Karl Löwith (9 January 1897 – 26 May 1973) was a German philosopher in the phenomenological tradition. A student of Husserl and Heidegger, he was one of the most prolific German philosophers of the twentieth century. He is known for his two books , which describes the decline of German classical philosophy, and , which challenges the modern, secular progressive narrative of history, which seeks to ground the meaning of history in itself. He was nominated for the Nobel Prize in Literature.