KEYSERLING, Hermann, Count. - Philosopher, b. at Koenno (Livonia) on 20 July 1880, d. at Innsbruck on 26 Apr. 1946. He studied natural sciences and chemistry and took his degree 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 is subject to the influences of I. Kant, F. G. Schelling, G. Dilthey, G. Simmel, E. Bergson, H. St. Chamberlain, is a fundamental irrationalism united with a pragmatist conception of thought and truth. K. became known for his book: Das Reisetagebuch eines Philosophen (Munich 1919; 8th ed. Darmstadt 1932), in which he intends to formulate a practical wisdom that ennobles human life by resolving its problems. He condemns the Western world, which he wishes to fertilize with Eastern, especially Indian, culture; he accepts a critical theosophy and values ethics above theoretical thought. He wrote of himself: a characteristic of my doctrine is that «it renews all questions, starting 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 at Darmstadt a «Schule der Weisheit», 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 organ of the school was Der Weg zur Vollendung.
Other principal works: Das Gefüge der Welt. Versuch einer kritischen Philosophie (Munich 1906; 3rd ed. Darmstadt 1922); Unsterblichkeit (Munich 1910; 3rd ed. Darmstadt 1920); Prolegomena zur Naturphilosophie (Munich 1910); Philosophie als Kunst (Darmstadt 1920); Schöpferische Erkenntnis (ibid. 1922); Politik, Wirtschaft, Weisheit (ibid. 1922); Ehebuch (ibid. 1925); Wiedergeburt (ibid. 1927);
Das Spektrum Europas (ibid. 1927); Amerika (ibid. 1930); Südamerik. Meditationen (ibid. 1932).