!!!Weininger, Otto

Weininger, Otto, b. Vienna, April 3, 1880, d. Vienna 
(suicide), Oct. 4, 1903. Philosopher. Was considered by his 
contemporaries a genius whose development was interrupted by his 
untimely death, spoke many languages and had an excellent, if somewhat 
eclectic and prejudicial, education in the humanities and natural 
sciences. Developed a philosophical/psychological theory of the sexes, 
which probably centred on S.  Freud´s proposition of human 
bisexuality. This is the reason why he was accused of plagiarism. In 
spite of his Jewish descent he held anti-Semitic views, was a 
misogynist and rejected the corporeal dimension of life. He took his 
life at the age of 23 in the house where Beethoven had died, thus 
creating for himself an almost mythical status. He influenced Austrian 
intellectual history (K.  Kraus, E.  Canetti, R.  Musil, L.  
Wittgenstein) and was used by the National Socialists to legitimise 
anti-Semitism.

!Works
Geschlecht und Charakter, 1903 (%%sup 28/%1947); Ueber die 
letzten Dinge, 1904.

!Literature
E. Lucka, O. W., 1905; G. Klaren, O. W., 1924; 
J. Le Rider, Der Fall O. W., 1985; C. Sengoopta, O. W. Sex, 
Science, and Self in Imperial Vienna, 2000.


%%language
[Back to the Austrian Version|AEIOU/Weininger,_Otto|class='wikipage austrian']
%%

[{FreezeArticle author='AEIOU' template='Lexikon_1995_englisch'}]
[{ALLOW view All}][{ALLOW comment All}][{ALLOW edit FreezeAdmin}]