Carl Hilty

Carl Hilty (28 February 1833 – 12 October 1909) was a Swiss philosopher, professor, politician, writer, and lawyer. He famously said: "Peace is only a hair's breadth away from war." Although a Christian, he was no pacifist, and expected the coming world war. He also served as a high officer in the Swiss Army. He was married to a German wife named Johanna Gaertner. Hilty was a spokesman for women's rights to vote and to be elected, several decades before the subject became mainstream. Hilty argued that Switzerland, as a nation-state comprising several nationalities and languages, had a unique mission of demonstrating that a nation-state could transcend tribal tendencies.[1]

Carl Hilty.

Carl Hilty was born in Werdenberg, Switzerland, and studied at the Universities of Göttingen and Heidelberg. To improve languages and see the world, he also spent some time in London and Paris. He then began his work as a lawyer in Chur, where he lived for almost 20 years. In 1874, he became a professor of constitutional law (Staats- und Volkerrecht) at the University of Bern. From 1886, he edited Politisches Jahrbuch der schweizerischen Eidgenossenschaft (The Journal of Swiss Jurisprudence). In 1890, he became a member of the Nationalrat, the Swiss parliament.

Hilty's philosophical concern was practical in nature. He wrote about happiness, the meaning of life and work, developing good habits, time management, and winning the battles of life.[2] He became famous from his writings about happiness, which first appeared in three volumes in 1891, 1895 and 1899. These essays were eventually collected into a single volume entitled: "Happiness: Essays on the Meaning of Life". In this work, Hilty combines ancient stoic thought with Christian beliefs.[3] The work was translated into English by Prof. Francis Greenwood Peabody, Professor of Christian Morals at Harvard University, and first appeared in the United States in 1903.

Hilty supported the Salvation Army, which opened their services in Zurich. At first he made jokes about their noisy appearance, but only a few years later, he recognized them as one of the few groups who were able to put the words of Jesus in practice. Hilty was in his time one of the few intellectuals who still believed in the Gospel, while many other intellectuals dedicated themselves to the so-called "monastic" philosophy following the new sciences after Darwin. He believed in a new reformation beyond the dogmas of churches and politics, after the time of materialism.

Hilty's work influenced the thinking of William James.[4]

He died in Clarens in 1909.