author
Paul Carus
1852–1919
A German-American thinker who helped introduce Asian religious ideas to many Western readers, he wrote with unusual range on philosophy, religion, and science. Best known today for The Gospel of Buddha, he spent much of his career trying to bring faith and reason into conversation.
4 Audiobooks
The Gospel of Buddha, Compiled from Ancient Records
by Paul Carus
The Buddha: A Drama in Five Acts and Four Interludes
by Paul Carus
Nietzsche and Other Exponents of Individualism
by Paul Carus
About the author
Born in Ilsenburg, Germany, on July 18, 1852, Paul Carus became a German-American author, editor, philosopher, and student of comparative religion. He moved to the United States in 1884 and later worked closely with Open Court Publishing, where his writing reached readers interested in the meeting point of science, ethics, and belief.
Carus is especially remembered for his efforts to interpret religious traditions for a broad English-speaking audience. His best-known book, The Gospel of Buddha (1894), helped introduce Buddhist ideas to many readers in the West, while his larger body of work explored what he called a rational, modern approach to religion.
He died on February 11, 1919, in La Salle, Illinois. His work still stands out for its curiosity, clarity, and ambition to connect philosophy, religion, and science rather than keeping them apart.