Konrad Paul Liessmann

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Konrad Paul Liessmann (2014)

Konrad Paul Liessmann (born April 13, 1953 in Villach ) is an Austrian philosopher, essayist and cultural journalist . He is a university professor for "Methods of teaching philosophy and ethics" at the University of Vienna . He has been officially retired since 2018, but will continue to work as a professor at the University of Vienna on a special contractual basis until the end of 2020.

Life

Konrad Paul Liessmann completed his Matura in 1971 at the Peraugymnasium in Villach and then studied German , history and philosophy at the University of Vienna and completed his master's degree in 1976 , he received his doctorate in 1979 and habilitated in 1989. In 2011 he was appointed to the professorship for methods of teaching Philosophy and Ethics at the Faculty of Philosophy and Education at the University of Vienna. His love for literature came about through Karl May .

Since 1996 he has been the scientific director of the Philosophicum Lech and editor of the book series of the same name at Paul Zsolnay Verlag . From 2002 to 2006 he was head of the Friedrich Heer working group of the Austrian Research Foundation and editor of Friedrich Heer's works at Böhlau Verlag .

From October 2004 to October 2008 Liessmann was the director of studies for philosophy and educational science at the University of Vienna. From 2008 to 2012 Liessmann was Vice Dean of the Faculty of Philosophy and Educational Science. From 2011 to 2015 he was Vice President of the "German Society for Aesthetics". From 2014 to 2018 he headed the university course “Philosophical Practice” at the University of Vienna. He retired in 2018. Liessmann has been Vice President of the "Society for Education and Knowledge" since 2010 and a founding member and chairman of the "International Günther Anders Society" since 2012.

Liessmann published numerous scientific and essayistic works on questions of aesthetics , art and cultural philosophy, social and media theory as well as the philosophy of the 19th and 20th centuries. He had regular personal contact with Günther Anders in the last decade of his life.

In an article that Liessmann wrote for Günther Anders' 80th birthday , he describes the first encounter with Anders. Liessmann also organized the first international symposium on Günther Anders in Vienna in 1991 and has been leading a research project to develop his estate since 2012.

Liessmann has been a regular guest on the Sternstunde Philosophie series on Swiss television since 2016 . On July 28, 2016, he gave the opening speech at the Salzburg Festival .

Contributions to the debate

Liessmann repeatedly takes part in public debates. Controversial essays and comments in the feature sections of the daily newspapers Der Standard , Die Presse , NZZ and the weekly profil deal with current issues and discourses on socio-political issues.

Car traffic

Liessmann is a sharp critic of environmental pollution, especially from car traffic. In Der gute Mensch von Österreich , a collection of essays from 1980 to 1995, Liessmann suspected in the essay 'The Principle Auschwitz', "that there is more than just a lexical or phonetic connection between the gassing of the Nazis and the gasping of our civilization consists." Like the SS the Jews, so "with our penchant for Volkswagen and autobahns", said Liessmann, "we destroyed the livelihoods of millions of people and thus they themselves". Driving a car, moving around with "a machine that has made people its slavish appendage", is "everyday fascism".

education

Liessmann published his criticism of the current education system through the capitalization of the mind primarily in Theory of Uneducation , The Errors of the Knowledge Society and in the pamphlet Geisterstunde. The practice of ignorance. In Geisterstunde Liessmann argues against the Pisa study and also attacks the education experts Bernd Schilcher , Andreas Salcher , Richard David Precht and Gerald Hüther ; their reform proposals would exacerbate the flaws in the existing education system. Their importance lies less in the quality of their expertise than in the media attention they enjoy. Furthermore, he criticizes the “competence orientation” of teaching, which was promoted by Minister of Education Claudia Schmied, instead of the orientation towards pure content and sees a transformation of higher schools into socio-educational institutions. In modern pedagogy and the new campus culture with its micro-aggressions and trigger warnings, factual knowledge is no longer important, but the feelings and sensitivities of those affected count everything.

populism

According to Liessmann, populists would be found across the political spectrum. He refuses to ascribe the accusation of simplifying complex issues to the populists alone; rather, all parties are doing it. Political messages would generally represent simplifications. The modern type of protest voter does not choose any political preference, but rather expresses his discomfort with an established policy that he no longer feels taken seriously by. With regard to the US presidential candidate Donald Trump or the FPÖ candidate for the office of Federal President , Norbert Hofer , Liessmann said that completely different phenomena could not be grouped under the inflationary term "right-wing populism". The term would then be a term of embarrassment that denotes everything that does not suit one for various reasons and then no longer has any analytical power. According to Liessmann, barbarians are not to be found on the right-hand side, but at the "switching points of art and science", in quality media and universities.

Language policy

On the subject of gender- equitable language , Liessmann and others called for a "return to linguistic normality". Currently, a "minimal percentage of combative language feminists impose their will on the almost 90 percent majority". Liessmann calls for the "bad habits of gendering" to be dispensed with, from interior I to slashes and underscores. Binnen-I and Co lead to a tortured and illegible language without any sense of style. Gender is reaching questionable proportions in the academic environment.

Liessmann is a critic of easy language , which is characterized by a catalog of prohibitions. Easy language is a pure artifact and an attempt at radical reduction, flattening and simplification. “Easy language is shallow language.” Liessmann is also critical of Anglicisms .

Audio

Selected publications

Book publications

  • Aesthetics of Seduction. Kierkegaard's construction of eroticism from the spirit of art (= Anton Hain . Volume 21). Hain, Frankfurt am Main 1991, ISBN 3-445-06021-5 ; Extended new edition: Sonderzahl, Vienna 2005, ISBN 978-3-85449-241-2 .
  • Without pity. On the concept of distance as an aesthetic category with constant consideration of Theodor W. Adorno . Passagen, Vienna 1991.
  • Karl Marx * 1818 +1989. You only die twice . Special number, Vienna 1992 (2nd edition 1993).
  • Kierkegaard - As an introduction . Junius, Hamburg 1993 (2nd edition 1999; 3rd edition 2003; 4th edition 2010; Chinese translation 2010).
  • The rise of the west. A reconstruction of Europe. Special number, Vienna 1994.
  • The good person from Austria. Essays 1980-1995. Special number, Vienna 1995 (2nd edition 1996).
  • Philosophy of modern art. WUV-Universitätsverlag, Vienna 1993 (2nd extended edition 1994, 3rd edition 1998, UTB edition 1999, 2nd edition of the UTB edition 2000, Czech translation 2000; Spanish translation 2006; Russian translation 2010).
  • The benefits and disadvantages of thinking for life (= lectures for introduction to philosophy , volume 1.) WUV-Universitätsverlag, Vienna 1997, ISBN 3-85114-345-0 (2nd edition 1998, Dutch translation 1999).
  • The great philosophers and their problems. Lectures for an introduction to philosophy 2. WUV-Universitätsverlag, Vienna 1998 (2nd edition 1999, Dutch translation 2000, UTB edition 2001, 2nd and 3rd edition of the UTB edition 2003).
  • Philosophy of forbidden knowledge. Friedrich Nietzsche and the black side of thought. Zsolnay, Vienna 2000 (2nd edition 2000, 3rd edition 2002).
  • Günther Anders. Philosophy in the age of technological revolutions. CH Beck, Munich 2002. ISBN 9783406487200
  • Kitsch! or why the bad taste is actually the good one. Brandstätter, Vienna 2002.
  • Stimulus and emotion. About aesthetic sensations. WUV University Press, Vienna 2003; UTB edition 2008
  • Scouting party in no man's land. Cultural-philosophical diagnoses . Zsolnay, Vienna 2004, ISBN 978-3-552-05303-8 .
  • The island of the blessed. Austrian memories. Studienverlag, Innsbruck 2005.
  • The will to appear. About truth and lies. Zsolnay, Vienna 2005, ISBN 978-3-552-05339-7 .
  • Theory of Uneducation. The errors of the knowledge society. Zsolnay, Vienna 2006, ISBN 978-3-552-05382-3 (2nd – 6th edition 2006, 7th – 15th edition 2007, 17th edition 2008; paperback edition (Piper) 2008; Czech and Croatian translations 2008, Macedonian translation 2012).
  • Future is coming! About secularized expectations of salvation and their disappointment. Library of Unrest and Conservation at Styria-Verlag, Graz 2007.
  • Beauty. UTB facultas.wuv Vienna 2009.
  • Hodnota Clovéka. Filosoficko-politicke Eseje. Nadace Dagmar a Václava Havlovich VIZE 97. Praha 2010.
  • The universe of things. On the aesthetics of the everyday. Zsolnay, Vienna 2010. (Czech and Slovenian translation 2012, Bulgarian translation 2014).
  • Education is a life project. Martin Kolozs in conversation with Konrad Paul Liessmann. Studienverlag, Innsbruck 2011.
  • Praise the limit. Critique of political distinctiveness. Zsolnay, Vienna 2012, ISBN 978-3-552-05583-4 .
  • An optimistic look at pessimism. Wieser, Klagenfurt 2013 (together with Bazon Brock).
  • Philosophy of modern art. Extended new edition, Vienna: facultas.wuv 2013.
  • Limits (in) art. (together with Thomas Daniel Schlee) Wieser, Klagenfurt 2014, ISBN 978-3-99029-122-1 .
  • Witching hour. The practice of ignorance. A polemic. Zsolnay, Vienna 2014, ISBN 978-3-552-05700-5 .
  • The dead live longer. Karl Marx and capitalism in the 21st century. Hanser, Munich 2015 (hanserbox e-book).
  • From head to hand ... and a whole world in between. Wieser, Klagenfurt 2015 (together with Wolfgang Ullrich, Peter Strasser and Eduard Kaeser).
  • (with Michael Köhlmeier ) Who told you that you were naked, Adam? Mythological-philosophical seductions , Hanser, Munich 2016, ISBN 978-3-446-25288-2 .
  • Education as Provocation , Zsolnay, Vienna 2017, ISBN 978-3-552-05824-8
  • (with Nicolas Mahler ) The little uneducated. Liessmann for illiterate people . Zsolnay, Vienna 2018, ISBN 978-3-552-05912-2 .
  • (with Michael Köhlmeier ) Throw the first stone: mythological-philosophical damnations Hanser, Munich 2019, ISBN 978-3-446-26402-1 .

Radio series

  • Thinking and living. Approaches to philosophy in biographical sketches. 5-part ORF CD edition, Vienna 1999
  • Thinking and Living II. Approaches to Philosophy in Biographical Sketches. 4-part ORF CD edition, Vienna 2000
  • Thinking and Living III. Approaches to 20th Century Philosophy in Biographical Sketches. 5-part ORF CD edition, Vienna 2001
  • Thinking and Living IV. Approaches to Philosophy in Biographical Sketches. Rebels and eccentrics. 4-part ORF CD edition, Vienna 2007
  • Storytelling and thinking. Michael Köhlmeier and Konrad Paul Liessmann in a dialogue about the state, beauty and money. 3-part ORF CD edition, Vienna 2011

Editorships

  • The millennium. Essays on a thousand years of Austria. Vienna: special number, 1996 (together with Gernot Heiss)
  • Fascination with evil. About the depths of the human. Vienna Munich: Zsolnay, 1998 (= Philosophicum Lech 1)
  • In the intoxication of the senses. Art between animation and asceticism. Vienna Munich: Zsolnay, 1999 (= Philosophicum Lech 2)
  • Perspective Europe. Models for the 21st century. Vienna: special number, 1999 (together with Gerhard Weinberger)
  • The fury of disappearing. About the fate of the old in the age of the new. Vienna: Zsolnay, 2000 (= Philosophicum Lech 3)
  • The father of all things. Thinking about the war. Vienna: Zsolnay, 2001 (= Philosophicum Lech 4)
  • The wily god. About the future of eros. Vienna: Zsolnay, 2002 (= Philosophicum Lech 5)
  • The channels of power. Freedom and domination in the media age. Vienna: Zsolnay, 2003 (= Philosophicum Lech 6)
  • Fame, death and immortality. About dealing with finitude. Vienna: Zsolnay 2004 (= Philosophicum Lech 7)
  • The poets and the thinking. Interplay between literature and philosophy. Vienna: Zsolnay 2004 (together with Klaus Kastberger)
  • The will to appear. About truth and lies. Vienna: Zsolnay 2005 (= Philosophicum Lech 8)
  • The worth of man. At the limits of the human. Vienna: Zsolnay 2006 (= Philosophicum Lech 9)
  • The freedom of thought. Vienna: Zsolnay 2007 (= Philosophicum Lech 10)
  • The crucial question. "Now tell me, how about religion". Vienna: Zsolnay 2008 (= Philosophicum Lech 11)
  • Money. What holds the world together at its core? Vienna: Zsolnay 2009 (= Philosophicum Lech 12)
  • Criticism & Utopia. Positions & Perspectives. According to ed. with Hubert Chr. Ehalt and Wilhelm Hopf. Münster: Lit 2009
  • Basic concepts of European intellectual history. Truth, justice, freedom, eros, beauty, happiness, work, power, war, death. 10 volumes. Vienna: Facultas WUV UTB 2009
  • About the magic of the beautiful. Stimulus, desire and destruction. Vienna: Zsolnay 2010 (= Philosophicum Lech 13)
  • The State. How much rule does a person need. Vienna: Zsolnay 2011 (Philosophicum Lech 14)
  • The hunt for happiness. Conditions and limits of a good life. Vienna: Zsolnay 2012 (= Philosophicum Lech 15)
  • Animals. Man and his nature. Vienna: Zsolnay 2013 (= Philosophicum Lech 16)
  • Dead ends of the educational reform. Economic calculation - political purposes - pedagogical sense. Vienna: facultas.wuv 2013 (together with Katharina Lacina)
  • I. The individual in his networks. Vienna: Zsolnay 2014 (= Philosophicum Lech 17)
  • There are works of art - how are they possible? Munich: Fink 2014. (together with Violetta L. Waibel)
  • Crime and Punishment. After the end of responsibility. Vienna: Zsolnay 2015 (= Philosophicum Lech 18)
  • New people! Form, optimize, perfect. Vienna: Zsolnay 2016 (= Philosophicum Lech 19)
  • About God and the world. Philosophizing in troubled times. Vienna: Zsolnay 2017 (= Philosophicum Lech 20)
  • Courage to be lazy. The work and its fate. Vienna: Zsolnay 2018 (= Philosophicum Lech 21)

honors and awards

A commemorative publication was written for Liessmann on his 60th birthday in 2013 , which relates to Liessmann's professional activity. This includes u. a. Contributions from Robert Pfaller , Martin Seel , Klaus Albrecht Schröder, Lambert Wiesing , Volker Gerhard , Andreas Gruschka , Franz Schuh and Barbara Schneider-Taylor.

Web links

Commons : Konrad Paul Liessmann  - Collection of images, videos and audio files

Press articles

Individual evidence

  1. ^ Grammar school Villach - Peraustraße: students and teachers as scientists. Retrieved November 19, 2018 .
  2. Generation Harry Potter meets Karl May. In: DiePresse.com. September 24, 2015, accessed January 14, 2018 .
  3. Liessmann's biography
  4. Klaus Nüchtern (interview): "A lecture is a lecture". Konrad Paul Liessmann is retiring. A conversation about reading, politics, political correctness and Gernot Blümel. In: Der Falter 38/2018.
  5. Konrad Paul Liessmann: The unthinkable thinking. Last Age Philosophy. Günther Anders on his eightieth birthday. Extrablatt, Vienna 1982, p. 50-52 .
  6. ^ Konrad Paul Liessmann: The good person of Austria (Vienna: Sonderzahl-Verlag, 1995), p. 170
  7. ^ Konrad Paul Liessmann: The good person of Austria (Vienna: Sonderzahl-Verlag, 1995), p. 171
  8. Konrad Paul Liessmann: The Universe of Things (Vienna: Zsolnay, 2010), p. 148
  9. ^ Konrad Paul Liessmann: The good person of Austria (Vienna: Sonderzahl-Verlag, 1995), p. 171
  10. 'Liessmann attacks education experts' , Die Presse (Vienna), September 25, 2014
  11. Fine facts nzz.ch, accessed on September 9, 2018
  12. ^ "Solidarity is not a political concept" . Interview in the NZZ on April 7, 2017
  13. Popular Populists nzz.ch, accessed on September 9, 2018
  14. Petra Paterno: "Art lets you enjoy the unbearable". In: Wiener Zeitung Online. Retrieved August 3, 2016 .
  15. What Reagan, Bush and Trump have in common . Article in the Berner Zeitung on April 18, 2016
  16. ^ STANDARD Verlagsgesellschaft mbH: Austria in a hundred years: A loss report . In: derStandard.at . ( derstandard.at [accessed on May 16, 2018]).
  17. Konrad Paul Liessmann: Biedere barbarians | NZZ . February 6, 2018, ISSN  0376-6829 ( nzz.ch [accessed February 18, 2019]).
  18. ^ Letter against Binnen-I: Minister sees "wrong sign". Retrieved August 3, 2016 .
  19. Konrad Paul Liessmann: I only go to female doctors profil.at, accessed on September 9, 2018
  20. Schöne neue Sprachwelt nzz.ch, accessed on September 9, 2018
  21. Konrad Paul Liessmann: "I only go to female doctors" | PROFIL.at. July 28, 2014, accessed September 6, 2016 .
  22. Sortimenter-Brief 6/10, specialist information on the book market, sales and advertising in Austria, June 1, published by Verlag Schwarzer Wien, p. 9
  23. The XII. VIZE 97 Prize goes to Austrian philosophers and essayists ( Memento from April 3, 2016 in the Internet Archive )
  24. derStandard.at - Watzlawick Ring of Honor for Konrad Paul Liessmann . Article dated March 3, 2016, accessed March 3, 2016.