Biography
Peter Sloterdijk (1947) is a German philosopher and essayist known for his research into modernity, philosophical anthropology, culture and the spatial forms of human coexistence. He studied philosophy, history and German philology in Munich and Hamburg. He was professor of philosophy and aesthetics at the Hochschule für Gestaltung in Karlsruhe, where he served as rector from 2001 to 2015.
He gained widespread recognition with Kritik der zynischen Vernunft (1983), an investigation of modern cynicism and the tensions between Enlightenment critique and social consciousness. In the Sphären trilogy —Blasen (1998), Globen (1999) and Schäume (2004)— he developed an interpretation of human existence centred on the formation of shared spaces, relations of immunity and the conditions of coexistence.
His later work includes, among other books, Zorn und Zeit (2006) and Du mußt dein Leben ändern (2009). His essays connect the history of ideas, religion, technology and politics, and have prompted debates about the scope of cultural criticism and the place of philosophy in the public sphere.
Published books