Susan Neiman

Susan Neiman (/ˈnaɪmən/; born March 27, 1955) is an American

Susan Neiman
moral philosopher, cultural commentator, and essayist. She has
written extensively on the juncture between Enlightenment moral
philosophy, metaphysics, and politics, both for scholarly audiences
and the general public. She currently lives in Germany, where she
is the Director of the Einstein Forum in Potsdam.[1]

Biography and career

Born and raised in Atlanta, Georgia, Neiman dropped out of high
school to join the anti-Vietnam War movement. Later she studied
philosophy at Harvard University, earning her Ph.D. under the
direction of John Rawls and Stanley Cavell. During graduate
school, she spent several years of study at the Free University of
Berlin. Slow Fire, a memoir about her life as a Jewish woman in
1980s Berlin, was published in 1992. From 1989 to 1996, she was
an assistant and associate professor of philosophy at Yale
University, and from 1996 to 2000 she was an associate professor
Born March 27, 1955
of philosophy at Tel Aviv University. In 2000 she assumed her
Atlanta, Georgia, U.S.
current position at the Einstein Forum in Potsdam. She is the
mother of three adult children. Education Harvard University
Free University of
Neiman has been a Member of the Institute for Advanced Study in Berlin
Princeton, New Jersey, a Research Fellow at the Rockefeller
Era 20th-/21st-century
Foundation Study Center in Bellagio, and a Senior Fellow of the
philosophy
American Council of Learned Societies. She is currently a member
Region Western philosophy
of the Berlin-Brandenburg Academy of Sciences and Humanities.
Her books have won prizes from PEN, the Association of School Analytic
American Publishers, and the American Academy of Religion. Her Main Morality · History of
shorter pieces have appeared in The New York Times, The Boston interests philosophy · Political
Globe, The Globe and Mail, and Dissent. In Germany, she has philosophy ·
written for Die Zeit, Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung, and Freitag, Philosophy of religion
among other publications.[2][3][4]

Major works

Evil in Modern Thought

Evil in Modern Thought writes the history of modern philosophy as a series of responses to the existence of
evil – that which, whether in the form of innocent suffering or human action intentionally causing it,
"threatens our sense of the sense of the world."[5] Neiman argues that the problem of evil provides a better
framework than epistemology for understanding the history of philosophy because it includes a wider range
of texts, forms a link between metaphysics and ethics, and is more faithful to philosophers' stated concerns.
Indeed, Neiman believes that evil, by challenging the intelligibility of the world as a whole, lies at the root
of all philosophical inquiry.

The book explores the period from the early Enlightenment to the late 20th century through discussions of
philosophers who often figure in traditional histories of philosophy, such as Leibniz, Kant, Hegel,
Nietzsche, and Schopenhauer, as well ones who do not, such as Pierre Bayle, Sigmund Freud, Albert
Camus, Emmanuel Levinas, and Hannah Arendt. Neiman groups thinkers around two basic distinctions:
one between those who believe in a guiding order beyond appearances and those who think that sensory
experience is all we have for orientation; and another between those who believe we must try to understand
evil and those who maintain that doing so would be immoral on the grounds that any explanation of evil
would be tantamount to its justification.

Moral Clarity
In Moral Clarity, Neiman argues that all human beings have moral needs but that secular culture,
particularly on the political left, is reluctant or unable to satisfy them, and as a consequence has ceded the
moral domain to religion and traditional conservatives. She attributes this failing not to a lack of values but
to a lack of a "standpoint from which those values make sense."[6] The book explores the reasons why this
is so and offers a framework for moral thinking based on Enlightenment ideas, particularly those of Kant
and Rousseau, which rely neither on divine authority nor on authoritarian ideology.

Why Grow Up?

In Why Grow Up, Neiman challenges the infantilism that she believes is widespread in modern society. She
suggests that the "forces that shape our world" encourage consumerism, apathy, cynicism, and the
fetishization of beauty and youth in order to keep citizens passive and compliant.[7] These, she thinks, are
propped up by a conception of adulthood in which being an adult is synonymous with drudgery,
resignation, and inevitable decline.

Neiman makes the case for an ideal of adulthood that involves exercising judgement, understanding one's
own culture through immersion in others, actively shaping society, and seeking orientation in the face of
uncertainty. As in Moral Clarity, Neiman draws on the work of Kant, Rousseau, Arendt, and other
philosophers to argue for a concept of maturity in which thinking critically does not mean abandoning one's
ideals.

Learning from the Germans

Her 2019 book Learning from the Germans examines German efforts to atone for Nazi atrocities and
identifies lessons for how the U.S. might come to terms with its legacy of slavery and racism. The book
brings together historical and philosophical analysis; interviews with politicians, activists, and contemporary
witnesses in Germany and the United States; and Neiman's own first-person observations as a white woman
growing up in the South and a Jewish woman who has lived for almost three decades in Berlin.

Left Is Not Woke

In Left Is Not Woke, Neiman examines the assumptions behind "woke" politics and argues that they are at
odds with what the left has always stood for: "universalism over tribalism, a firm distinction between justice
and power, and a belief in the possibility of progress." She is particularly concerned that tribalism will
undermine the left's political goals and leave it without the tools to oppose the far right, whose outlook has
always been tribalist. Neiman traces woke thinking back to Michel Foucault, Carl Schmitt, and the
postmodern thinkers they influenced, though she also finds similar views articulated by the character of
Thrasymachus in Plato's Republic.

Awards and honors

In 2014, Neiman was the recipient of an honorary doctorate from the University of St. Gallen.[8] She
delivered the Tanner Lectures on Human Values at the University of Michigan in 2010.[9]

In 2018, she was elected to the American Philosophical Society,[10] and received the Lucius D. Clay Medal
for her contributions to German-American relations.[11] She served as the Gifford Lecturer for 2021–2022
at the University of Edinburgh.[12] In 2021, she was awarded the August Bebel Prize of the German Social
Democratic Party[13] and in 2023 she received the Order of Merit of Brandenburg.[14]

Selected bibliography

Books
Left is Not Woke, Polity, 2023.
Learning from the Germans: Race and the Memory of Evil, Farrar, Straus and Giroux, 2019.
Widerstand der Vernunft: Ein Manifest in postfaktischen Zeiten, Ecowin, 2017.
Why Grow Up?, Penguin, 2014 (part of the series Philosophy in Transit). [Reprinted as Why
Grow Up? Subversive Thoughts for an Infantile Age, Farrar, Straus & Giroux, 2015.]
Moral Clarity: A Guide for Grown-Up Idealists, Harcourt, 2008.
Fremde sehen anders: Zur Lage der Bundesrepublik, Suhrkamp, 2005.
Evil in Modern Thought: An Alternative History of Philosophy, Princeton University Press,
2002.
The Unity of Reason: Rereading Kant, Oxford University Press, 1994.
Slow Fire: Jewish Notes from Berlin, Schocken, 1992.

Articles and book chapters

“Corona as Chance: Overcoming the Tyranny of Self-Interest,” in Kahn and Maduro, eds.,
Democracy in Times of Pandemic, Cambridge University Press, 2020.
"Understanding the Problem of Evil" in Chignell, ed., Evil: Oxford Philosophical Concepts,
Oxford University Press, 2019.
"A Dialogue Between Business and Philosophy" (with Bertrand Collomb) in Rangan, ed.,
Capitalism Beyond Mutuality? Perspectives Integrating Philosophy and Social Science,
Oxford University Press, 2018.
"Amerikanische Träume," in Honneth, Kemper, and Klein, ed., Bob Dylan, Suhrkamp, 2017.
"Ideas of Reason," in Rangan, ed., Performance and Progress: Essays on Capitalism,
Business, and Society, Oxford University Press, 2015.
 "Forgetting Hiroshima, Remembering Auschwitz: Tales of Two Exhibits," Thesis Eleven,
129(1), 2015: 7–26.
"Victims and Heroes," in Matheson, ed., The Tanner Lectures on Human Values, University
of Utah Press, 2012.
"Subversive Einstein," in Galison, Holton and Schweber, ed., Einstein for the 21st Century,
Princeton University Press, 2008.

Newspaper and magazine articles

“Why the World Still Needs Immanuel Kant (https://www.nytimes.com/2024/04/17/arts/imman
uel-kant-300-anniversary.html),” The New York Times, April 17, 2024.
"Germany on Edge (https://www.nybooks.com/online/2023/11/03/germany-on-edge-israel-pa
lestine/)," New York Review of Books, November 3, 2023.
"Historical Reckoning Gone Haywire (https://www.nybooks.com/articles/2023/10/19/historica
l-reckoning-gone-haywire-germany-susan-neiman/)," New York Review of Books, October
19, 2023.
"Longing for Reconciliation," (https://www.nybooks.com/articles/2023/04/06/longing-for-reco
nciliation-jacob-taubes/) "The philosopher Jacob Taubes was torn between the desire to
heal the split between Judaism and Christianity," The New York Review of Books, 2023
"The True Left Is Not Woke" (https://unherd.com/2023/03/the-true-left-is-not-woke/) UnHerd,
2023.
"There Are No Nostalgic Nazi Memorials," (https://www.theatlantic.com/ideas/archive/2019/0
9/germany-has-no-nazi-memorials/597937/) The Atlantic, 2019.
"Working Off the Past, from Atlanta to Berlin," (https://www.nybooks.com/daily/2019/08/26/wo
rking-off-the-past-from-atlanta-to-berlin/) The New York Review of Books, 2019.
"Germany paid Holocaust Reparations. Will the U.S. Do the Same for Slavery?" Los Angeles
Times, 2019.
"The President of Our Country is Evil," Salon, 2017.
"In Germany, Monuments Reflect the Nation's Values," Miami Herald, 2017.
"Die Deutschen sollten keine Angst haben," Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung, 2016.
"What Americans Abroad Know about Bernie Sanders," Los Angeles Times, 2016.
"An Enlightenment for Grownups," Spiked Review, 2016.
"Antimodernismus: Die Quelle allen Unglücks?" Die Zeit, 2016.
"Deutschland hat sich positiv verändert. Das beglückt mich," Die Zeit, 2016.
"Aufklärung heißt nicht, nur nach mehr Toleranz zu rufen!" Der Tagesspiegel, 2016.
"The Rationality of the World: A Philosophical Reading of the Book of Job," ABC Religion
and Ethics, 2016.
"Hört auf, Antisemiten zu zählen!" Die Zeit, 2014.
"History and Guilt," Aeon, 2013.
"Was ist Religion?" Die Zeit, 2013.
"What It All Means," The New York Times, 2011.
"Is Morality Driven by Faith?" The Washington Post/Newsweek, 2008.

References
1. Susan Neiman's page at the Einstein Forum (https://www.einsteinforum.de/about/director/?la
ng=en)
 2. "How can we end the male domination of philosophy?" (https://www.theguardian.com/educat
ion/2013/nov/26/modern-philosophy-sexism-needs-more-women). The Guardian. 2013-11-
26. Retrieved 2022-12-02.
3. Waldman, Katy (2013-09-09). "What Is Philosophy's Problem With Women?" (https://slate.co
m/human-interest/2013/09/philosophy-has-a-woman-problem-lets-try-to-figure-out-why.html).
Slate Magazine. Retrieved 2022-12-02.
4. "In the Humanities, Men Dominate the Fields of Philosophy and History" (https://www.chroni
cle.com/article/in-the-humanities-men-dominate-the-fields-of-philosophy-and-history/). The
Chronicle of Higher Education. 2012-10-29. Retrieved 2022-12-02.
5. Neiman, Susan (2002). Evil in Modern Thought: An Alternative History of Philosophy.
Princeton: Princeton University Press. p. 2.
6. Neiman, Susan (2008). Moral Clarity: A Guide for Grown-Up Idealists. New York: Harcourt
Brace & Co. p. 17.
7. Neiman, Susan (2015). Why Grow Up?: Subversive Thoughts for an Infantile Age. New York:
Farrar, Straus & Giroux. p. 193.
8. History. "Honorary doctorates of the University of St.Gallen (HSG) - List" (https://www.unisg.c
h/en/university/about-us/history/honorary-doctorates/). University of St.Gallen. Retrieved
2023-11-11.
9. Neiman, Susan. "Victims and Heroes: The Tanner Lecture on Human Values" (https://tannerl
ectures.utah.edu/_resources/documents/a-to-z/n/Neiman_10.pdf) (PDF). University of Utah.
Archived (https://web.archive.org/web/20230427214049/https://tannerlectures.utah.edu/_res
ources/documents/a-to-z/n/Neiman_10.pdf) (PDF) from the original on 2023-04-27.
Retrieved 2023-11-11.
10. "Election of New Members at the 2018 Spring Meeting" (https://www.amphilsoc.org/blog/elec
tion-new-members-2018-spring-meeting). www.amphilsoc.org.
11. "Lucius D. Clay Medal" (http://www.vdac.de/en/federation/lucius-d-clay-medal.html).
www.vdac.de. 2018-11-30. Retrieved 2019-08-04.
12. "2021-22 Professor Susan Neiman – Edinburgh Gifford Lectures Blog" (https://blogs.ed.ac.u
k/gifford-lectures/category/2021-22-professor-susan-neiman/). blogs.ed.ac.uk. Retrieved
2023-11-11.
13. "Susan Neiman mit August-Bebel-Preis ausgezeichnet" (https://www.spd.de/aktuelles/detail/
news/susan-neiman-mit-august-bebel-preis-ausgezeichnet/21/05/2021).
Sozialdemokratische Partei Deutschlands (SPD) (in German). Archived (https://web.archive.
org/web/20220523121403/https://www.spd.de/aktuelles/detail/news/susan-neiman-mit-augu
st-bebel-preis-ausgezeichnet/21/05/2021/) from the original on 2022-05-23. Retrieved
2023-11-11.
14. "Einstein Forum – Verdienstorden des Landes Brandenburg an Susan Neiman verliehen" (ht
tps://www.einsteinforum.de/veranstaltungen/verdienstorden-des-landes-brandenburg-an-sus
an-neiman-verliehen/) (in German). Archived (https://web.archive.org/web/20231022003105/
https://www.einsteinforum.de/veranstaltungen/verdienstorden-des-landes-brandenburg-an-s
usan-neiman-verliehen/) from the original on 2023-10-22. Retrieved 2023-11-11.

External links
Official Website (http://www.susan-neiman.de/) Provides biography along with publications
and appearances.
Einstein Forum Profile (http://www.einsteinforum.de/index.php?id=22&L=1)

Learning from the Germans

 Discussion (https://momentmag.com/what-america-can-learn-from-germany/) of Learning
from the Germans with Robert Siegel, Moment (August 27, 2019).
Discussion (https://www.theguardian.com/books/2019/sep/13/susan-neiman-interview-learni
ng-from-the-germans) of Learning from the Germans, The Guardian (September 13, 2019).
Interview (https://edition.cnn.com/videos/world/2019/09/23/interview-amanpour-susan-neima
n-germany-united-states.cnn) about Learning from the Germans with Christiane Amanpour,
CNN (September 19, 2019).

Moral Clarity

Review (http://www.slate.com/id/2191959) of Moral Clarity in Slate Magazine.

Guardian.co.uk Review (https://www.theguardian.com/books/2009/jul/25/moral-clarity-susan-
neiman-reviewed) of Moral Clarity in The Guardian (July 25, 2009).
Review (https://www.academia.edu/34760175/Review_of_Moral_Clarity_A_Guide_for_Gro
wn-Up_Idealists) of Moral Clarity: A Guide for Grown-Up Idealists, Prabuddha Bharata (http://
www.advaitaashrama.org/Content/pb/102017.pdf), October, 2017 by Subhasis
Chattopadhyay.

Why Grow Up

Review (https://www.nytimes.com/2015/06/21/books/review/why-grow-up-by-susan-neiman.
html) of Why Grow Up?, The New York Times Sunday Book Review (June 21, 2015).
Review (http://harvardmagazine.com/2015/05/grow-up) of Why Grow Up, Harvard Magazine
(May–June 2015).
Review (https://www.theguardian.com/books/2015/jan/02/why-grow-up-neiman-juvenescenc
e-pogue-harrison-review) of Why Grow Up?, The Guardian (January 2, 2015).

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