Dieter Thomä is Professor of Philosophy at the University of St.Gallen. Dieter Thomä studied philosophy and literature at the Universities of Freiburg and Berlin, attended the Henri Nannen School of Journalism in Hamburg, and received his postdoctoral qualification from Rostock University. After lecturing on philosophy in Paderborn, Rostock, Essen, Berlin, and New York, and working as Senior Scholar at the Getty Research Institute in Los Angeles, he has been Professor of Philosophy at the University of St.Gallen since 2000, and Dean of the Humanities School since 2002. His publications include Die Zeit des Selbst und die Zeit danach. Zur Kritik der Textgeschichte Martin Heideggers 1910 – 1976 (1990), Eltern. Kleine Philosophie einer riskanten Lebensform (1992), Erzähle dich selbst. Lebensgeschichte als philosophisches Problem (1998), Unter Amerikanern. Eine Lebensart wird besichtigt (2000), Vom Glück in der Moderne (2003) and Totalität und Mitleid: Richard Wagner, Sergej Eisenstein und unsere ethisch-ästhetische Moderne (2006).