Franz M. Wuketits

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Franz M. Wuketits (2007)

Franz Manfred Wuketits (born January 5, 1955 in Parndorf , Burgenland ; † June 6, 2018 in Vienna ) was an Austrian biologist (zoologist), scientific theorist , university professor and writer . His areas of work were mainly the history and theory of the life sciences , evolution theory , evolutionary ethics , evolutionary epistemology, and sociobiology .

Life

Wuketits studied from 1973 to 1978 zoology , palaeontology , philosophy and philosophy of science at the University of Vienna . In 1978 he received his doctorate. phil. In 1980 he received his habilitation venia legendi for philosophy of science with special emphasis on the life sciences at the University of Vienna.

From 1987 to 2004 he was a lecturer in philosophy of biology at the University of Graz . In addition, he held teaching and visiting professorships at several other universities true, at the Technical University of Vienna (1998-2004) and at the University of the Balearic Islands in Palma de Mallorca (2006, 2008, 2009, 2010). Since 2002 he has been a board member of the Konrad Lorenz Institute for Evolution and Cognition Research in Altenberg (Lower Austria).

He was a member of the scientific advisory board of the Giordano Bruno Foundation , which has set itself the goal of “promoting evolutionary humanism ”, as well as the Freie Akademie (Berlin) and the platform library initiatives (Vienna), and he was also a scientific advisory board member of the Austrian Biologist Association (ABA). In addition, he was, among other things, the scientific advisory board of the Kapfenberg Summer Academy (Styria) until 2008.

From 2005 to 2008 he was editor of the magazine bioskop on behalf of the Austrian Biologist Association. For many years he was co-editor of the publication Enlightenment and Criticism of the Society for Critical Philosophy Nuremberg and on the scientific advisory board (editorial / advisory board) of various journals ( Biological Theory, Ludus Vitalis, La Nuova Critica, Universitas and others).

He was a full member of the science class of the European Academy of Sciences and Arts . In 1981 he was awarded the Austrian State Prize for Science Journalism .

Franz M. Wuketits is the author of over 500 scientific publications, including 41 books. The broad spectrum of his scientific and philosophical interests is also accompanied by a tendency to literary, which finds its - idiosyncratic humorous - expression in the book "With Pessoa in the hardware store" published since March 2015.

Franz Wuketits was a co-founder of the Austrian initiative “Mein Veto”, which is directed against the allegedly increasing curtailment of civil liberties and paternalism by the state. The “menthol cigarette ban” and “alcohol bans in public places” are cited on the initiative's homepage as examples of such interventions. The initiative is financed by trade associations, the tobacco company British American Tobacco and a café.

Wuketits died on June 6, 2018 at the age of 63 after a long and serious illness.

Works (selection)

  • Scientific theoretical problems of modern biology. Duncker & Humblot, Berlin 1978.
  • Concept of causality and theory of evolution. The development of the concept of causality in the context of the evolutionary concept. Duncker & Humblot, Berlin 1980.
  • Biology and causality. Biological approaches to causality, determination and freedom. P. Parey, Berlin / Hamburg 1981.
  • Outline of the theory of evolution. Wissenschaftliche Buchgesellschaft, Darmstadt 1982 (2nd, improved edition 1989).
  • Biological Knowledge: Fundamentals and Problems. G. Fischer, Stuttgart 1983.
  • Evolution, knowledge, ethics. Implications from modern biology. Scientific Book Society, Darmstadt 1984.
  • State and consciousness. Life as a biophilosophical synthesis. Hoffmann and Campe, Hamburg 1985.
  • Key to biology. ECON, Düsseldorf / Vienna / New York 1986. Paperback edition: Droemersche Verlagsanstalt Knaur, Munich 1990.
  • Key to philosophy. ECON, Düsseldorf / Vienna / New York 1987; Paperback edition: Droemersche Verlagsanstalt Knaur, Munich 1991.
  • Charles Darwin. The quiet revolutionary. Piper, Munich / Zurich 1987.
  • Evolution theories. Historical requirements, positions, criticism. Wissenschaftliche Buchgesellschaft, Darmstadt 1988 (special paperback edition 1995).
  • Beyond chance and necessity. Biological and cultural evolution of man. Edition Riannon, Basel 1988.
  • Genes, Culture, and Morals. Sociobiology - Pros and Cons. Scientific Book Society, Darmstadt 1990.
  • Evolutionary Epistemology and Its Implications for Humankind. SUNY Press, Albany, NY 1990, ISBN 0-7914-0285-1 .
  • Konrad Lorenz. Life and work of a great naturalist. Piper, Munich / Zurich 1990.
  • Doomed to Immorality? On the natural history of good and bad. Piper, Munich / Zurich 1993.
  • The discovery of behavior. A history of behavioral science. Wissenschaftliche Buchgesellschaft, Darmstadt 1995 (2nd, revised edition 2010).
  • Sociobiology. The power of genes and the evolution of social behavior. Spektrum Akademischer Verlag, Heidelberg 1997, ISBN 3-8274-0127-5 . (New edition, softcover 2012, ISBN 978-3-8274-3084-7 ).
  • Natural disaster man. Evolution without progress. Patmos, Düsseldorf 1998; 2nd edition 1998. Paperback edition: Deutscher Taschenbuch Verlag, Munich 2001.
  • A Brief Cultural History of Biology. Myths, Darwinism, genetic engineering. Wissenschaftliche Buchgesellschaft, Darmstadt 1998 (simultaneously published by Primus Verlag, Darmstadt).
  • The self-destruction of nature. Evolution and the depths of life. Patmos, Düsseldorf 1999.
  • Why we are fascinated by evil. The nature of evil and the illusions of morality. Hirzel, Stuttgart / Leipzig 1999.
  • Evolution. The evolution of life. CH Beck, Munich 2000 (2nd edition 2005).
  • Humanity between hope and illusion. Why evolution thwarted us. Kreuz, Stuttgart 2001 (written together with Maria Wuketits).
  • The monkey in us. Why culture threatens to fail because of our nature. Hirzel, Stuttgart / Leipzig 2002.
  • exterminated - extinct. about the extinction of species, peoples and languages. Hirzel, Stuttgart 2003.
  • Darwin and Darwinism. CH Beck, Munich 2005.
  • Bioethics. A critical introduction. CH Beck, Munich 2006.
  • Free will. The evolution of an illusion. Hirzel, Stuttgart 2007.
  • Handbook of Evolution (as editor). 1st edition. Wiley-VCH Verlag, Weinheim 2007. 1500 pp. In 3 vol., ISBN 3-527-30622-6 .
  • Praise to cowardice. Hirzel, Stuttgart 2008. ISBN 978-3-7776-1602-5 .
  • How much morality can a person tolerate? A provocation. Gütersloher Verlagshaus, Gütersloh 2010. 224 p., ISBN 978-3-579-06754-4 .
  • How man became what he eats. The evolution of human food, S. Hirzel Verlag, Stuttgart 2010, ISBN 978-3-777-62114-2 .
  • Pig and man. The story of a relationship. 1st edition. Westarp Sciences: Die Neue Brehm-Bücherei Vol. 674, Hohenwarsleben 2011, ISBN 3-89432-446-5 .
  • The messengers of the nemesis: catastrophes and the desire for the end of the world. Gütersloher Verlagshaus, Gütersloh 2012, ISBN 978-3-579-06679-0 .
  • Civilization at a dead end. Plea for a species-appropriate human attitude. Mankau-Verlag, Murnau a. Staffelsee 2012, ISBN 978-3-86374-054-2 .
  • Animal irrationale - A short (natural) history of unreason. Suhrkamp Verlag / edition unseld, Berlin 2013, ISBN 978-3-518-26049-4 .
  • What atheists believe. Gütersloher Verlagshaus, Gütersloh 2014. ISBN 978-3-579-08503-6 .
  • Atheism or cultural Christianity? (Together with Anton Grabner-Haider). Angelika Lenz Verlag, Neu-Isenburg 2014, ISBN 978-3-943624-05-2 .
  • Outsiders in science. Pioneers - Signposts - Reformers. Springer Spectrum, Berlin / Heidelberg 2015, ISBN 978-3-662-45332-2 .
  • Murder, war, terror. Are we condemned to violence? Hirzel, Stuttgart 2015, ISBN 978-3-7776-2543-0 .
  • With Pessoa in the hardware store. PROverbis, Vienna 2015, ISBN 978-3-902838-16-2 .
  • Eroticism and religion. (Together with Anton Grabner-Haider and with contributions from Susanna Berndt and Lisz Hirn). Alibri, Aschaffenburg 2015, ISBN 978-3-86569-185-9 .
  • Religion as a time bomb? Biological and cultural-historical analyzes. (Together with Anton Grabner-Haider). Alibri Verlag, Aschaffenburg 2016. ISBN 978-3-86569-244-3 .

Web links

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ Robert Pfaller and Franz Wuketits present the initiative “My Veto! - Citizens against paternalism ”. In: ots.at. May 28, 2013, accessed June 8, 2018 .
  2. ↑ Take action against paternalism together! In: MeinVeto.at. Archived from the original on October 6, 2014 ; accessed on June 8, 2018 .
  3. ↑ Between Darwin and Freethinking: Franz M. Wuketits died. In: derStandard.at. June 7, 2018, accessed October 22, 2018 .
personal data
SURNAME Wuketits, Franz M.
ALTERNATIVE NAMES Wuketits, Franz Manfred
BRIEF DESCRIPTION Austrian biologist, scientific theorist and book author
DATE OF BIRTH 5th January 1955
PLACE OF BIRTH Parndorf , Burgenland
DATE OF DEATH June 6, 2018
Place of death Vienna