Winfried Weier

Winfried Weier

Winfried Ferdinand Weier (born April 26, 1934 in Fulda ; † October 5, 2013 in Reichenberg ) was a German philosopher , university professor and recipient of the New Year's Eve .

biography

parents house

Winfried Weier was born on April 26, 1934 in Fulda as the son of the teacher Ferdinand Weier (* May 2, 1888 in Winkels; † May 14, 1956 in Fulda) and his wife Eva, nee. Child (born July 31, 1888 in Fulda; † May 27, 1985 in Trier) born in Fulda. He was the youngest of four siblings in a Catholic family. The only daughter in the family had died of an infectious disease in 1932 in the first year of life.

His early childhood was marked by ideologically motivated harassment of the National Socialist regime towards the differently thinking family. The rejection of the National Socialist ideology in attitude and action led to major professional problems, especially for the father, so that he was repeatedly transferred as a teacher. Keeping the children away from the Hitler Youth turned out to be extremely difficult for the parents. Finally, towards the end of the war, the oldest brother Josef was drafted, but survived the war. When the Americans marched into Fulda, the family had to vacate their home at Marienstraße 1 in the shortest possible time and temporarily sublet. The father's health deteriorated progressively in the post-war years, and he died of heart disease at the age of 68.

Training and professional activity

Winfried Weier attended the primary school in Fulda from 1940 to 1944, and then until 1954 the humanistic cathedral grammar school there. This was followed by studying philosophy , German and theology (teaching post) at the University of Mainz , where Weier obtained a doctorate in philosophy in 1959. In 1962 he completed the above-mentioned studies with the state examination with distinction. He then worked from 1962 to 1972 as an assistant and lecturer in philosophy at the Würzburg University of Education . In 1966 he completed his habilitation in philosophy at the University of Salzburg . There he taught from 1967 to 1999 in addition to his work in Würzburg as a university lecturer as an associate professor .

In 1972 he received a teaching position at the Faculty of Education, later at the Theological Faculty of the University of Würzburg , where he was professor of Christian philosophy from 1974 until his retirement in 1999.

In retirement he continued his scientific work. Due to an eye disease, however, the latter was very difficult for him. Weier published two more works during his lifetime (2005 and 2009), his last book was published posthumously in 2014.

Awarded the New Year's Eve

On March 8, 2004, Weier was awarded the New Year's Eve by Pope John Paul II for his special services to the Roman Catholic Church . In the laudation, Auxiliary Bishop Helmut Bauer emphasized that Weier had decisively shaped an entire generation of theologians. He understood his teaching activity not only as imparting knowledge, but as an impetus for independent philosophical thinking. It was always an important goal for him to emphasize the rational responsibility of the Christian faith. "It was important to him to enable his students to counter relativistic and reductionist philosophical approaches argumentatively."

Private life

Winfried Weier married the teacher Ingrid, b. Meier (* 1942). With her he has a daughter and a son.

Weier spent most of his life in Würzburg. In 1982 he moved to Reichenberg near Würzburg, where he died on October 5, 2013.

Weier's brothers were also active in higher education.

• Reinhold Weier (born February 6, 1928; † October 27, 2009) was a priest and on July 3, 1968 he was appointed to the Chair of Dogmatics and History of Dogma II at the Theological Faculty of the University of Trier . He retired there in 1996.
• Josef Weier (* March 17, 1927; † December 3, 2009) taught mathematics at the University of Bonn from 1965 to 1992 . He was a member of the German Aerospace Society .

Works

• The position of Johannes Clauberg in philosophy (1960)
• Meaning and participation. The Basic Theme of Occidental Spiritual Development (1970)
• The Definitive Origins of Nihilism (1974)
• Structures of human existence. Limits of contemporary philosophizing (1977)
• Nihilism. History, System, Criticism (1980)
• Intellectual history in a system comparison. On the Problems of Historical Thought (1984)
• Phenomena and images of being human. Foundation of a Dimensional Anthropology (1986)
• The foundation of the modern age. Typology of the History of Philosophy (1988)
• Religion as self-discovery, foundation of an existential analytical philosophy of religion (1991)
• Focal points of contemporary philosophy, central themes and tendencies in the age of nihilism (1991)
• The mind phenomenon. Examination of psychoanalysis, logistics, behavioral research (1995)
• Sensory experience of human existence New ways of knowing God (1999)
• Idea and reality. Philosophy of German Poetry (2005)
• God as the principle of morality, the foundation of an existential and theonomic ethics (2009)
• Is there any objective truth? Dealing with the modern critique of knowledge (2014)

Other publications: 72 articles in scientific journals

Web links

• Literature by and about Winfried Weier in the catalog of the German National Library
• Professor Winfried Weier has died. Obituary in the Main-Post from October 17, 2013

Individual evidence

1. ↑ The good news: Deserved for the Church. Information from the press office of the Episcopal Ordinariate in Würzburg dated March 8, 2004, accessed on May 22, 2013.
2. ↑ Obituary, Main-Post , accessed on October 12, 2013.