in Wittgenstein’s words) which subsequently developed between them decisively coloured every aspect of Wittgenstein’s last years.Their correspondence – consisting of more than 370 letters, cards, and telegrams, along with numerous drawings and attachments – starts in the summer of 1946, and ends in April 1951, just a week before Wittgenstein’s death. It gives an incomparably vivid and touching picture of the last five yearsof Wittgenstein’s life.His encounter with Richards was perhaps the deepest love and the greatest happiness of Wittgenstein’s life. And yet these letters also reveal Wittgenstein as a lonely, vulnerable, and often overbearing man, painfully aware of his dependence on the affection of his much younger beloved friend, and painfully aware of the fragility of their connection.This collection of letters between Wittgenstein and Richards is not only the single largest correspondence of Wittgenstein’s that has survived, but – more importantly – it is by far the most significant and revealing cache of letters between Wittgenstein and someone whom he loved romantically. They offer an entirely new window onto Wittgenstein’s inner life, and a profound and moving testament to his emotional and intellectual concerns in his last years. Like all of Wittgenstein’s writings, the letters are shot through with opinions, humour, and insights, delivered in Wittgenstein’s typically sharp and powerful manner. In short, this is a most remarkable collection of documents – both for those interested in Wittgenstein’s philosophy, and for those interested in the life of one of the 20th century’s greatest thinkers.

Ludwig Wittgenstein and Ben Richards met in the autumn of 1945, when Richards a medical student was attending one of Wittgenstein's courses. The 'loving friendship' (in Wittgenstein's words) which subsequently developed between them decisively coloured every aspect of Wittgenstein's last years.Their correspondence consisting of more than 370 letters, cards, and telegrams, along with numerous drawings and attachments starts in the summer of 1946, and ends in April 1951, just a week before Wittgenstein's death. It gives an incomparably vivid and touching picture of the last five yearsof Wittgenstein's life.His encounter with Richards was perhaps the deepest love and the greatest happiness of Wittgenstein's life. And yet these letters also reveal Wittgenstein as a lonely, vulnerable, and often overbearing man, painfully aware of his dependence on the affection of his much younger beloved friend, and painfully aware of the fragility of their connection.This collection of letters between Wittgenstein and Richards is not only the single largest correspondence of Wittgenstein's that has survived, but more importantly it is by far the most significant and revealing cache of letters between Wittgenstein and someone whom he loved romantically. They offer an entirely new window onto Wittgenstein's inner life, and a profound and moving testament to his emotional and intellectual concerns in his last years. Like all of Wittgenstein's writings, the letters are shot through with opinions, humour, and insights, delivered in Wittgenstein's typically sharp and powerful manner. In short, this is a most remarkable collection of documents both for those interested in Wittgenstein's philosophy, and for those interested in the life of one of the 20th century's greatest thinkers.

Ludwig Wittgenstein and Ben Richards met in the autumn of 1945, when Richards a medical student was attending one of Wittgenstein's courses. The 'loving friendship' (in Wittgenstein's words) which subsequently developed between them decisively coloured every aspect of Wittgenstein's last years.Their correspondence consisting of more than 370 letters, cards, and telegrams, along with numerous drawings and attachments starts in the summer of 1946, and ends in April 1951, just a week before Wittgenstein's death. It gives an incomparably vivid and touching picture of the last five yearsof Wittgenstein's life.His encounter with Richards was perhaps the deepest love and the greatest happiness of Wittgenstein's life. And yet these letters also reveal Wittgenstein as a lonely, vulnerable, and often overbearing man, painfully aware of his dependence on the affection of his much younger beloved friend, and painfully aware of the fragility of their connection.This collection of letters between Wittgenstein and Richards is not only the single largest correspondence of Wittgenstein's that has survived, but more importantly it is by far the most significant and revealing cache of letters between Wittgenstein and someone whom he loved romantically. They offer an entirely new window onto Wittgenstein's inner life, and a profound and moving testament to his emotional and intellectual concerns in his last years. Like all of Wittgenstein's writings, the letters are shot through with opinions, humour, and insights, delivered in Wittgenstein's typically sharp and powerful manner. In short, this is a most remarkable collection of documents both for those interested in Wittgenstein's philosophy, and for those interested in the life of one of the 20th century's greatest thinkers.

In The Concept of Nature in Marx, Alfred Schmidt examines humanity's relation to the natural world as understood by the great philosopher-economist Karl Marx, who wrote that human beings are 'part of Nature yet able to stand over against it; and this partial separation from Nature is itself part of their nature'. In Marx, industry and science are the mediation between historical man and external nature, leading either to reconciliation or mutual annihilation. Schmidt explores this tension between man and nature in Marx and shows how his understanding of nature is reflected in the work of writers such as Bertolt Brecht, Walter Benjamin and Ernst Bloch.

In The Concept of Nature in Marx, Alfred Schmidt examines humanity''s relation to the natural world as understood by the great philosopher-economist Karl Marx, who wrote that human beings are ''part of Nature yet able to stand over against it; and this partial separation from Nature is itself part of their nature''. In Marx, industry and science are the mediation between historical man and external nature, leading either to reconciliation or mutual annihilation. Schmidt explores this tension between man and nature in Marx and shows how his understanding of nature is reflected in the work of writers such as Bertolt Brecht, Walter Benjamin and Ernst Bloch.

Es ist, was es ist, sagt die Liebe: In persönlichen Briefen schreibt Ludwig Wittgenstein über seine Beziehung mit Ben Richards.Ludwig Wittgenstein: Philosoph, Mensch, LiebenderLudwig Wittgenstein zählt zu den bedeutendsten Philosophen des 20. Jahrhunderts. Sein "Tractatus logico-philosophicus" und seine "Philosophischen Untersuchungen" haben die Geschichte der modernen Philosophie grundlegend verändert. Auch wenn über den Philosophen Wittgenstein viel bekannt ist: weniger greifbar ist er als Mensch. Als Mensch, der lieben kann und will: Es ist Herbst – der erste nach Ende des Zweiten Weltkriegs – als Ludwig Wittgenstein in Cambridge den Medizinstudenten Ben Richards kennenlernt. Die darauffolgende Beziehung der beiden wird das Leben des Philosophen bis zu seinem Lebensende prägen. Eine Vielzahl erhaltene gebliebene Briefe, Ansichtskarten und Telegramme aus den Jahren 1946 bis 1951 sind stille, aber bewegende Zeugen dieser Liebe und tiefen Freundschaft.Briefe als Quelle des Glücks – und der UnsicherheitWenn Wittgenstein etwas Schönes sieht, möchte er es mit Richards teilen. Wenn er ein Musikstück hört, das ihn besonders beeindruckt hat, empfiehlt er es Richards in der Hoffnung, dass er beim Hören an ihn denkt. Er schickt ihm Blumen, um seinen Tag zu erhellen. Die Liebe der beiden zueinander ist beglückend, der Briefwechsel Herzensnahrung. Doch kaum ist ein Brief an Richards geschrieben, folgt für Wittgenstein die Marter: das Warten auf die Antwort. Die ständige Angst vor dem Ende einer Beziehung zu einem jüngeren Mann beherrscht und belastet ihn.Was bedeutet es, im 20. Jahrhundert als Mann einen Mann zu lieben?Wittgenstein unterbricht seine Arbeit in dieser Zeit oft spontan, um über seinen seelischen Zustand und sein Verhältnis zu Ben Richards zu reflektieren. Die Gedanken zu Richards notiert er fast durchwegs in einem von ihm gebrauchten Code: Jemand, der einen Blick auf die Notizen wirft, soll den Inhalt nicht erfassen können. Wittgensteins Briefe an Richards geben Einblick in die individuelle Liebesgeschichte zweier Menschen. Sie sind aber auch ein Zeugnis über die Liebe zwischen zwei Männern in einer Zeit, in der diese Liebe nicht geduldet wurde.

Alfred Schmidts in viele Sprachen übersetzte Untersuchung gehört zu den wichtigsten und folgenreichsten theoretischen Quellen derphilosophischen Marx-Interpretation. Schmidt selbst bezeichnet seine Arbeit als den ''Versuch, die wechselseitige Durchdringungvon Natur und Gesellschaft, wie sie innerhalb der Natur als der beide Momente umfassenden Realität sich abspielt, in ihren Hauptaspekten darzustellen.'' 1993 erweitert er seine Interpretation des Marx''schen Werks, die von dem geschichtsmaterialistisch unterbauten Begriff der Natur ausgeht, um die Dimension des ''ökologischen Materialismus''. Der Alfred Schmidt-Schüler Michael Jeskegibt dieser letzten Fassung ein Nachwort bei, welches u.a. Aspekte der Wirkungsgeschichte dieser für den westlichen Marxismus derNachkriegszeit so bedeutenden Schrift beleuchtet.

Marcuse: Beiträge zu einer Phänomenologie des Historischen Materialismus / Marcuse: Über konkrete Philosophie / Schmidt: Geschichte als verändernde Praxis / Schmidt: Existential-Ontologie und historischer Materialismus bei Herbert Marcuse