Hanno Kesting

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Hanno Kesting (born December 12, 1925 in Buer-Erle , † May 23, 1975 in Bochum ) was a German sociologist .

Life

Hanno Kesting experienced the last years of World War II as a conscript and was taken prisoner by the British for four years . During this time he began to study theology . After his release, he enrolled at Heidelberg University to study sociology, history and philosophy . Like his fellow students Reinhart Koselleck and Nicolaus Sombart , Kesting attended Alfred Weber's private lecture hall , but like them came under the influence of Carl Schmitt during this time , who reflected in Kesting's dissertation Utopia and Eschatology . A contribution to the intellectual history of the 19th century (1952) was reflected. Already in it, Kesting talks about the emergence of the modern public, to which he should also dedicate his habilitation thesis : Aware of the crisis, the humanitarian pathos of the Enlightenment had led to a moralization of the political that disintegrated the state from within and gradually the Robbed the ability to act. Schmitt had also conveyed to Kesting the translation of Karl Löwiths Meaning in History (1949; German 1952 as World History and Salvation ).

On the theses of the dissertation - a criticism of the progress-oriented philosophy of history as a "civil war philosophy " - based Kesting's "most extensive and most important book", Philosophy of History and World Civil War (1959).

After receiving his doctorate , Kesting experienced an eventful career. He first worked at the social research center at the University of Münster and was temporarily a city councilor for the FDP in his place of residence, Wetter an der Ruhr . In 1957 he was appointed lecturer in sociology at the Ulm School of Design , but left Ulm in 1959 and became head of the cultural department at the Frankfurter Rundschau for a year . In 1962, Kesting was appointed by Arnold Gehlen as an assistant at the Technical University of Aachen . There he completed his habilitation with the publication “ Public and Propaganda” (1966), an “Anti- Habermas ”. The work remained unprinted during Kesting's lifetime; the habilitation thesis was not published until 1995.

In 1968 Kesting was appointed full professor in Bochum , but was "never really happy about his teaching post [...]". He wore himself out in arguments with the student left ; Colleagues also had reservations about his political views and even suggested that he decline the offer.

Kesting died at the age of 49 as a result of an unsuccessful operation.

Hanno Kesting was the brother of the literary scholar Marianne Kesting .

Fonts

  • Utopia and eschatology. A contribution to the intellectual history of the 19th century . Dissertation, Heidelberg 1952.
  • with Heinrich Popitz , Hans Paul Bahrdt and Ernst August Jüres : The Worker's Image of Society. Sociological studies in the metallurgical industry . Mohr, Tübingen 1957.
  • Philosophy of History and World Civil War. Interpretations of history from the French Revolution to the East-West conflict . Winter, Heidelberg 1959.
  • Domination and bondage. The social question and its solutions . Rombach, Freiburg 1973, ISBN 3-7930-0977-7 .
  • Public and propaganda. On the theory of public opinion . Habilitation thesis 1966. San Casciano Verlag, Bruchsal 1995, ISBN 3-928906-04-6 .

Web links

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ See also Nicolaus Sombart: Rendezvous with the world spirit. Heidelberg reminiscences 1945–1951 . S. Fischer, Frankfurt am Main 2000, pp. 250ff. There is also a haunting description of Kesting's personality.
  2. ↑ Caspar von Schrenck-Notzing: Foreword. In: Hanno Kesting: Public and Propaganda. On the theory of public opinion. Bruchsal 1995, p. 5.
  3. ↑ Dirk van Laak : Conversations in the security of silence. Carl Schmitt in the political intellectual history of the early Federal Republic . Akademie Verlag, Berlin 1993, p. 273.
  4. ↑ Later, however, he seems to have committed himself to the CDU , cf. a poll: What the culture chooses . In: The time . No. 46/1972.
  5. ↑ On Kesting's work in Ulm, cf. the dissertation of Joerg Crone: The visual communication of the mind. Freiburg 1998, especially p. 62ff.
  6. ↑ a b Van Laak: Conversations. 1993, p. 275.
  7. ↑ Van Laak: Conversations. 1993, p. 276.
  8. ↑ Weißmann: Portrait of the author Hanno Kesting in: Sezession 42 , June 2011, pp. 32–35, here: p. 35
personal data
SURNAME Kesting, Hanno
BRIEF DESCRIPTION German sociologist
DATE OF BIRTH December 12, 1925
PLACE OF BIRTH Buer alder
DATE OF DEATH May 23, 1975
Place of death Bochum