Adolf Friedrich Bonhöffer

Adolf Friedrich Bonhöffer

Adolf Friedrich Bonhöffer (born June 19, 1859 in Eschelbach , † August 14, 1919 in Stuttgart ) was a German theologian , classical philologist and historian of philosophy .

Career

Bonhöffer is the fourth of the six sons of Pastor Adolf Bonhöffer and his wife Christiane, née. Pistorius; the Bonhoeffer family can be traced back to Schwäbisch Hall since 1513 ; Dietrich Bonhoeffer is distantly related . Adolf Friedrich Bonhöffer attended grammar school in Schwäbisch Hall and, after passing the state examination, from 1873 to 1877 the Evangelical seminaries in Maulbronn and Blaubeuren .

After a year of military service, he began studying Protestant theology and classical philology (especially with Erwin Rohde ) as a member of the Evangelical Monastery in Tübingen , which he completed with theological service exams. During his studies he became a member of the Roigel Royal Society of Tübingen .

After graduation, he took a position as vicar at the Eberhard-Ludwigs-Gymnasium in Stuttgart, then as a country pastor in Belsenberg , which enabled him to complete the dissertation on Epictetus and the Stoic philosophy within nine years , with which he was in Tübingen in 1890 received his doctorate in philosophy from the philosopher Christoph von Sigwart . Only a few years later he published a second book, this time on the ethics of the Stoic Epictetus.

From 1897 on, Bonhöffer took over a parish in Gmünd with a teaching position for Protestant religion at the secondary school there, and in 1900 he successfully applied for the position of senior librarian at the Royal State Library in Stuttgart . During this time he wrote his epoch-making study of the Stoic Epictetus and his relationship to Christianity . He was then commissioned to edit the third edition of Wilhelm Windelband's History of Ancient Philosophy in the Handbook of Classical Studies .

Fonts (selection)

• Epictet and the Stoa. Studies on Stoic Philosophy. Ferdinand Enke, Stuttgart 1890 (= dissertation Tübingen 1890), online .
• The Ethics of the Stoic Epictetus. Appendix: Excursions on some important points in Stoic ethics. Ferdinand Enke, Stuttgart 1894, reprint Frommann-Holzboog, Stuttgart 1968. - Advertisement of the reprint by: Gustave Semeese, in: Revue Philosophique de Louvain 67, 1969, No. 94, p. 325, online .
  • English translation: The Ethics of the Stoic Epictetus. Translation by William O. Stephens. Peter Lang, New York 1996, reprint 2000. Reviews by: Scott M. Rubarth, in: Bryn Mawr Classical Review 08.41.2001 ; Brad Inwood, in: Electronic Antiquity 3.7, May 1997, online . - The translation of the obituary of his schoolmate Constantin Ritter is attached to the translation.
• Epictetus and the New Testament. Alfred Töpelmann, Giessen 1911 ( Religious-historical experiments and preparatory work , Vol. 10). Reprinted by Walter de Gruyter, Berlin 1965, excerpts online . Reprint 2011, ISBN 3110052520 .
• Wilhelm Windelband: History of Ancient Philosophy . 3rd edition, edited by Adolf Bonhöffer. CH Beck, Munich 1913 (Handbook of Classical Studies 5,1,1).

literature

• Constantin Ritter : Adolf Friedrich Bonhöffer . in: Biographisches Jahrbuch für Altertumskunde. 42, 1922, pp. 74-83. - Obituary, in English translation attached to: The Ethics of the Stoic Epictetus. Translated by William O. Stephens. Peter Lang, New York 1996, reprint 2000.