Volker Gerhardt

Volker Gerhardt (born July 21, 1944) is a German philosopher. His academic career includes professorships at the University of Münster and Humboldt University in Berlin, where he specialized in practical philosophy. Gerhardt's philosophical interests are broad, encompassing ethics, political philosophy, aesthetics, metaphysics, and theology. His scholarship engages deeply with the works of key historical figures such as Plato, Immanuel Kant, and Friedrich Nietzsche, while also addressing thinkers like Hegel, Marx, Karl Jaspers, Eric Voegelin, Hannah Arendt, and Carl Schmitt. He has made significant contributions to the understanding of concepts like self-determination, individuality, and political participation. From 2008 to 2012, he served as a member of the German Ethics Council.