KEYSERLING, HERMANN, count. — Philosopher, born at Koenno (Livonia) on 20 July 1880, died at Innsbruck on 26 April 1946. He studied natural sciences and chemistry and graduated in philosophy (1902). In 1911–12 he undertook journeys to all parts of the world. Expelled from Estonia by the Bolsheviks, he went to Darmstadt, whence, persecuted by the Nazis, he withdrew to Innsbruck.
His thought, which bears the influences of I. Kant, F. G. Schelling, G. Dilthey, G. Simmel, E. Bergson, and H. St. Chamberlain, is a fundamental irrationalism combined with a pragmatist conception of thought and truth. K. became known for his book: Das Reisetagebuch eines Philosophen (Monaco 1919; 8th ed. Darmstadt 1932), in which he intended to formulate a practical wisdom that would ennoble human life by resolving its problems. He condemned the Western world, which he wished to fertilize with Eastern culture, especially Indian culture; he accepted a critical theosophy and placed ethics above theoretical thought. He wrote of himself: the characteristic of my doctrine is that «it renews all questions, beginning not from abstract man but from the soul of the living being» (preface to Menschen als Sinnbilder, Darmstadt 1925). To realize his ideas, he founded a «Schule der Weisheit» in Darmstadt, to which he invited the Indian poet Rabindranath Tagore. In it he intended to train people in wisdom, rather than in science, through lectures, discussions, communal life, reading, and meditation. The school’s organ was Der Weg zur Vollendung.
Other principal works: Das Gefüge der Welt. Versuch einer kritischen Philosophie (Monaco 1906; 3rd ed. Darmstadt 1922); Unsterblichkeit (Monaco 1910; 3rd ed. Darmstadt 1920); Prolegomena zur Naturphilosophie (Monaco 1910); Philosophie als Kunst (Darmstadt 1920); Schöpferische Erkenntnis (there 1922); Politik, Wirtschaft, Weisheit (there 1922); Ehebuch (there 1925); Wiedergeburt (there 1927);
Das Spektrum Europas (there 1927); Amerika (there 1930); Südamerik. Meditationen (there 1932).