Erich Unger

Erich Unger (1887-1950) was a Jewish philosopher of standing who published many articles and a number of books, many of them in his native tongue, German.

Born in Berlin in 1887, Dr Erich Unger was interested, from an early age, in novel ideas and intellectual debate.

Manfred Voigts, Vom Expressionismus zum Mythos des Hebraertums, Wurzburg: Koenigshausen und Neumann, 1994).

The first World War saw Unger in Switzerland, where he made new friends, among them Walter Benjamin who admired his work and also sought his literary collaboration (cf.

In the 1920s, Unger provided an intellectual forum for a group of young and distinguished scholars who regularly discussed their ideas on science, politics and philosophy.

Here Unger writes: "A genuine myth handles one unit: religion, science, politics, social every day life and extends [and is constrained by] the concepts of order and apprehension of natural experience.

He notes with regret the gradual shrinking of Jewish culture to the 'mere religion' that it is today and suggests that, in order to revitalise Judaism, it must once again inspire and underpin our society.