Perler studied Philosophy and Russian Literature at the Universities of Fribourg (Switzerland), Bern and Göttingen. He received his doctorate in Fribourg in 1991 with the thesis Der propositionale Wahrheitsbegriff im 14. Jahrhundert. He then worked as a visiting scholar at Cornell University in 1991/92, as a visiting assistant professor at the University of California, Los Angeles, in 1992/93 and as a lecturer at the University of Göttingen from 1993 to 1995. In 1996 he habilitated there with the thesis Representation in Descartes. In 1996/97 Perler was a Fellow of All Souls and University Lecturer at the University of Oxford. In 1997 the University of Basel appointed him full professor of philosophy. Since 2003 he has been professor of theoretical philosophy at the Humboldt-Universität zu Berlin.[1]
Perler's work focuses on the philosophy of the Middle Ages and early modern philosophy – especially the theoretical philosophy of these epochs. He aims at reconstructing existing theories historically and systematically using today's philosophical methods and at the same time placing the historical positions in the debates of modern analytical philosophy. He became known for this method through his book on theories of intentionality in the Middle Ages. Perler has also worked intensively on the interactions between Christian and Arabic philosophy. Systematically, he also deals with epistemology and the philosophy of mind. In the philosophy of mind, his research interests focus on early modern theories, theories of emotion and the consciousness of animals.
Der propositionale Wahrheitsbegriff im 14. Jahrhundert. De Gruyter, Berlin 1992.
Repräsentation bei Descartes. Klostermann, Frankfurt am Main 1996.
Chinese translation: 笛卡尔论表征, Bejing: The Commercial Press 2023.
René Descartes. Beck, München 1998; second edition 2006.
mit Ulrich Rudolph: Occasionalismus. Theorien der Kausalität im arabisch-islamischen und im europäischen Denken. Vandenhoeck & Ruprecht, Göttingen 2000.
Theorien der Intentionalität im Mittelalter. Klostermann, Frankfurt am Main 2002; second second edition 2004; third edition 2020.
Shorter French edition: Théories de l’intentionnalité au Moyen Age, Paris: Vrin 2003.
Full Russian translation: Teorii intenzionalnosti v srednie veka, Moskva: Izdatelskii dom delo 2016.
Zweifel und Gewissheit. Skeptische Debatten im Mittelalter. Klostermann, Frankfurt am Main 2006; second edition 2012.
Transformationen der Gefühle. Philosophische Emotionstheorien 1270–1670. S. Fischer, Frankfurt am Main 2011.
English translation: Feelings Transformed. Philosophical Theories of the Emotions 1270-1670, Oxford: Oxford University Press 2018.
Eine Person sein. Philosophische Debatten im Spätmittelalter. Klostermann, Frankfurt am Main 2020.