Hans Kochler

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Hans Kochler

Hans Köchler (born October 18, 1948 in Schwaz , Tyrol) is an Austrian philosopher and university professor. The long-standing director of the Institute for Philosophy at the University of Innsbruck (1990–2008) is Academic Director at the Institute for Culture Development at the Berlin University of Digital Sciences (Berlin), Chairman of the Working Group for Science and Politics and President of the International Progress Organization, an organization with consultative status at the United Nations. Köchler achieved international fame through his appointment as an observer of the process in the context of the Lockerbie attack by the former UN Secretary-General , Kofi Annan , and through his work on the "Dialogue of Civilizations" since the 1970s.

Life

Hans Köchler graduated in 1967 at the high school Meinhardinum Stams , 1972 he was at the University of Innsbruck for Dr. phil. sub auspiciis praesidentis rei publicae doctorate . In 1972 he founded the International Progress Organization based in Innsbruck (Vienna from 1976); 1974: World tour to promote the dialogue between civilizations; 1977: Habilitation; 1982–2014: University Professor for Philosophy (Professorship for Political Philosophy and Philosophical Anthropology) at the University of Innsbruck; further teaching activities at the law faculty of the University of Innsbruck and the humanities faculty of the University of Vienna; 1998: Visiting professor at Malaya University , Kuala Lumpur , Malaysia ; since 2004: visiting professor at the Polytechnic University of the Philippines in Manila ; since 2010: Co-President of the International Academy of Philosophy. Köchler has been teaching at the Center for Cultural Diplomacy Studies in Berlin since 2018 .

philosophy

Köchler's focus is on legal philosophy, political philosophy, phenomenology, hermeneutics, cultural philosophy, and philosophical anthropology.

phenomenology

Köchler presented an epistemological criticism of the phenomenological idealism of Edmund Husserl ( Die Subject-Object-Dialektik in der transcendental Phenomenology , 1974) and pleaded for a realistic rethinking of phenomenology. On this matter he met with the then Cardinal Karol Wojtyla (later Pope John Paul II), whose phenomenological anthropology he was the first to present to an international public.

Culture philosophy

With his thesis of the "dialectic of cultural self-understanding", which he first explained at a lecture at the Royal Academy of Sciences in Amman (Jordan) (1974), Köchler was the forerunner of the current discourse on the dialogue between civilizations. He put this approach up for discussion at the conference on "The cultural self-image of the peoples" (Innsbruck 1974), organized in cooperation with UNESCO , and developed it further in numerous conferences and lectures on the dialogue between the Western world and Islam (cf. Conference organized by him in Rome in 1981 on the concept of monotheism in Islam and Christianity).

Legal Philosophy and International Law

Köchler dealt critically with Hans Kelsen's legal theory and questioned his transcendental philosophical justification claim of "pure legal theory". He advocates a standardized standardization of international law and domestic legal systems on the basis of human rights and developed new approaches to democracy in international relations. ( Democracy and the International Rule of Law , 1978). In his legal theory approach, he is influenced by the constitutional law teacher Hans Klecatsky . His experience as an observer at the Lockerbie trial in the Netherlands (2000–2002) prompted Köchler to critically analyze the relationship between law and power in the international arena.

Hans Köchler, left, and the Polish philosopher Adam Schaff in the summer of 1980 at the European Forum Alpbach

effect

Köchler was the organizer of the first international conference on the Alpine region, which was the beginning of efforts to create new forms of transnational cooperation within Europe ("Arbeitsgemeinschaft Alpenländer", Euro-Regions).

Since the expert conference he organized in New York on the occasion of the fortieth anniversary of the United Nations, Köchler has launched proposals for reforming the United Nations, especially the Security Council. a. were commented positively by the then German Foreign Minister Klaus Kinkel . In 1991, Köchler organized the second international conference on the democratization of the United Nations at the UN headquarters in Vienna.

As the organizer of the international conference on terrorism in Geneva ("International Conference on the Question of Terrorism", March 1987), Köchler proposed a definition of the term "terrorism" which was presented to the General Assembly of the United Nations. Köchler dealt in particular with the problem of the difference between terrorist organizations and national liberation movements and dealt with the doctrine of the “global war on terror”.

In collaboration with the Irish Nobel laureate Seán MacBride Köchler in 1987 launched the "Appeal of lawyers against nuclear war" that was the beginning of the efforts of international civil society, which finally of an "Advisory Opinion" International Court of Justice on the international legality of nuclear weapons led . In 1992 Köchler was awarded the Medal of Honor by the International Peace Office in Geneva .

On October 18, 2003, the Hans Koechler Political and Philosophical Society was founded in Manila in the Philippines .

Observers at the trial of the PanAm Flight 103 explosion over Lockerbie

As a UN-nominated observer at the Scottish Court in the Netherlands ( Lockerbie trial ), Köchler wrote analytical reports on the trial and appeal proceedings (January 2001, March 2002), in which he dealt with the evidence. In the reports sent to the Secretary General of the United Nations, Köchler had expressed suspicion of a miscarriage of justice, which was initially firmly rejected by the authorities of Scotland and Great Britain. Köchler particularly criticized the presence of state officials from Libya and the USA in the courtroom. In a statement on August 23, 2003, Köchler criticized the compensation agreement between the United States, Great Britain and Libya and demanded that the background to the attack be fully investigated. In June 2007 - more than six years after Köchler's first report - the Scottish Criminal Cases Review Commission raised arguments, e.g. Some of them are identical to those of Köchler, who also suspected a miscarriage of justice and referred the case back to the appellate court. Köchler's reports sparked a worldwide discussion about the danger of politicization in international criminal justice - including in the British Parliament - and sparked a debate on the role of international trial observers.

Awards

  • Ring of Honor / Doctorate sub auspiciis praesidentis , Austria (1972)
  • Decoration of Honor of the Austrian College, Vienna (1985)
  • Decoration of Honor of the International Peace Bureau, Geneva (1992)
  • "Apostle of International Understanding", Unity International Foundation, New Delhi , India (1990)
  • Honorary Doctorate in Humanities, Mindanao State University (MSU), Philippines (2004)
  • Honorary Professorship at Pamukkale University, Turkey (2008)
  • Great Medal of Honor "David the Invincible", Armenian Academy of Philosophy, Armenia (2009)
  • Honorary doctorate from the State Pedagogical University of Armenia (2012)
  • Gusi Peace Prize (Philippines) (2014)

Works (selection)

  • The subject-object dialectic in transcendental phenomenology. The problem of being between idealism and realism (1974)
  • The Inner Relationship of Anthropology and Ontology (1974)
  • Skepticism and social criticism in Martin Heidegger's thinking (1978)
  • Philosophy - Law - Politics (1985)
  • Phenomenological Realism (1986)
  • Democracy and the International Rule of Law (1995)
  • New ways of democracy. Democracy in the global field of tension between power politics and the rule of law (1998)
  • Manila Lectures 2002. Terrorism and the Quest for a Just World Order (2002)
  • Global Justice or Global Revenge? International Criminal Justice at the Crossroads (2003) (Indian edition 2005, Turkish edition 2005)
  • ١ ﻠﻣﺳﻠﻤٯ ن ﻭ ١ ﻠﻐﺮﺐ. The Muslims and the West: From Confrontation to Dialogue (Arabic). Translated by Dr. Hamid Lechhab (2009)
  • World Order: Vision and Reality (2009)
  • The Security Council as Administrator of Justice? (2011)
  • Force or Dialogue: Conflicting Paradigms of World Order (2015)
  • Philosophy in Teaching: Philosophical Almanac at the Beginning of the Millennium (2018)

literature

  • Hans Köchler Bibliography and Reader. Edited by Fatemah R. Balbin, Andreas Oberprantacher and Christoph R. Wurnitsch. Manila / Innsbruck 2007. ISBN 978-971-93698-0-6
  • Power and Justice in International Relations: Interdisciplinary Approaches to Global Challenges. Essays in Honor of Hans Köchler . Edited by Marie-Luisa Frick and Andreas Oberprantacher. Ashgate: Farnham (UK), Burlington (USA) 2009. ISBN 978-0-7546-7771-0
  • Online bibliography

Web links

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ IPO
  2. ↑ Global Dialogue Expedition 1974
  3. ↑ See "The Dialectical Conception of Self-determination. Reflections on the Systematic Approach of Karol Wojtyla," in: Analecta Husserliana , Vol. 6, 1977, pp. 75-80.
  4. ↑ Hans Köchler, Cultural-philosophical Aspects of International Cooperation . Studies in International Cultural Relations, II. International Progress Organization: Vienna, 1978
  5. ^ Cultural Self-comprehension of Nations . Erdmann: Tübingen 1978. ISBN 3-7711-0311-8
  6. ^ The Concept of Monotheism in Islam and Christianity . Braumüller: Vienna 1982. ISBN 3-7003-0339-4
  7. ↑ Global Justice or Global Revenge? International Criminal Justice at the Crossroads. Vienna / New York: Springer, 2003. ISBN 3-211-00795-4
  8. ↑ Article "Global Powers and the Rule of Law," in: Global Trends: Law, Policy & Justice - The Global Community: Yearbook of International Law and Jurisprudence. Oxford University Press, 2013, pp. 427-443.
  9. ↑ The European task of the Alpine region . Publications of the Working Group for Science and Politics, II. Innsbruck 1972
  10. ↑ UN General Assembly Doc. A / 42/307, 29 May 1987, annex.
  11. ↑ International Peace Office
  12. ↑ BBC News of March 14, 2002 "UN monitor decries Lockerbie judgment"
  13. ↑ Item 5 of the report to the UN Secretary General of February 3, 2001: http://ipo.org/lockerbie-report.htm .
  14. ↑ Archived copy ( memento of the original from March 3, 2015 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. @1@ 2Template: Webachiv / IABot / ipo.org
  15. ↑ See the official announcement of the commission of June 28, 2007 ( Memento of May 3, 2011 in the Internet Archive )
  16. ↑ Speaker's Statement of May 1, 2002
  17. ↑ See e.g. B. Richard J. Rogers, "The Importance of Monitoring the Trials at the Extraordinary Chambers" (of Cambodia). (PDF; 150 kB)
personal data
SURNAME Kochler, Hans
ALTERNATIVE NAMES Köchler, Johann Otto (full name)
BRIEF DESCRIPTION Austrian philosopher and director of the Institute for Philosophy at the University of Innsbruck
DATE OF BIRTH October 18, 1948
PLACE OF BIRTH Schwaz , Tyrol