Ernst Simon Bloch (IPA: [ɛɐnst zɪmɔn blɔx], July 8, 1885 – August 4, 1977) was a German Marxist philosopher and atheist theologian. He was born in Ludwigshafen, the son of an assimilated Jewish railway-employee. After studying philosophy, he married Else von Stritzky, daughter of a Baltic brewer in 1913, who died in 1921. His second marriage with Linda Oppenheimer lasted only a few years . His third wife was Karola Bloch, a Polish architect, whom he married 1934 in Vienna. When the Nazis came to power, they had to flee, first into Switzerland, then to Austria, France, Czechoslovakia, and finally the USA. Bloch returned to the GDR in 1949 and got a chair for philosophy in Leipzig. When the Berlin Wall was built in 1961, he did not return to the GDR, but went to Tübingen in West Germany, where he received an honorary chair in Philosophy. He died in Tübingen. Not to be confused with the NATO phonetic alphabet, which has also informally been called the “International Phonetic Alphabet”. For information on how to read IPA transcriptions of English words, see IPA chart for English. ... July 8 is the 189th day of the year (190th in leap years) in the Gregorian calendar, with 176 days remaining. ... 1885 (MDCCCLXXXV) is a common year starting on Thursday of the Gregorian calendar (or a common year starting on Saturday of the 12-day slower Julian calendar). ... August 4 is the 216th day of the year in the Gregorian calendar (217th in leap years), with 149 days remaining. ... For the album by Ash, see 1977 (album). ... Marxism refers to the philosophy and social theory based on Karl Marxs work on one hand, and the political practice based on Marxist theory on the other hand (namely, parts of the First International during Marxs time, communist parties and later states). ... This article is 58 kilobytes or more in size. ... For information about the band, see Atheist (band). ... Theology (Greek θεος, theos, God, + λογια, logia, words, sayings, or discourse) is reasoned discourse concerning religion, spirituality and God or the gods. ... Map of Germany showing Ludwigshafen am Rhein Ludwigshafen am Rhein is a city in Rheinland-Pfalz, Germany, with about 166,000 inhabitants. ... The word Jew ( Hebrew: יהודי) is used in a wide number of ways, but generally refers to a follower of the Jewish faith, a child of a Jewish mother, or someone of Jewish descent with a connection to Jewish culture or ethnicity and often a combination... This article includes a list of works cited but its sources remain unclear because it lacks in-text citations. ... Vienna (German: , see also other names) is the capital of Austria, and also one of the nine States of Austria. ... Disambiguation Page Global Depositary Receipt East Germany ...   [] (Sorbian/Lusatian: Lipsk) is the largest city in the federal state of Saxony in Germany with a population of over 504,000. ... East German construction workers building the Berlin Wall, 20 November 1961. ... Tübingen, Neckar front Tübingen, a traditional university town of Baden-Württemberg, Germany, is situated 20 miles southwest of Stuttgart, on a ridge between the River Neckar and the Ammer. ...

Bloch was deeply influenced by Hegel and Marx. He was also interested in music (Mahler) and art (expressionism). He established friendship with Georg Lukacs and Bertolt Brecht. Bloch's work focuses on the concept that in a utopic human world where oppression and exploitation is banned there will always be a truly ideological revolutionary force. Georg Wilhelm Friedrich Hegel (August 27, 1770 - November 14, 1831) was a German philosopher born in Stuttgart, Württemberg, in present-day southwest Germany. ... Marx is a common German surname. ... Mahler refers to: Alma Maria Mahler-Werfel, or Alma Maria Schindler-Mahler Anna Mahler Arthur Mahler, Austrian archeologist Bruce Mahler, actor David Mahler, composer Eduard Mahler, Austrian astronomer; born in Hungary Gustav Mahler, Bohemian-Austrian composer and conductor Halfdan T. Mahler, Director-General of the World Health Organization (WHO) from... The Scream by Edvard Munch (1893) which inspired 20th century Expressionists Portrait of Eduard Kosmack by Egon Schiele Rehe im Walde by Franz Marc Elbe Bridge I by Rolf Nesch On White II by Wassily Kandinsky, 1923. ... Georg Lukács (April 13, 1885 - June 4, 1971) was a Hegelian and Marxist philosopher and literary critic. ... This article or section does not cite its references or sources. ... Left panel (The Earthly Paradise, Garden of Eden), from Hieronymus Boschs The Garden of Earthly Delights. ... Oppression is the negative outcome experienced by people targeted by the cruel exercise of power in a society or social group. ... The term exploitation may carry two distinct meanings: The act of utilizing something for any purpose. ... An ideology is an organized collection of ideas. ... Revolutionary, when used as a noun, is a person who either advocates or actively engages in some kind of revolution. ...

Works

Bloch's work became very influential in the course of the student protest movements in 1968 and in liberation theology. It is cited as a key influence by Jürgen Moltmann in his Theology of Hope (1967, Harper and Row, New York), and by Ernesto Balducci. Liberation theology is a school of theology that focuses on Jesus Christ as not only the Redeemer but also the Liberator of the Oppressed. ... Jürgen Moltmann (born April 8, 1926) is a German Protestant theologian. ... Father Ernesto Balducci (6 August 1922, Santa Fiora, Tuscany, Italy - 25 April 1992) was an Italian Roman Catholic priest and peace activist. ...

Bloch's Principle of Hope was written during his emigration in the USA. Bloch originally planned to publish it there under the title "Dreams of a Better Life". The Principle of Hope tries to give an encyclopedic account of mankind's and nature's orientation towards a socially and technologically improved future. Due to Bloch's marxistic view it also contains such declarations as:

"Ubi Lenin, ibi Jerusalem" [Where Lenin is, there is Jerusalem]

and

"the Bolshevist fulfillment of Communism" is part of "the age-old fight for God."

Books

• Geist der Utopie (1918) The Spirit of Utopia, Stanford, 2000.
• Spuren (Berlin 1930)
• Erbschaft dieser Zeit (Zürich 1935)
• Das Prinzip Hoffnung (Frankfurt 1959) The Principle of Hope, MIT Press, 1986.
• Naturrecht und menschliche Würde (Frankfurt 1961) Natural Law and Human Dignity, MIT Press 1986
• Tübinger Einleitung in die Philosophie (1963)
• Atheismus im Christentum (1968) Atheism in Christianity, 1972.
• Experimentum Mundi (1975)
• Subjekt-Objekt, Erläuterungen zu Hegel
• Thomas Münzer als Theologe der Revolution

Further reading

• Hudson, Wayne, (1982) The Marxist philosophy of Ernst Bloch, New York, St. Martin's Press
• Münster, Arno. Ernst Bloch, (1989) messianisme et utopie, PUF, Paris
• Münster, Arno, (2001) L'utopie concrète d'Ernst Bloch, Kimé, Paris
• Geoghegan, Vincent (1996), Ernst Bloch, Routledge

External links

• Illuminations: Ernst Bloch, Utopia and Ideology Critique By Douglas Kellner
• Ernst-Bloch-Zentrum
• Ernst Bloch Assoziation