Kuno Lorenz

Kuno Lorenz

Kuno Lorenz (born September 17, 1932 in Vachdorf , Thuringia ) is a German philosopher . He is a co-founder of Dialogic Logic , philosopher of language and developed a philosophy of dialogue based on the pragmatic theory of action of Erlangen constructivism .

Career

After studying mathematics and physics in Tübingen, Hamburg, Bonn and Princeton , Lorenz received his doctorate in 1961 under Paul Lorenzen in Kiel with a dissertation on arithmetic and logic as games . In 1969 he was able to do his habilitation in Erlangen. In 1970 he was appointed to the chair of philosophy at the University of Hamburg , succeeding Carl Friedrich von Weizsäcker . From 1974 until his retirement in 1998 he taught at the University of Saarland in Saarbrücken, in 2013 the Université de Lorraine (Nancy) awarded him an honorary doctorate (Dr. hc). Since 1989 he has been a full member of the Academia Europaea . Lorenz is married to the literary scholar Karin Lorenz-Lindemann .

With Gerhard Heinzmann and Dietfried Gerhardus , Lorenz expanded the topics resulting from the constructive philosophy of science with art theory and the dialogical philosophy of mathematics. From the close scientific collaboration with Jürgen Mittelstraß , the Konstanzer Schule emerged in 1970 and the encyclopedia Philosophy and Philosophy of Science , published by Mittelstraß since 1980, was impressively influenced by Lorenz through a large number of articles, in particular on logic, the philosophy of language, pragmatism, semiotics and Buddhism. Lorenz's multifaceted oeuvre includes over 100 publications.

Dialogic logic

→ Main article : Dialogic logic

Lorenz developed (together with Paul Lorenzen ) an approach to construct arithmetic and logic as dialogue games. In dialogic logic , logical calculi are written upside-down, so that the initial assertion of a proponent is on top and is defended against an opponent like in a game . This is a semantic logic approach that is also suitable as a model for argumentation . Lorenz presented for the first time a simple proof of Gentzen's main theorem on this game-theoretical basis. If one sees logic and mathematics as games in this way, one can easily choose an intuitionistic approach as a possibility. To this end, an effective structural rule for the defense and offense obligations was introduced. By modifying the rules further, the usual classic logic is obtained .

More statements than usual are allowed for one part of dialogical logic (dialog-definit). The statements do not have to be value-definite or decidable from the start . Meta-statements about the dialogical logic are possible on a strategy level as statements about winning strategies .

Philosophy of language

Lorenz played an essential role in the clarification and reconstruction of the linguistically fundamental process of predication , which is of central importance in the logical propaedeutic of early Erlangen constructivism and in the philosophy of language . The trend-setting work Elements of Language Criticism , published in 1970, uses this approach to create a linguistic construction of the elementary statement following the late philosophy of Ludwig Wittgenstein and explores the possibility of a scientific language. The connection between the independent and dependent use of predicators of nouns and verbs for things and actions is discussed critically . Only the nouns are always used independently. Elementary statements can thus be introduced in direct connection with the predication.

When is a statement true? The basic idea is to resolve the deficits of the correspondence and consensus theory claimed by Lorenz by means of a "dialogical concept of truth": The validity of a statement A depends on the comparison of the use of predicators in A with the (independent of A) introduction of these predicators, which in a The teaching and learning situation is reconstructed. The validity test of the sentence: “This chair is made of wood.” Is thus undertaken by a dialogical comparison of the current use of the predicator “wood” with the introduction of the predicator.

Dialogic constructivism

In Lorenz's work, not only logic, but the entire philosophy receives a dialogical component: it is only possible to reflect on oneself in the mirror of one's counterpart. Lorenz developed a dialogical constructivism from the orientation on the dialogic principle ( Martin Buber ) and the method of language games of the late Ludwig Wittgenstein , in which core aspects of the pragmatism of Charles Sanders Peirce and the historicism of Wilhelm Dilthey are brought together.

Dialogue is used both as a process and as an object of philosophical reflection, and not limited to the level of linguistic interaction.

Lorenz distinguishes between acts of the executive agent (I-Roll) and actions experiencing patients (DU-roll). These complementary roles (also within a person) are dependent on one another. The actions can also be speech acts (speaking): The assumption of the ego role (appropriation) happens in two ways in speech acts : in mere speaking and in giving to understand. The assumption of the you role (distancing) happens when speaking both in the mere listening as well as in the meaningful understanding.

If one takes learning to swim as an example of a dialogical elementary situation, then swimming is conveyed as something to be learned and articulated as a learning step. - Lorenz differentiates the semiotic functions of an action (as showing in mediation on the one hand and as signs in articulations on the other hand) from the pragmatic character of an action as an object. The making of experiences in showing and the articulating of experiences when dealing with the objects of the world are understood as dependent on each other and thus as equal. These items are specific to the object plane or abstract to the plane given or specifically by the actions or abstract characters by actions generated .

With the dialogical construction the structure of our experience is modeled theoretically, with the phenomenological reduction the degradation of the same experience is experienced in practice. Found ( Wilhelm Kamlah ) and produced ( Paul Lorenzen ) are related to each other in Lorenz and world and language are conceived as being equally original.

Indian thinkers

Lorenz has worked intensively on Indian philosophy and Indian logic . It is important to him that you avoid the danger of understanding a foreign culture with your own thought patterns. The own and the foreign are transformed in a process for which there are still no fixed patterns. In the place of the division into theoretical and practical philosophy, there is a division into philosophical views ( darshan ) and religious regulations ( dharma ).

The complementary juxtaposition of people who seem contradictory to one another, typical for Lorenz, is also carried out with the Indian philosophers Nagarjuna and Shankara , among many others .

• Nagarjuna argued that he wanted to restore the middle way ( Madhyamaka ) of Buddhism , for Lorenz an active reason in emptiness ( Shunyata ) by limiting it to the ego role. The constant rejection of all views and their opposite in Nagarjuna should not be understood as a refutation, according to Lorenz. Thinking as the execution of an argument is rather itself practicing in the sense of the path that leads to the cessation of suffering . According to Lorenz, the doctrine of emptiness is itself empty and therefore not nihilism .
• Shankara's Advaita-Vedanta , on the other hand, represents, according to Lorenz, a hearing reason as an experience of appropriating the Veda by restricting it to the role of you. The brahman (a knowledge that characterizes the atman ) can only be personified in Shankara as bhakti , a figure consisting of maya . According to Lorenz, the doctrine of deception is itself deceptive and therefore not an illusionism.

Works (selection)

• 1969 and Jürgen Mittelstraß : The methodical philosophy of Hugo Dingler. Introduction to the reprint by: Hugo Dingler The seizure of the real. Chapter I-IV. Suhrkamp, ​​Frankfurt ( Theory 1 series ) pp. 7–55.
• 1970 elements of language criticism. An alternative to dogmatism and skepticism in the analytical philosophy Suhrkamp, ​​Frankfurt ( theory series )
• 1977 Introduction to: Richard Gätschenberger: Signs, the foundations of knowledge. Second, unchanged. Ed., Increased by an introduction by Kuno Lorenz. (Reprinted from 1932) frommann-Holzboog, Stuttgart ( problemata; 59 )
• 1978 with Paul Lorenzen : Dialogic Logic. WBG, Darmstadt
• 1978 (Ed.): Constructions versus Positions. Contributions to the discussion about the constructive philosophy of science. (2 vol.) Paul Lorenzen on his 60th birthday. de Gruyter, Berlin, New York
• 1980 Philosophy of Language , in: Althaus u. a. (Ed.): Lexicon of German linguistics. Niemeyer, Tuebingen
• 1982 (Ed.): Identity and Individuation (2 volumes) frommann-Holzboog, Stuttgart
• 1986 Dialogic constructivism. In: K. Salamun (ed.): What is philosophy? Mohr, Tuebingen
• 1990 Introduction to philosophical anthropology. WBG, Darmstadt ²1992 ISBN 3-534-04879-2 .
• 1992/6 with M. Dascal, D. Gerhardus and G. Meggle (eds.): Philosophy of language. An international handbook of contemporary research (2 half-volumes) Berlin / New York
• 1998 Indian thinkers. Beck, Munich ISBN 3-406-41945-3 (review )
• 2009 Dialogic Constructivism. de Gruyter, Berlin, New York ISBN 978-3-11-020310-3 .
• 2010 Logic, Language and Method. On Polarities in Human Experience. de Gruyter, Berlin, New York ISBN 978-3110203127 .
• 2011 Philosophical Variations. de Gruyter, Berlin, New York ISBN 978-3110203110 .

literature

• Gerhardus, Dietfried and Silke M. Kledzik (eds.): On finding and inventing in art, philosophy, science : k (l) a pause for thought for Kuno Lorenz on his 50th birthday. Universitätsdruck, Saarbrücken 1985.
• Astroh, Michael (ed.): Dialogical action : a commemorative publication for Kuno Lorenz. Spectrum, Heidelberg 1997.

Individual evidence

1. ^ Membership directory: Kuno Lorenz. Academia Europaea, accessed July 4, 2017 . 
2. ↑ Kuno Lorenz: Logic, dialogical , in: Enzyklopädie Philosophie und Wth, ed .: J. Mittelstraß Volume 2, Metzler 1995, and Paul Lorenzen, Kuno Lorenz: Dialogic logic. WBG, Darmstadt 1978.
3. ↑ Kuno Lorenz: dialogdefinit / Dialogdefinitheit , in: Jürgen Mittelstraß: Encyclopedia Philosophy and Philosophy of Science. Second edition. Volume 2, Metzler 2005. ISBN 978-3-476-02101-4 , pp. 191f.
4. ^ Kuno Lorenz: Elementaraussage , in: Jürgen Mittelstraß: Encyclopedia Philosophy and Philosophy of Science. Second edition. Volume 2, Metzler 2005. ISBN 978-3-476-02101-4 , p. 310 f.
5. ↑ Kuno Lorenz: The dialogical concept of truth. In: Neue Hefte für Philosophie, 2/3, Göttingen 1972, p. 118 f.
6. ^ Kuno Lorenz: Dialogue. In: Jürgen Mittelstraß: Encyclopedia Philosophy and Philosophy of Science. Second edition. Volume 2, Metzler 2005. ISBN 978-3-476-02101-4 , pp. 189-191.
7. ↑ Kuno Lorenz: The reunification of theoretical and practical rationality. In: Dialogic Constructivism. Berlin 2009, p. 155.
8. ^ Kuno Lorenz: Dialogue. In: Jürgen Mittelstraß: Encyclopedia Philosophy and Philosophy of Science. Second edition. Volume 2, Metzler 2005, ISBN 978-3-476-02101-4 , p. 190.
9. ↑ Kuno Lorenz: The Found and the Produced , in: Dialogic Constructivism. Berlin 2009, p. 159 ff
10. ↑ Kuno Lorenz: Indian thinkers. Introduction. The own and the foreign in comparison.
11. ↑ Kuno Lorenz: Nagarjuna and Samkara , in: Otfried Höffe: Klassiker der Philosophie, Vol. 1: From the pre-Socratics to David Hume, CH Beck, Munich 2008, pp. 127–141.
12. ↑ Kuno Lorenz: Nagarjuna and Samkara , in: Otfried Höffe: Klassiker der Philosophie, Vol. 1: From the pre-Socratics to David Hume, CH Beck, Munich 2008, p. 134f.
13. ↑ Kuno Lorenz: Nagarjuna and Samkara , in: Otfried Höffe: Klassiker der Philosophie, Vol. 1: From the pre-Socratic to David Hume, CH Beck, Munich 2008, p. 136ff.

Web links

• Literature by and about Kuno Lorenz in the catalog of the German National Library