Herbert Hensel

Herbert Hensel (born September 2, 1920 in Prague , † January 19, 1983 in Marburg ) was a German physiologist who worked in Heidelberg and from 1955 in Marburg. He was full professor of physiology at the Philipps University of Marburg , and in 1965/66 also its rector . Together with Gunther Hildebrandt, he set up the collaborative research center “Adaptation and Rehabilitation” in Marburg . He was chairman of the German branch of the International Society for Biometeorology and, since 1974, Vice-President of the International Society of Biometeorology . He had been a member of the Leopoldina since 1971 . He was involved in the conception of the University of Witten / Herdecke and in its predecessor organization "Free European Academy of Sciences".

He worked in the field of temperature regulation physiology and cardiovascular research. A major part of his work was devoted to the physiology of the senses , in particular the study of the sense of warmth , on which his international reputation was based. He has received various awards and prizes, including the Adolf Fick Prize in 1954 , the Feldberg Prize in 1961 and the Camillo Golgi medal in 1974.

For him, sensory physiology was a gateway to the broader field of phenomena of sensory perception, which he viewed as an independent field of natural science and suitable for creating new foundations for epistemological thinking.

“Anyone who deals with human perception is led into an area that lies before and between all positive sciences. Sensory science as an autonomous science is a no man's land between the established disciplines. It is precisely because of this that she is called to participate in a rethinking of the fundamentals of the sciences and to pave new paths for knowledge. "

- Herbert Hensel : The human sensory perception

References to the fundamentals of a phenomenological science of sensory perception were found, among others, in Husserl , Rudolf Steiner (see also Rudolf Steiner's theory of the senses ), Viktor von Weizsäcker and Goethe as a natural scientist.

“The importance of anthroposophy for the empirical sciences lies primarily in the fact that it gives suggestions and raises new questions which can then be taken up by empirical research and worked on independently. This does not mean a restriction of the researcher's intellectual freedom, since he has to find the answers to the questions through his own work. In contrast to this is the method widespread among anthroposophical scientists of setting certain statements of anthroposophy a priori as absolute truth and then supporting them by looking for known facts from scientific literature. Apart from the fact that nothing new comes out of it, this method ignores the question of truth and damages both anthroposophy and empirical science. "

- Herbert Hensel : On the relationship between anthroposophy and the university.

He suffered from a kidney disease that became increasingly severe in the early 1980s and made him a dialysis patient .

Works

• with Herbert Precht, Jes Christophersen and Walter Larcher: Temperature and Life . Springer, Berlin / Heidelberg 1973, ISBN 3-642-65710-9 , doi : 10.1007 / 978-3-642-65708-5 (original title: Temperatur und Leben .).
• Thermal sensations and thermoreceptors in man . A monograph in the Bannerstone Division of American lectures in living chemistry (=  American lecture series . Volume 1056 ). Thomas, Springfield, Ill. 1982, ISBN 0-398-04698-0 .
• with J. Bligh, K. Voigt, HA Braun, K. Brück, G. Heldmaier (Eds.): Thermoreception and Temperature Regulation . Springer, 1990, ISBN 3-642-75076-1 .
• General sensory physiology: skin senses, taste, smell (=  textbook of physiology ). Springer, 1966, OCLC 1027292 .
• Naturopathy and modern science (=  Weleda series of publications . Volume 10 ). Weleda, Arlesheim 1977, OCLC 778744533 .
• The human sensory perception . After a presentation at the 1st symposium of the Free European Academy of Sciences on November 25th, 1977 in Herdecke / Ruhr. In: Uwe Stave i. A. the Free European Academy of Sciences (ed.): Science and Anthroposophy. Impulses for new ways of research . Urachhaus Verlag, Stuttgart 1989, ISBN 3-87838-609-5 , p. 45-69 .
• Ten theses on the relationship between anthroposophy and science. 1980. (also reproduced in)
• with Gunther Hildebrandt: Biological adaptation . International symposium Marburg / Lahn, 1981. G. Thieme, Stuttgart 1982, OCLC 636406984 .

literature

• Gunther Hildebrandt: In Memoriam Prof. Dr. med. Herbert Hensel 1920–1983 . In: International Journal of Biometeorology . tape 27 , no. 3 . Springer-Verlag, 1983, ISSN  0020-7128 , p. 281-282 , doi : 10.1007 / BF02184243 .

Web links

• Hensel, Herbert. Hessian biography. (As of February 5, 2020). In: Landesgeschichtliches Informationssystem Hessen (LAGIS).

Individual evidence

1. ↑ ^{a b c d} Hans-Jürgen Scheuerle: On Herbert Hensel's life's work . Impulses for new ways of research. In: Uwe Stave i. A. the Free European Academy of Sciences (ed.): Science and Anthroposophy . Urachhaus, 1989, ISBN 3-87838-609-5 , p. 41-44 .
2. ↑ Rector's speeches (HKM)
3. ↑ ^{a b c d e} Peter F. Matthiessen: Rudolf Steiner's idea of ​​higher education and the Witten / Herdecke University . In: Peter Heusser, Johannes Weinzirl (ed.): Rudolf Steiner - Its importance for science and life today . Schattauer, 2014, ISBN 978-3-7945-6776-8 , pp. 267-328 .
4. ^ Peter Selg: Kienle, Gerhard. In: Biographies Documentation. Research Center for Culture Impulse, accessed on May 23, 2015 . 
5. ↑ ^{a b c d e} Gunther Hildebrandt: In Memoriam Prof. Dr. med. Herbert Hensel 1920–1983 . In: International Journal of Biometeorology . tape 27 , no. 3 . Springer-Verlag, 1983, ISSN  0020-7128 , p. 281-282 , doi : 10.1007 / BF02184243 .
6. ↑ ^{a b c} Herbert Hensel: The sensory perception of people . In: Uwe Stave i. A. the Free European Academy of Sciences (ed.): Science and Anthroposophy. Impulses for new ways of research . Urachhaus Verlag, Stuttgart 1989, ISBN 3-87838-609-5 , p. 45–69 (after a lecture at the 1st symposium of the Free European Academy of Sciences on November 25, 1977 in Herdecke / Ruhr).
7. ^ Herbert Hensel: On the relationship between anthroposophy and the university . In: Uwe Stave iA of the Free European Academy of Sciences (Ed.): Science and Anthroposophy. Impulses for new ways of research . Urachhaus Verlag, Stuttgart 1989, ISBN 3-87838-609-5 , p. 70-77 (manuscript dated December 1, 1982).