Gerd B. Achenbach, born in Hameln in 1947, studied philosophy at the Universities of Cologne and Giessen, among others, and completed his studies with a doctorate on G.W.F. Hegel under Odo Marquard, with a dissertation entitled “‘Self-Realization’ or ‘Pleasure and Necessity’.” He is the founder of Philosophical Practice and the International Society for Philosophical Practice, has taught at numerous universities in Germany and abroad, and continues to work as a teaching practitioner. In 1998, over 190 participants from more than 16 countries accepted his invitation to the 4th International Congress on Philosophical Practice in Bergisch Gladbach (near Cologne).