Jan Beaufort

Jan Beaufort is a Senior Lecturer at the Institute of Philosophy within the Faculty of Human Sciences at Julius-Maximilians-University of Würzburg. He has been part of the university since 1983, holding roles such as Lecturer (1983–1993) and Scientific Assistant (1993–2003), and remains an active academic staff member.

• Education: Abitur (1973), followed by studies in philosophy, theology, and history in Leiden (1973–1978) and Würzburg (1978–1983), culminating in a doctorate under Alfred Schöpf (1983).

Beaufort’s research focuses on anthropology, natural philosophy, and social philosophy, with a critical-phenomenological approach. His work engages with figures like Helmuth Plessner, Schopenhauer, and Fichte, exploring topics such as the dialectic of responsibility, property-based economic theory, and the philosophical dimensions of historical revisionism.

His publications since 1998 highlight interdisciplinary intersections between philosophy, history, and ethics, particularly in analyzing societal structures, unconscious communication, and the ontological foundations of natural philosophy. A recurring theme is the hermeneutic and phenomenological examination of human behavior and systems of exchange.

Beaufort was funded by the Fritz Thyssen Stiftung for the project "Absichtsbildung und Habitualisierung – Übergänge zwischen Verhalten und Handeln" (2000–2003), which investigated transitions between behavior and action from a phenomenological perspective.