ECU Libraries Catalog

Time of the magicians : Wittgenstein, Benjamin, Cassirer, Heidegger, and the decade that reinvented philosophy / Wolfram Eilenberger ; translated by Shaun Whiteside.

Author/creator Eilenberger, Wolfram, 1972- author.
Other author/creatorWhiteside, Shaun translator.
Format Book and Print
Publication Info New York : Penguin Press, 2020.
Description418 pages, 16 unnumbered pages of plates : illustrations ; 25 cm
Subject(s)
Uniform titleZeit der Zauberer. English
Contents Prologue: the magicians -- Leaps: 1919 -- Languages: 1919-1920 -- Culture: 1922-1923 -- You: 1923-1925 -- Freedom: 1925-1927 -- Arcades: 1926-1928 -- Time: 1929.
Abstract "A grand narrative of the intertwining lives of Walter Benjamin, Martin Heidegger, Ludwig Wittgenstein, and Ernst Cassirer, major philosophers whose ideas shaped the twentieth century The year is 1919. The horror of the First World War is still fresh for the protagonists of Time of the Magicians, each of whom finds himself at a crucial juncture. Benjamin, whose life is characterized by false starts and unfinished projects, is trying to flee his overbearing father and floundering in his academic career, living hand to mouth as a jobbing critic. Wittgenstein, by contrast, has dramatically decided to divest himself of the monumental fortune he stands to inherit, as a scion of one of the biggest industrial families in Europe, in order to commit himself unswervingly to a life of the mind. Meanwhile, Heidegger, having managed to avoid combat in war by serving instead as a meteorologist, is carefully cultivating his career, aligning himself with the great Edmund Husserl, and renouncing his prior Catholic associations. Finally, Cassirer is working furiously on the margins of academia, applying himself intensely to his writing and the possibility of a career at Hamburg University. The stage is set for a great intellectual drama, which will unfold across the next decade. The lives and ideas of this great philosophical quartet will converge as they become world historical figures. But as the Second World War looms on the horizon, their fates will be very different. Wolfram Eilenberger, internationally-bestselling author, stylishly traces the paths of these remarkable and turbulent lives, which feature not only philosophy but some of the most important economists, politicians, journalists, and artists of the century, including John Maynard Keynes, Hannah Arendt, and Bertrand Russell. In doing so, he tells a gripping story about some of history's most ambitious and passionate thinkers, as well as illuminating with rare clarity and economy their brilliant ideas, which all too often have been regarded as enigmatic or opaque"-- Provided by publisher.
General note"Originally published in German as Zeit der Zauberer by Klett-Cotta, Stuttgart," ©2018 -- title page verso.
General noteTranslated from the German.
Bibliography noteIncludes bibliographical references and index.
Issued in other formOnline version: Eilenberger, Wolfram, Time of the magicians New York : Penguin Press, 2020. 9780525559672
Genre/formHistory.
Genre/formBiographies.
LCCN 2019050893
ISBN9780525559665 hardcover
ISBN0525559663 hardcover
ISBNelectronic book
Standard identifier# 40030064411

Available Items

Library Location Call Number Status Item Actions
Joyner General Stacks B3181 .E5513 2020 ✔ Available Place Hold