studied philosophy, history and German literature, and for several years has worked as writer. Amongst other work, Safranski has published Wieviel Wahrheit braucht der Mensch and E.T.A. Hoffman. Das Leben eines skeptischen Phantasten. His Schopenhauer und die wilden Jahre der Philosophie appeared in 1987, and in 1994 his widely acclaimed biography Ein Meister aus Deutschland. Heidegger und seine Zeit. In 1997 he published a treatment of evil, Das Böse.