Franz Fischer (philosopher)

Franz Fischer (born May 20, 1929 in Neunkirchen , Lower Austria ; † November 4, 1970 , Norderstedt ) was an Austrian philosopher .

Life

Fischer studied philosophy with Erich Heintel in Vienna from 1951 to 1955 , where he also received his doctorate with a "systematic investigation into the affinity problem" . In 1955 he went to Josef Derbolav's research assistant in the function of an assistant at the Educational Science Institute of the University of Bonn , where he worked simultaneously with Wolfgang Klafki on a habilitation in the educational categories, but without completing this work. 1956 marriage with Anne Fischer-Buck , father church councilor Hermann Buck and uncle Günther Dehn belonged to the circle around D. Bonhoeffer. 1958 and 1959 birth of the children Therese and Anton. In 1962 he left the institute and in 1967 he moved with his family to Norderstedt near Hamburg to continue his philosophical research there independently of the university. In the sixties he worked on a philosophy of proflexion, a further development of his philosophy of meaning, which is primarily about the transitions between opinion or belief, knowledge and action. The philosophy of professional reflection that emerged from this shows astonishing parallels to Emmanuel Levinas , without the two philosophers having any knowledge of one another. Franz Fischer published his work “Proflexion und Reflexion” (1963) during his lifetime.

Honors

In 1991, a memorial stone, milestone No. 1 , was placed at Franz Fischer's birthplace in Neunkirchen at Triesterstrasse 58 . This was designed by the sculptor Johannes Seidl.

Educational categories

While Wolfgang Klafki related his theory of categorical education at the beginning of the sixties mainly to cognitive processes in school lessons and only in the eighties, when he developed his concept of critical-constructive didactics , also the moral action and the associated action competencies in his theory of categorical education included, Franz Fischer was from the beginning with the educational categories about the transition from mere knowledge to action. Franz Fischer distinguished between “vertical” and “horizontal” educational categories. The vertical educational categories are related to the action reference of the various scientific disciplines. Fischer assumes that the scientific knowledge processes only have an educational effect on people if they help to cope with problems in everyday life. The internal (vertical) relationship between the different scientific disciplines results from the fact that they offer answers or solutions to specific action problems (situations) that are not taken into account by the other. No discipline is therefore able to solve specific problems in a comprehensive way. In each discipline, questions remain unanswered, which must be left to other disciplines to solve. The way in which the scientific disciplines pass unanswered questions on to other scientific disciplines is referred to by Franz Fischer as the "educational category". The "horizontal" educational categories describe the way in which a specific individual experiences a certain situation (of everyday life, work, etc.) and transforms this largely unreflected experience into conscious knowledge and how all of this is finally done by weighing standards and values ​​and personal inclinations lead to decisions and concrete action. The basic principle of both vertical and horizontal educational categories is the dialectic of saying and saying, as the word “category” translates as “statement”. Every personal experience (horizontal educational category) and every scientific discipline (vertical educational category) contains unreflected opinions, which we first have to become aware of step by step. This process of becoming aware of still unconscious opinions happens when we try to express them. But you mustn't stop at the saying. Saying must lead to action. The educational category is only completed in action.

Professional reflection and reflection

The hinge between Franz Fischer's theory of meaning from the 50s and his professional reflection philosophy of the 60s is his conception of the real concrete “situation”, which on the one hand can be scientifically researched, but is guided in its relation to action by a presupposed “sense out of itself”. At the limit of scientific philosophy and also at the limit of educational sciences and all science in general, Fischer sees the inescapable necessity to exercise a willingness in people to adjust to this "sense of oneself" beyond the limit. Only then, according to his knowledge, can we think of what to do and what not to do. He calls this attitude: "Atension", translated: without direction, without intention. He wants us to learn to be empty of prejudices and also of prior knowledge, but above all of egocentricity . Only here does real education begin. In order to “practice” this “pure” attitude, empty of “oneself”, to the situation in its full reality, Fischer develops a positive philosophy of linguistic images or sayings that invite meditation . They should be a philosophical "handout". The handout is that extremely opposing behavior is brought into the word. The reader of these texts should immediately be certain of the direction in which his decision must be made: in a “proflexive” for one another or in a “reflexive” one related to one another. Humanity or dehumanization , that's the choice here. In order to get closer to the unique situations in everyday life, Fischer's linguistic images describe the opposing behavior in typical life situations, for example mutual protection: "We reveal ourselves and protect those who reveal themselves and protect us." (Proflexion) in contrast to: " We guard ourselves and give up those who guard and reveal us. ”(Reflection). The ten-year experiment at the limit of the knowable includes a wealth of individual and social situations and its meaning has not yet come close to being worked through.

Franz Fischer died before he could work out a final combination of the theory of meaning and the philosophy of professional reflection. Both are, however, already connected with each other through the consistent structure of meaning and question. In terms of educational science, this becomes particularly clear through the term “pedagogical situation”. Through Fischer's theory it becomes the original, all individual pervasive educational element. Here scientifically supported planning and a lively willingness to perceive the unpredictable enter into a dialectical relationship. And the ever-threatening ideologization is seen through.

literature

• Franz Fischer: The Philosophy of the Sense of Sense, ed. Erich Heintel . Kastellaun 1980, Norderstedt 1986
• Franz Fischer: The education of the conscience, ed. Josef Derbolav, Kastellaun 1979, Norderstedt 1986
• Franz Fischer: Presentation of the educational categories in the system of science, published from the estate, introduced and provided with afterwords by Dietrich Benner and Wolfdietrich Schmied-Kowarzik , Ratingen / Kastellaun 1975.
• Franz Fischer: Proflexion - Logic of Humanity. Late writings and final drafts 1960–1970, work edition Volume IV, edited by Michael Benedikt u. Wolfgang W. Priglinger Vienna / Munich 1985
• Franz Fischer: professional reflection and reflection. Philosophical exercises for practicing the pure society, Vienna 2007 (expanded new edition with a foreword by Wolfdietrich Schmied-Kowarzik and comments by Thomas Altfelix, Ursula Börner, Anton Fischer and Anne Fischer-Buck)
• In addition, a Franz Fischer Yearbook for Philosophy and Education has been published since 1996, edited by Reinhard Aulke, Anton Fischer, Anne Fischer-Buck (1920–2013), Karl-Hermann Schäfer, Detlef Zöllner. Until 2014/15 as a joint edition of the Anne Fischer Verlag Norderstedt, publisher Anne Fischer-Buck , successor Therese Fischer and the Leipziger Uni-Verlag, Gerald Diesener Leipziger Universitätsverlag . From 2016 in LIT Verlag .

Web links

• Literature by and about Franz Fischer in the catalog of the German National Library
• proflexion.de - Website of the Franz Fischer Society for Philosophy and Education e. V

Individual evidence

1. ↑ ^{a b} life data of Anne Fischer-Buck according to the inscription on the tombstone ( illustration )
2. ↑ Franz Fischer 1929–1970 . Retrieved March 17, 2015.
3. ↑ www.franz-fischer-gesellschaft.de
4. ^ From the Franz Fischer Circle to the Franz Fischer Society . Retrieved March 17, 2015.
5. ↑ [1]
6. ↑ [2]