Academic Career
While supporting himself with teaching at a local high school and serving as an assistant to German existential philosopher Karl Jaspers (1883-1969) who had been appointed at the University of Basel in 1948,[1] Salmony submitted a “habilitation“ (post-doctoral) thesis on "Johann Georg Hamanns metakritische Philosophie" in 1958.
While supporting himself with teaching at a local high school and serving as an assistant to German existential philosopher Karl Jaspers (1883-1969) who had been appointed at the University of Basel in 1948,[1] Salmony submitted a “habilitation“ (post-doctoral) thesis on "Johann Georg Hamanns metakritische Philosophie" in 1958.
He was promoted to “Ordinarius“ (full professor) at the University of Basel in 1960 and became - not without the robust backing of Karl Jaspers - the successor of Heinrich Barth (1890-1965). [2]
Both his dissertation and habilitation theses appeared later in print. The only other longer texts Salmony published are the slim "Kants Schrift 'Das Ende aller Dinge'" (1962), which is the expanded text of his inaugural lecture delivered after his appointment as full professor, and a delightful essay entitled “Karl Jaspers – seine Persőnlichkeit und seine Philosophie“ (1969), in which he shared his intimate knowledge of Jaspers the man and the philosopher. Salmony also wrote a lengthy introduction to philosophy that remained unpublished although renowned German publisher Klaus Piper asked to review it.
Instead, Salmony expressed his manifold philosophical reflections in his thoroughly edited lectures. Minute corrections and marginalia clearly indicate that he prepared these for later publication. Salmony worked on a wide range of topics pertaining to the history of philosophy covering Plato, Medieval Philosophy (overview), Spinoza, Enlightenment Philosophy, Kant, Hegel, Kierkegaard, Schopenhauer, Nietzsche, and 20th century Philosophy. Although these lectures were mostly designed to give students a solid background in the history of philosophy, there were always moments of great intensity in which Salmony followed his own train of thought. As his former assistants Olga Rubitschon and Andreas Cesana characterized his philosophy: “The meaning of preserving philosophical tradition is only fulfilled in dialogue with the present.“[3]
Among the philosophers Salmony invoked the most in his lectures and seminars, few stood as tall as Immanuel Kant; Salmony revisited him throughout his life. In particular, he was interested in Kant’s anthropology in which he detected a pessimistic streak. He also dedicated an elaborate lecture to Kant’s Opus Postumum that was very popular with his students. Existential philosophy, especially in the guise of Karl Jaspers‘ thought, also played a major role in the formulations of many of Salmony’s own ideas. As German philosopher Gerhart Schmidt (b. 1925) put it, “He was a metaphysician, who distrusted merely rational thought, because he saw himself as citizen of two worlds. It is here that his spiritual affinity to Karl Jasper was rooted.“[4]
Last updated: February 16, 2018.
[1]Salmony was assistant in the Philosophy Department of the University of Basel from 1956 to 1960 (Hannah Arendt Karl Jaspers Correspondence 1926-1969, ed. by Lotte Kohler and Hans Saner, translated from the German by Robert and Rita Kimber, New York...: Harcourt Publishers, 1992, p. 740).
[2] Philosophisches Seminar, Archiv/Geschichte.
Instead, Salmony expressed his manifold philosophical reflections in his thoroughly edited lectures. Minute corrections and marginalia clearly indicate that he prepared these for later publication. Salmony worked on a wide range of topics pertaining to the history of philosophy covering Plato, Medieval Philosophy (overview), Spinoza, Enlightenment Philosophy, Kant, Hegel, Kierkegaard, Schopenhauer, Nietzsche, and 20th century Philosophy. Although these lectures were mostly designed to give students a solid background in the history of philosophy, there were always moments of great intensity in which Salmony followed his own train of thought. As his former assistants Olga Rubitschon and Andreas Cesana characterized his philosophy: “The meaning of preserving philosophical tradition is only fulfilled in dialogue with the present.“[3]
Among the philosophers Salmony invoked the most in his lectures and seminars, few stood as tall as Immanuel Kant; Salmony revisited him throughout his life. In particular, he was interested in Kant’s anthropology in which he detected a pessimistic streak. He also dedicated an elaborate lecture to Kant’s Opus Postumum that was very popular with his students. Existential philosophy, especially in the guise of Karl Jaspers‘ thought, also played a major role in the formulations of many of Salmony’s own ideas. As German philosopher Gerhart Schmidt (b. 1925) put it, “He was a metaphysician, who distrusted merely rational thought, because he saw himself as citizen of two worlds. It is here that his spiritual affinity to Karl Jasper was rooted.“[4]
Last updated: February 16, 2018.
[1]Salmony was assistant in the Philosophy Department of the University of Basel from 1956 to 1960 (Hannah Arendt Karl Jaspers Correspondence 1926-1969, ed. by Lotte Kohler and Hans Saner, translated from the German by Robert and Rita Kimber, New York...: Harcourt Publishers, 1992, p. 740).
[2] Philosophisches Seminar, Archiv/Geschichte.
[3]“Der Sinn der Bewahrung philosophischer Tradition erfüllt sich erst im Dialog mit der Gegenwart“ (PhilosophischeTradition im Dialog mit der Gegenwart, edited by Andreas Cesana and Olga Rubitschon, Basel: Birkhäuser,1985, p. 7).
[4] “Er war ein Metaphysiker, welcher dem nur rationalen Denken misstraute, weil er sich als Bürger zweier Welten verstand. Darin liegt seine Geistesverwandtschaft mit Karl Jaspers beschlossen“ (Professor Gerhart Schmidt, “Zum Gedenken. Professor Hansjörg Salmony,“ Basler Zeitung, February 22, 1991, p. 27). Many thanks to Suzanne Leu for providing the text of this article.
[3]“Der Sinn der Bewahrung philosophischer Tradition erfüllt sich erst im Dialog mit der Gegenwart“ (PhilosophischeTradition im Dialog mit der Gegenwart, edited by Andreas Cesana and Olga Rubitschon, Basel: Birkhäuser,1985, p. 7).
[4] “Er war ein Metaphysiker, welcher dem nur rationalen Denken misstraute, weil er sich als Bürger zweier Welten verstand. Darin liegt seine Geistesverwandtschaft mit Karl Jaspers beschlossen“ (Professor Gerhart Schmidt, “Zum Gedenken. Professor Hansjörg Salmony,“ Basler Zeitung, February 22, 1991, p. 27). Many thanks to Suzanne Leu for providing the text of this article.