Arnold Gehlen Quotes
Arnold Gehlen was a German philosopher and one of the principal founders, with Max Scheler and Helmuth Plessner, of modern philosophical anthropology. After teaching at Leipzig and Vienna under the National Socialist regime, a compromise that shadowed his later reputation, he spent his postwar career at the Speyer administrative academy and at Aachen. The quotes below are attributed to Arnold Gehlen, organized by topic.
Arnold Gehlen on Mind
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Attributed to Arnold Gehlen:
“Action is more fundamental to the human than thought.”
Arnold Gehlen on Nature
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Attributed to Arnold Gehlen:
“Man is the deficient being who must compensate for his lack of instinct by culture.”
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Attributed to Arnold Gehlen:
“Culture is the second nature of humanity.”
Arnold Gehlen on Politics
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Attributed to Arnold Gehlen:
“Institutions stabilize what nature in us has left unfinished.”
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Attributed to Arnold Gehlen:
“Modernity has weakened the institutions on which freedom rests.”