Klaus Kornwachs

Klaus Kornwachs (born February 12, 1947 in Engen ) is a German physicist and technology philosopher .

Life

Klaus Kornwachs studied physics, mathematics and philosophy in Tübingen , Freiburg and Kaiserslautern from 1966 to 1973 and was a visiting fellow at the University of Massachusetts Amherst . The doctorate was on the subject of "Context and Speech Act Theory". From 1979 he worked at the Fraunhofer Institute for Manufacturing Engineering and Automation , later at the Fraunhofer Institute for Industrial Engineering and Organization . In 1987 he completed his habilitation in philosophy on the subject of "Open Systems and the Question of Information. In 1991 he received the Research Prize for Technical Communication .

From 1992 to 2011 Kornwachs held the chair for philosophy of technology at the BTU Cottbus . He was visiting professor at the Budapest University of Technology and Economy (BUTE), the Vienna University of Technology and the Technical University of Dalian , China .

Klaus Kornwachs has been Honorary Professor for Philosophy at the Humboldt Center for Humanities at Ulm University since 1990 and Honorary Professor at the China Intelligent Urbanization Co-Creation Center at Tongji University , Shanghai, since 2013 .

He is a member of the German Academy of Science and Engineering (acatech) and editor of the 20-volume book series "Philosophy of Technology".

research

Systems theory

Kornwachs initially did research in the field of analytical systems theory . This is to be distinguished from Niklas Luhmann's sociological system theory , which Kornwachs does not consider to be connected to the scientific and technical system concept . After completing his doctorate, he further developed the theory of pragmatic information and postulated the effect of pragmatic information on receiving systems by changing their behavior and / or their structure. During his time at the Fraunhofer Institute, his interest turned to technology assessment , especially in the area of ​​information and communication technologies. He takes the approach of constructive and participatory technology assessment. Later, however, he also dealt with the communication-theoretical consequences of the long-term effects of technologies (such as the final storage of nuclear waste). There he was able to show that loss of information is inevitable over long periods of time and that this has ethical consequences.

Theory of Science and Philosophy of Technology

The theory of science has hardly had the technical sciences as its subject. Kornwachs has presented studies here that are based on the fact that technical knowledge does not take the form of natural laws, but of rules. The structures of these rules can be analyzed logically. According to this, natural sciences and technical sciences differ fundamentally, technology can no longer be interpreted as the mere application of scientific knowledge, but has its basis of experience in the testable effectiveness of rules.

According to Kornwachs, this also has consequences for technical ethics . Here, Kornwax developed the principle of maintaining conditions:

Always act in such a way that the conditions of the possibility of responsible action are maintained for all involved.

This is primarily aimed at avoiding moral dilemmas in advance, especially when designing technology.

Culture and technology

In numerous publications, Kornwachs has addressed the connections between culture and technology in the field of mobility, networking, human work and the energy transition. He advocates the thesis that functioning technology changes its own forms of organization and that, conversely, the organizational shell influences the development and design of technology. This organizational shell is formed from economic factors, political framework conditions and cultural factors such as habits and moods. This interaction is also noticeable in science.

In his publications, Kornwachs advocates a constructive dialogue between the technical, humanities and social sciences as well as the natural sciences.

Publications (selection)

• Context and speech act theory . Dissertation Freiburg 1976.
• Open systems and the question of information . Habil. Stuttgart 1987.
• H.-J. Bullinger, K. Kornwachs: Expert systems in production - applications and effects . CH Beck, Munich 1990.
• Communication and information - for the humane design of technology . SEL Edition, Springer, Berlin 1993.
• The Principle of Preservation of Conditions - An Ethical Study . Lit-Verlag, Münster 2000.
• Logic of time - time of logic . Lit-Verlag, Münster 2001.
• Software development - experience and innovation. A look at demographic change. Together with S. Berndes, U. Lünstroth, Springer, Heidelberg 2002.
• Overdressed. About bonuses and false reward systems. Edition Unseld 27, Suhrkamp Verlag, Frankfurt am Main 2009, ISBN 978-3-518-26027-2 .
• The de-location of science and university 4.0. In: Frank Fuchs-Kittowski, Werner Kriesel (Hrsg.): Computer science and society. Festschrift for the 80th birthday of Klaus Fuchs-Kittowski . Frankfurt am Main, Bern, Bruxelles, New York, Oxford, Warszawa, Vienna: Peter Lang Internationaler Verlag der Wissenschaften, PL Academic Research 2016, ISBN 978-3-631-66719-4 (print), E- ISBN 978-3- 653-06277-9 (e-book).
• Structures of technological knowledge. Analytical study on a science theory of technology. Edition Sigma, Berlin 2012.
• Philosophy of technology - an introduction. Knowledge series, CH Beck, Munich 2013.
• Philosophy for engineers. 3rd edition, Hanser, Munich 2018.

Web links

• Literature by and about Klaus Kornwachs in the catalog of the German National Library
• Homepage: kornwachs.de

Individual evidence

1. ↑ Ulm University. Retrieved November 21, 2016 . 
2. ^ Technical philosophy series. Retrieved November 11, 2016 . 
3. ↑ K.Kornwachs: Pragmatic information and the Emergence of Meaning . In: Van de Vijver, G., Salthe, S., Delpos, M. (Eds.): Evolutionary Systems . Kluver Acad. Publ., 1988, pp. 181-196 .
4. ↑ K. Kornwachs: Digital tradition . In: J. Hessen (Hrsg.): Handbuch Informations- und Medienethik . Metzler, Stuttgart, Weimar 2016, p. 235-243 .
5. ↑ K. Kornwachs: Structures of technological knowledge: Analytical study on a scientific theory of technology . Edition Sigma, Berlin 2012.
6. ↑ K. Kornwachs: A formal theory of technology . In: Phil & Tech - Society of Philosophy and Technology - An electronic journal . tape 4 , no. 1 , 1998.
7. ↑ K. Kornwachs: The principle of maintaining conditions - an ethical study . Lit Verlag, Münster 2000.
8. ↑ K. Kornwachs: The end of the charioteer: automation and mobility needs of modern work nomads . In: Döbritz, R .; Hürlimann, G .; Weidemann, U. (Ed.): The automation revolution - conference proceedings. Publication series 146, Institute for Transport Planning and Transport Systems (IVT), ETH Zurich and Research Center for Social and Economic History (FSW), University of Zurich . Zurich 2009, p. 89-112 .
9. ↑ K. Kornwachs: Arbeits-Ich - Welt-Ich - Netz-Ich . In: Schröter, W. (Ed.): Identity in virtuality. Insights into new working worlds and "Industry 4.0" . Talheimer, Mössingen 2014, p. 38-67 .
10. ↑ K.Kornwachs: work - identity - network . Lit, Münster 2016.
11. ↑ K. Kornwachs: Attempt to ethically evaluate the scenarios for climate-friendly energy supply . In: Nennen, H.-U .; Hörning, G. (Ed.): Energy and ethics. Guiding principles in philosophical discourse . Campus, Frankfurt a. M., New York 1999, p. 123-186 .
12. ↑ K. Kornwachs: Justice and fairness in the energy transition - energy as a commons? In: Mainzer, K. et al. (Ed.): How much is the energy transition worth to us? To integrate an international value debate Munich 27.-28. November 2014 . German-Japanese Society for Integrative Science, Munich 2016, p. 47-99 .
13. ↑ K. Kornwachs: The de-localization of science and University 4.0 . In: Kittowski, F .; Kriesel, W. (Ed.): Computer science and society. Festschrift for the 80th birthday of Klaus Fuchs-Kittowski . Peter Lang Internationaler Verlag der Wissenschaften, PL Academic Research, Frankfurt, p. 2016 .
14. ↑ Technical Sciences. Recognize - create - take responsibility . In: acatech (Ed.): Acatech IMPULS . Springer, Heidelberg 2013.
15. ↑ K. Kornwachs: Philosophy for Engineers . 2nd Edition. Hanser, Munich 2015.