Ernst Bloch

Ernst Bloch
Bloch in 1954
Born(1885-07-08)July 8, 1885
DiedAugust 4, 1977(1977-08-04) (aged 92)
Tübingen, Baden-Württemberg, West Germany
Education
EducationUniversity of Munich
University of Würzburg
(PhD, 1908)
Philosophical work
Era20th-century philosophy
RegionWestern philosophy
SchoolWestern Marxism
Marxist hermeneutics
InstitutionsLeipzig University
University of Tübingen
Main interestsHumanism, philosophy of history, nature, subjectivity, ideology, utopia, religion, theology
Notable ideasThe principle of hope, non-simultaneity

Ernst Simon Bloch (/blɒk/; German: [ɛʁnst ˈblɔx]; July 8, 1885 – August 4, 1977; pseudonyms: Karl Jahraus, Jakob Knerz) was a German Marxist philosopher. Bloch was influenced by Georg Wilhelm Friedrich Hegel and Karl Marx, as well as by apocalyptic and religious thinkers such as Thomas Müntzer, Paracelsus, and Jacob Böhme. He established friendships with György Lukács, Bertolt Brecht, Kurt Weill, Walter Benjamin, and Theodor W. Adorno. Bloch's work focuses on an optimistic teleology of the history of mankind.