Name Bernard Delfgaauw | Role Philosopher Region Western philosophy | |
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Died August 20, 1993, Haren, Groningen, Netherlands Books A Concise History of Philosophy, Evolution, Twentieth-century philosophy | ||
Philosophical era 20th-century philosophy Education University of Amsterdam Schools of thought Neo-Scholasticism | ||
Bernardus Maria Ignatius "Bernard" Delfgaauw (24 November 1912 in Amsterdam – 20 August 1993 in Haren) was a Dutch philosopher.
He studied Dutch language, history, philosophy, and Hebrew language at the University of Amsterdam.
In 1947 he earned his doctoral degree in philosophy.
In 1961 he became a professor in philosophy at the University of Groningen.
Delfgaauw was a prolific writer; subjects included existentialism, young Marx, Thomas Aquinas, Kant, mysticism, evolution, and he developed a philosophy of grammar and of social relations. He also wrote a bestselling concise history of philosophy that was in continuous reprint and got translated into several languages.
During the Vietnam War it was legally proscribed in the Netherlands to say that president Johnson was a killer. In 1967 Bernard Delfgaauw said at a symposium: "Measured by criteria used in Nuremberg and Tokyo, Johnson, his staff members, and generals are war criminals." After that, the Dutch student protesters wantonly changed their slogan from "Johnson Killer" to "Johnson Miller".