Pascal Mercier (1944- ) is the name under which Swiss professor of philosophy Peter Bieri writes. He is best known for his novel Night Train to Lisbon.
Peter Bieri studied philosophy, English studies and Indian studies in both London and Heidelberg. He was awarded a doctoral degree by Dieter Henrich and Ernst Tugendhat for his work on the philosophy of time. After the conferral of his doctorate, Bieri worked as a scientific assistant at the Philosophical Seminar at University of Heidelberg.
Peter Bieri co-founded the research unit Cognition and Brain at the German Research Foundation. The focus of his research was on the philosophy of mind, epistemology, and ethics. From 1990 through 1993, he was a professor of the history of philosophy at the University of Marburg, from 1993 he taught philosophy at the Free University of Berlin while holding the chair of philology, succeeding his mentor, Ernst Tugendhat.
Night Train to Lisbon for which he is best known is his third novel.
Night Train to Lisbon is very reminiscent of the works of Hermann Hesse. A classics professor, based upon a chance encounter with a Portuguese woman and the acquisition of a Portuguese book, hands in his resignation and goes off to Lisbon in search of the author of the book. The search is also an inward journey of discovery. [see BCID 7086570]
A copy of Night Train to Lisbon has been registered as BookCrossing book.
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