Between 17 March and 6 April 1929, a workgroup (Arbeitsgemeinschaft) consisting of a number of French and German philosophers was to meet for a series of lectures and seminars on the Swiss Alps at Davos, the highest (in altitude) city in Europe. The stated purpose of this "International University Course' was to bring together intellectuals from these two countries which had been separated in the Great War,¹ to form what was seen as a "Locarno for intellectuals'.² The seminar series revolved around a central theme, which was the question of approaching a definition of human nature, on which a number of philosophers presented their views and opinions.