1874 – 1928
Max Scheler (1874–1928) was a German philosopher and a leading figure in phenomenology, best known for developing a material value ethics as a counter to Kantian formalism. He applied phenomenological methods to the study of emotions, sympathy, and moral experience, arguing that values are objective and emotionally apprehended. His later work shifted toward philosophical anthropology, exploring the unique status of human beings in the cosmos.
Developed material value ethics in Formalism in Ethics and Non-Formal Ethics of Values (1913–1916), challenging Kant's purely formal moral theory
Pioneered phenomenological analysis of emotions, sympathy, and love as modes of value-cognition
Founded philosophical anthropology as a distinct discipline with Man's Place in Nature (1928)
Contributed to the sociology of knowledge, distinguishing types of knowledge by their social and historical conditions
Influenced existentialism, personalism, and Catholic social thought through his concept of the person as irreducible to biology or reason