Günther Witzany

from Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Günther Witzany (born August 25, 1953 in Salzburg ) is a philosopher .

Life

Witzany studied philosophy, political science and moral theology in Salzburg and Munich and received his doctorate in 1983 with a thesis on transcendental pragmatics and eccentricity. Justification of standards - enforcement of standards .

In 1985, Witzany founded the “first philosophical practice in Austria”. According to Aristotle, there are three ways of opening up the world, theoretical reason, practical reason and aesthetic reason; According to his own statement, Witzany devotes himself to all three levels in his philosophical practice. In the "aesthetic reason" he runs projects and discussions with artists such as Otto Beck in his Arche projects (1986 to 1989), in a music project NILFISC (New Intellectual Line for International Sound Communication) with Helmut Strasser, Hannes Renger, Hans Stefan, Norbert Grössenberger, Rudi Renger and Wolfgang Seierl (since 1980) and in conversations about art and philosophy with Hermann Kremsmayer , Hermann Ober , Hans Müller, Johannes Grützke , Stefan Krön, Dieter Kleinpeter, Herwig Beyerl or Dietmar Erlacher.

In “Praxis Vernunft” he was co-editor (together with Helmut Gruber and Wilhelm Hasenauer) of the quarterly magazine Arche Nova - a forum of ideas for value change and peace research (1986 to 1992). He worked together with Christian Vötter and Susanna Vötter-Dankl in the ecological sustainability project Alternative Technology Center (1989 to 1998). In 1990 he published the book Rescue of the Earth together with Eva-Maria Schalk . Alternative energy from sun, wind and water . In it, the authors point out the dangers of climate change and present solutions. Together with Christian Vötter, Witzany developed a method for the sustainable revitalization of regional structures KOHR (Core Orientations-Helping-Regions). He scientifically accompanied the “No Problem” music therapy for the mentally and physically severely disabled (1985 to 1995). From 1988 he worked with the Tauriska Cultural Association , the Leopold Kohr Academy and with Alfred Winter in the areas of spiritual village renewal and cultural management. In 1999 the “Specialist for barrier-free urban and urban space design” was founded (member of the ÖNORM committee). As editor in the 1990s, he brought together Austrian intellectuals ( Paul Blau , Freda Meissner-Blau, Günther Gorbach, Alfred Haiger, Friedensreich Hundertwasser, Gerhard Jagschitz , Hermann Knoflacher , Leopold Kohr, Hanswerner Mackwitz , Günther Nenning , Rupert Riedl , Karl Socher, Heinz Stockinger, Peter Weish , Christian Felber , Roland Rainer , Alfred Winter) in two publications critical of the EU ( Betrayed and Sold. The EC Reading Book. Unipress 1993; Future Austria. EU Union and the Consequences. Unipress 1998).

In “theoretical reason” he conducts philosophical research in the areas of natural philosophy , philosophy of language , biocommunication , philosophy of biology , biosemiotics , peace research , technocracy .

From 1987 to 1990 Witzany developed an independent " Philosophy of Biology " (theory of communicative nature): Organisms coordinate and organize their behavior through communication processes. For Witzany, evolutionary history is therefore a history of communication logic and dynamics of organisms. The genetic code is linguistically structured and is subject to combinatorial (grammatical), content-specific (semantic) and context-dependent (pragmatic) rules. Since no language speaks itself and no code codes itself, evolution in the genetic area does not happen through random mutations, but through agents who are competent in genome editing. The molecular syntax of the genetic code is not the result of a random mixture, but rather a competent text processing. The agents of genetic text manipulation are non-lytic, sedentary virus strains and subviral RNA groups, whose preferred habitat are genomes of cellular life. Witzany developed the “theory of communicative nature” into a “theory of biocommunication”, which he systematically applies to all known organism kingdoms (viruses, archaea, bacteria, protozoa, fungi, animals, plants). According to Witzany, the theory of biocommunication is the first and only integrative theory that encompasses all areas of animate nature both empirically and non-reductionistically and non-mechanistically. Due to her pragmatic approach, she strictly avoids the use of metaphysical explanatory models (holistic, mechanistic, atomistic) and enables a new basic understanding of living nature through the analysis of all sign-mediated interactions within and between cells, organs, tissues and organisms.

In 1991, Witzany and Wolfgang Bauer organized the symposium to be or not to be small. For a culture of self-restraint (with Erwin Chargaff , Peter Cornelius Mayer-Tasch , Robert Jungk and Leopold Kohr ), with Wolfgang Hofkirchner 2006 the 1st Biosemiotics Congress in Austria (Biosemiotics in Transdisciplinary Contexts, Helsinki, Umweb, 2007) and with Erich Hamberger 2008 the 1st international congress on natural genetic engineering and natural genome editing: "Natural Genetic Engineering and Natural Genome Editing" u. a. with James Shapiro, Patrick Forterre, Eshel Ben Jacob, Peter Gogarten, Jürgen Brosius , Luis Villarreal, Jean Nicolas Volff, I King Jordan, Gertrudis Van de Vijver and in 2009 “Cancer and Communication” (with Harald zur Hausen, among others) and with Leopold Kohr Academy and Wolfgang Bauer 2009 the conference "Sustainable urban and transport planning - How much Kohr does the city need".

In 2014 he organized the 1st International Congress on DNA Habitats and their RNA Inhabitants: DNA Habitats and it's RNA Inhabitants u. a. with Jürgen Brosius , Eric Westhof, John Mattick, Luis Villarreal, David Prangishvili, Eugene Koonin, Mart Krupovic, Ricardo Flores, Corrado Spadafora, Eörs Szathmary, Joan Curcio, Karin Mölling , Keizo Tomonaga, and Peter Unrau.

In 2018 he organized the international congress Evolution - Genetic Novelty / Genomic Variations by RNA Networks and Viruses u. a. with Chantal Abergel, Gustavo Caetano Anolles, Irene Chen, Jean-Michel Claverie, Bryan Cullen, Valerian Dolja, Eugene Koonin, Dusan Kordis, Mart Krupovic, Jeff Miller, Karin Moelling, Forest Rohwer, James Shapiro, Luis P. Villarreal, Eric Westhof , Steven Zimmerly.

Since 2001, Witzany and Ewald Hiebl have been the editor of the collected works of Leopold Kohr. He is also a member of the RNA Society, the Editorial Board of the International Biosemiotics Society (2008–2015), the World Journal of Biological Chemistry , the New York Academy of Sciences (since 2009), the International City Forum Graz (since 1999) and The Third Way of Evolution network.

Publications

Books

  • Philosophizing in a threatened world. Lectures and essays against technocratic reason. The Blue Owl, Essen 1989.
  • Transcendental Pragmatics and Ek-sistence. Justification of standards - enforcement of standards. The Blue Owl, Essen, 1991.
  • Megalomania, speed frenzy, union fever. Texts about the end of the religion of progress. Unipress, Salzburg 1992.
  • Nature of language - language of nature. Linguistic pragmatic philosophy of biology. Königshausen & Neumann, Würzburg 1993.
  • Life: The communicative structure. A new Philosophy of Biology. Books on Demand, Hamburg 2000.
  • The "Logos" of the "Bios". 1. Contributions to the foundation of a three-leveled biosemiotics. Umweb, Helsinki 2006.
  • The "Logos" of the "Bios". 2. Bio-Communication. Umweb, Helsinki 2007.
  • Biocommunication and Natural Genome Editing. Springer, Dordrecht 2010.
  • Biocommunication and natural processing of genetic texts. The application of the pragmatic philosophy of biology. BoD, Norderstedt 2011.
  • mitdenker.at; 30 years of Telos philosophical practice. BoD, Norderstedt 2017; ISBN 978-3-7431-3847-6

editor

  • The salvation of the earth. Alternative energy from sun, wind and water. Unipress Verlag, Salzburg 1990. (With EM Schalk)
  • On the theory of philosophical practice. The Blue Owl, Essen 1991.
  • Bernhard Hölzl: Tractatus poetico-philosophicus. About simulation. The Blue Owl, Essen 1991.
  • Melanie Berg: Philosophical practices in German-speaking countries. The Blue Owl, Essen 1992.
  • Zeno Bucher : The descent of humans as a natural-philosophical problem. Königshausen & Neumann, Würzburg 1992.
  • Betrayed and sold. The EG reading book. Unipress, Salzburg 1993.
  • Future of Austria. EU membership and the consequences. Unipress, Salzburg 1998.
  • Leopold Kohr : The end of the great. Back to the human level. Müller, Salzburg 2002. (with E. Hiebl)
  • Leopold Kohr: The overdeveloped nations. Müller, Salzburg 2003. (with E. Hiebl)
  • Leopold Kohr: Less state. Against the encroachments of the authorities. Müller, Salzburg 2004. (with E. Hiebl)
  • Leopold Kohr: The doctrine of the right measure. Müller, Salzburg 2005. (with E. Hiebl)
  • Leopold Kohr: Development without help. Müller, Salzburg 2007. (with E. Hiebl)
  • Biosemiotics in Transdisciplinary Contexts. Proceedings of the Gathering in Biosemiotics 6, Salzburg 2006. Umweb, Helsinki 2007.
  • Leopold Kohr: Problems of the City. Müller, Salzburg 2008. (with E. Hiebl)
  • Natural Genetic Engineering and Natural Genome Editing. Annals of the New York Academy of Sciences. Wiley & Sons, New York 2009.
  • Leopold Kohr: The academic tavern. Müller, Salzburg 2010. (with E. Hiebl)
  • Sustainable urban and traffic planning. BoD, Norderstedt 2010.
  • Biocommunication in Soil Microorganisms. Springer, 2011.
  • Biocommunication of Plants. Springer, 2012 (with Frantisek Baluska).
  • Biocommunication of Fungi. Springer, 2012.
  • Viruses: Essential Agents of Life. Springer, 2012.
  • Leopold Kohr: On the eve of 1984 . (Ed .: Leopold Kohr Akademie), 2013.
  • Hermann Knoflacher : TRAFFIC. A plea for a different life. Salzburg 2013.
  • Biocommunication of Animals. Springer, 2014.
  • DNA Habitats and Their RNA Inhabitants. Annals of the New York Academy of Sciences. Wiley & Sons, New York 2015.
  • Biocommunication of Ciliates. Springer, 2016 (with Mariusz Nowacki).
  • Leopold Kohr: Ernst Friedrich Schumacher in honor . (Ed .: Leopold Kohr Akademie), 2016.
  • Leopold Kohr: The end of Great Britain . (Ed .: Leopold Kohr Akademie), 2017.
  • Biocommunication of Archaea. Springer, 2017.
  • Memory and Learning in Plants. Springer, 2018 (with Frantisek Baluska and Monica Gagliano).
  • Genome Invading RNA Networks. Frontiers in Microbiology, 2018 (with Luis P. Villarreal).
  • Genetic Novelty and Genomic Variation by RNA Networks and Viruses. Annals of the New York Academy of Sciences 2019.
  • Biocommunication of Phages. Springer, 2020.

Web links

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ http://sciencev1.orf.at/science/wagnleitner/13688
  2. ↑ Peter Moser: The First Philosophical Practice in Austria Review of 30 years of "Telos" . In: Information Philosophy . tape 4 , 2016, p. 108-112 .
  3. ↑ http://www.nilfisc.at
  4. ↑ http://www.mitdenker.at/zukunft/
  5. ↑ https://www.huffingtonpost.com/suzan-mazur/guenther-witzany-modern-s_b_7947442.html
  6. ^ "The Logos of the Bios 2. Bio-Communication", Helsinki, Umweb, 2007
  7. ↑ Biocommunication and Natural Genome Editing , Springer, Netherlands, 2010
  8. ↑ biocommunication book series Springer Netherlands
  9. ↑ PDF at biocommunication.at
  10. ↑ https://web.archive.org/web/20130727041828/http://www.biosemiotics2006.org/
  11. ↑ https://www.nyas.org/annals/natural-genetic-engineering-and-natural-genome-editing/
  12. ↑ http://www.naturalgenome.at
  13. ↑ Archived copy ( Memento from January 7, 2017 in the Internet Archive )
  14. ↑ https://nyaspubs.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/toc/17496632/2015/1341/1
  15. ↑ http://www.rna-agents.at
  16. ↑ https://www.nyas.org/annals/special-issue-genetic-novelty-and-genomic-variation-by-rna-networks-and-viruses-vol-1447/
  17. ↑ https://www.thethirdwayofevolution.com
personal data
SURNAME Witzany, Günther
BRIEF DESCRIPTION Austrian philosopher
DATE OF BIRTH August 25, 1953
PLACE OF BIRTH Salzburg