EUCKEN

eucken, rudolf christoph (1846- ), german philosopher, was born on the 5th of january 1846 at aurich in east friesland. his father died when he was a child, and he was brought up by his mother, a woman of considerable activity. he was educated at aurich, where one of his teachers was the philosopher wilhelm reuter, whose influence was the dominating factor in the development of his thought. passing to the university of goettingen he took his degree in classical philology and ancient history, but the bent of his mind was definitely towards the philosophical side of theology. subsequently he studied in berlin, especially under trendelenburg, whose ethical tendencies and historical treatment of philosophy greatly attracted him. from 1871 to 1874 eucken taught philosophy at basel, and in 1874 became professor of philosophy at the university of jena. in 1908 he was awarded the nobel prize for literature. eucken's philosophical work is partly historical and partly constructive, the former side being predominant in his earlier, the latter in his later works. their most striking feature is the close organic relationship between the two parts. the aim of the historical works is to show the necessary connexion between philosophical concepts and the age to which they belong; the same idea is at the root of his constructive speculation. all philosophy is philosophy of life, the development of a new culture, not mere intellectualism, but the application of a vital religious inspiration to the practical problems of society. this practical idealism eucken described by the term "activism." in accordance with this principle, eucken has given considerable attention to social and educational problems. his chief works are:--_die methode der aristotelischen forschung_ (1872); the important historical study on the history of conceptions, _die grundbegriffe der gegenwart_ (1878; eng. trans. by m. stuart phelps, new york, 1880; 3rd ed. under the title _geistige stroemungen der gegenwart_, 1904; 4th ed., 1909); _geschichte der philos. terminologie_ (1879); _prolegomena zu forschungen ueber die einheit des geisteslebens_ (1885); _beitraege zur geschichte der neueren philosophie_ (1886, 1905); _die einheit des geisteslebens_ (1888); _die lebensanschauungen der grossen denker_ (1890; 7th ed., 1907; eng. trans., w. hough and boyce gibson, _the problem of human life_, 1909); _der wahrheitsgehalt der religion_ (1901; 2nd ed., 1905); _thomas von aquino und kant_ (1901); _gesammelte aufsaetze zu philos. und lebensanschauung_ (1903); _philosophie der geschichte_ (1907); _der kampf um einen geistigen lebensinhalt_ (1896, 1907); _grundlinien einer neuen lebensanschauung_ (1907); _einfuehrung in die philosophie der geisteslebens_ (1908; eng. trans., _the life of the spirit_, f.l. pogson, 1909, crown theological library); _der sinn und wert des lebens_ (1908; eng. trans., 1909); _hauptprobleme der religionsphilosophie der gegenwart_ (1907). the following of eucken's works also have been translated into english:--_liberty in teaching in the german universities_ (1897); _are the germans still a nation of thinkers_? (1898); _progress of philos. in the 19th century_ (1899); _the finnish question_ (1899); _the present status of religion in germany_ (1901). see w.r. boyce gibson, _rudolf eucken's philosophy of life_ (2nd ed., 1907), and _god with us_ (1909); for the historical work, falckenberg's _hist. of philos_. (eng. trans., 1895, index); also h. poehlmann, _r. euckens theologie mit ihren philosophischen grundlagen dargestellt_ (1903); o. siebert, _r. euckens welt- und lebensanschauung_ (1904).