Ludwig Klages

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Friedrich Konrad Eduard Wilhelm Ludwig Klages
Born	10 December 1872 Hannover, Germany
Died	29 July 1956 Kilchberg, Zurich
Occupation	Philosopher, Psychologist, Graphologist

Ludwig Klages (December 10, 1872 – July 29, 1956) was a German philosopher, psychologist and a theoretician in the field of handwriting analysis . He created a complete theory of graphology and will be long associated with the concepts of form level, rhythm and bi-polar interpretation. He is important because together with Nietzsche and Bergson he anticipated existential phenomenology. He also coined the term logocentrism in the 1920s. Klages studied chemistry, physics and philosophy at University of Munich, and also taught there.

[edit] Works

Author of 14 books and 60 articles (1910-1948). In 1896 he started the Deutsche Graphologische Gesellschaft with Hans Busse and Georg Meyer. Co-editor of the journals Berichte (1897-8) and its successor Graphologische Monatshefte until 1908. His most important works are:

Der Geist als Widersacher der Seele (1929)
Die Grundlagen der Charakterkunde

[edit] Critical Literature

James Lewin: Geist und Seele: Ludwig Klages’ Philosophie, Berlin: Reuther & Reichard, 1931
Reinhard Falter: Ludwig Klages. Lebensphilosophie als Zivilisationskritik, Munich: Telesma, 2003, ISBN 3-833-0678-1