From 1965 to 1972, Safranski studied philosophy (among others with Theodor W. Adorno), German literature, history and history of art at Goethe University in Frankfurt am Main and at the Free University in Berlin (then West Berlin). There, he worked as an assistant lecturer for German literature from 1972 to 1977. He earned a PhD from FU Berlin in 1976 for a dissertation by the title of "Studies on the Development of Working-Class Literature in the Federal Republic of Germany" (original German:Studien zur Entwicklung der Arbeiterliteratur in der Bundesrepublik). In the late 1970s, he worked as the co-publisher and editor of the Berliner Hefte, a journal on literary life. From 1977 to 1982, Safranski worked as a lecturer in adult education. Since 1987 he has worked as a freelance writer.
In 2005 he married his longtime girlfriend Gisela Nicklaus.