Richard Kroner

Richard Kroner (8 March 1884 in Breslau – 2 November 1974 in Mammern) was a German neo-Hegelian philosopher, known for his Von Kant bis Hegel (1921/4), a classic history of German idealism written from the neo-Hegelian point of view. He was a Christian, from a Jewish background. He is known for his formulation of Hegel as 'the Protestant Aquinas'.

In 1924 Victor Klemperer supported a call for Richard Kroner to a new chair for theoretical pedagogics and philosophy at Technische Hochschule Dresden,^[1] where he became friends with Paul Tillich.^[1]

Under Nazi legislation Kroner's Jewish ancestry as well as his principled democratic stance led to his "suspension" (dismissal) from his university position at Kiel in 1934.^[2] He was replaced briefly by Hans-Georg Gadamer, a personal friend.^[2]

The American philosopher Otis Lee studied with Kroner for the academic year 1933–1934 and helped him escape to the United States and find a new academic position at Manhattan's Union Theological Seminary.^[3]

Kroner's ideas on Hegel, including his slant via Kierkegaard, were taken up by some existentialist thinkers, including Lev Shestov and Nikolai Berdyaev.^[2]

In 1952 Richard Kroner retired to Elkins Park, Pennsylvania^[4] before moving to Switzerland. He was awarded the Große Bundesverdienstkreuz.^[1]

The Kroners are buried at Richmond Cemetery.^[1]

Works

• Zweck und Gesetz in der Biologie. Eine logische Untersuchung (1913)
• Kants Weltanschauung (1914)
• Hegel. Zum 100. Todestag (1932)
• Die Selbstverwirklichung des Geistes. Prolegomena zur Kulturphilosophie (1928)^[4]
• Von Kant bis Hegel.
  • 1. Band: Von der Vernunftkritik zur Naturphilosophie (1921)
  • 2. Band: Von der Naturphilosophie zur Philosophie des Geistes (1924)

• The Religious Function of Imagination (1941)

• Culture and Faith (1951)^[4]

• Speculation in pre-Christian philosophy (1957)

• Selbstbesinnung. Drei Lehrstunden (1958)
• Speculation and Revelation In Modern Philosophy (1961)
• Between Faith and Thought: Reflections and Suggestions (1966)
• Freiheit und Gnade (1969)