The country which produced such giants of western philosophy as Immanuel Kant or G W F Hegel has largely turned its back on philosophy, as if grand ideas were to blame for two world wars.

"Yet German-language philosophy is so important in the rest of the world that you find a lot of Italians specially learning German just so that they can read works by Martin Heidegger in the original," observes Nida-Ruemeli, who teaches in Munich.

"We neglect this vast intellectual heritage."

¶ 8:06 PM