He came from a prominent Jewish family that had lived in the vicinity of Hamburg for generations; his grandfather, Akiba Wertheimer, was chief Rabbi of Altona and Schleswig-Holstein.

His work Die Lehre von den Geistigen und vom Volke[1] is a survey of the whole of human intellectual history seen from the point of view of this doctrine.

Brunner's ultimate objective was to prepare the way for the establishment of a community centered on the life of the mind, which would in turn open the way to the expansion of democracy.

However, there is evidence that, toward the end of his life in light of events in Europe, he was reconsidering his opposition to the founding of the state of Israel (see Assimilation und Nationalismus: ein Briefwechsel mit Constantin Brunner / Willy Aron).

According to Brunner, the authentic philosophy presented by Spinoza has its antithesis in scholasticism which reaches its highest expression in Immanuel Kant.

Albert Einstein read Brunner but, while appreciating his critical insight and sharing his devotion to Spinoza, rejected his philosophy, particularly where it stood opposed to Immanuel Kant.

However, there has been no major revival of interest in his work, despite the efforts of artists Yehudi Menuhin and André Breton who regarded him as a role model.

There is abundant secondary material in French as well, notably a recent work by Martin Rodan entitled Notre culture européenne, cette inconnue (Peter Lang, 2009).