Edith Stein

(†August 09, 1942)

Edith Stein was a German phenomenologist and was born on October 12, 1891. In 1911 she began studying psychology at the University Breslau in Poland. After four semesters she switched to philosophy at the University in Göttingen and became a student of Husserl, whom she followed to Freiburg. As his assistant, she supported him in completing his “Logical Investigations II” and his “Ideas“. In 1916 she received her doctorate in Freiburg. Her doctoral thesis “Zum Problem der Einfühlung” deals with her concept of philosophy and analyzes natural philosophy and subjectivity. She defines philosophy as a science whose task is to explain nature and consciousness. Stein lectured on women’s education and work at the German Institute for Scientific Education. She appealed for a qualified education of women and girls.

Our scholars on Stein:

Simona Bertolini from University of Parma, Italy
Maria Gallego-Ortiz from Boston College
Małgorzata Hołda from University of Łodz, Poland
Ka-yu Hui from Boston Colloge
Julia Mühl-Sawatzki from Paderborn University, Germany
Piergiacomo Severini from Università G. d’Annunzio di Chieti-Pescara, Italy
PD Dr. Ingrid Vendrell Ferran from Goethe University Frankfurt
Hamid Taieb from Humbolt University Berlin

More about her can be seen in the following videos from our series on Stein’s and Hussler’s Intertwined Itineraries and in the online teaching lecture by Antonio Calcagno. If you want to know more about women philosophers, feel free to check out our directory or website!