Ferdinand Fellmann

Who is Ferdinand Fellmann?

Ferdinand Fellmann is a German philosopher. After the expulsion of his family in 1946 out of Hirschberg Fellmann grew up in Hameln/Weser. He studied at the University of Münster and the University of Pavia, promoted by the “Studienstiftung des Deutschen Volkes”. He graduated from his studies in English and Romance Languages and Literature in 1959. From 1962–1965 Fellmann continued his studies in Giessen. He studied there under his most influential professors: Professor of Romance Languages and Literature, Hans Robert Jauss, and Professor of Philosophy, Blumenberg. Due to the conflict between Jauss, a former SS-Man, and Blumenberg, who was a victim of persecution by the Nazi Regime, Fellmann sought out to find his own way of thinking. In 1967 Fellmann completed his doctorate in Bochum and in 1973 he finished his postdoctoral lecture qualification in Münster. A representation of his relation to Blumenberg can be found in the Journal Information Philosophie.

Fellmann was appointed Professor of Philosophy in 1980. In 1985, he occupied the position of Guest Professor in Naples and translated texts of Giordano Bruno, Giambattista Vico, and Benedetto Croce. Later he moved away from historicism and towards systematic themes. In opposition to the dominance of analytic philosophy at the German universities, Fellmann remained devoted to continental philosophical tradition. In 1994 he was appointed “Gründungsprofessor” of philosophy at Chemnitz University of Technology, where he worked on synthesizing idealistic and materialistic forms of thought. His concept of philosophy as practical orientation appears in his book entitled Orientierung Philosophie: was sie kann, was sie will, first published in 1998. Several of Fellmann’s colleagues opposed the book, calling it destructive to academic tradition. After being emeritus professor in 2005, Fellmann served as a Visiting Professor in Vienna and Trento. He currently lives in Münster. As unconventional thinker, he does not belong to any particular philosophical community. In his homepage he ironically refers to himself as the Accademico di nulla accademia, “Academic of no Academy”.