Ralf Liedtke

Ralf Liedtke (2000)

Ralf Liedtke (* 1960 ) is a German philosopher and professor of philosophy at the Otto Friedrich University in Bamberg . Theoretical and historical focus of his scientific work lies in the research of hermetics , alchemy and the natural philosophy of German Romanticism , especially Novalis and Schelling . In addition, he is active in Masonic research. In the field of practical philosophy, Liedtke is particularly concerned with the professional ethics of engineers. As a lecturer in the subject didactics of philosophy and ethics classes at the University of Bamberg and as a subject supervisor for ethics, Liedtke continues to lead the “Dialogue School and Science” at Bamberg's Eichendorff-Gymnasium .

Hermetic philosophy

Ralf Liedtke is the first German philosopher to examine the Corpus Hermeticum from a systematic, natural-philosophical perspective. He advocates the thesis that the hermetic tradition, which was often referred to as irrationalism, describes its own form of thought and logic . As a way of thinking of difference , hermetics stands in opposition to the philosophy of identity of occidental metaphysics since Plato . Insofar as, according to Liedtke, it is based on the principle of movement, everything that is becoming and changing is traditionally non-existing or as chaos - old Gr. Meaning: 'Emptiness' - was considered, the hermetic theory of nature is the historical forerunner of theories of self-organization as well as systems theory and chaos research .

A peculiarity of the Hermetic philosophy is its mysterious symbolism , which is currently attracting great public interest. The novels of the popular American writer Dan Brown contributed significantly to this, especially his new work The Lost Symbol . Brown clarifies the close relationship between hermetic symbolism and Freemasonry .

The first and so far only explicit “Chair of Hermetic Philosophy” is at the University of Amsterdam. Wouter Hanegraaff has held the chair since 1999 .

Engineering ethics

In addition to research on hermetics, Liedtke is also the author of Termaximus , an ethical professional oath for engineers, comparable to the medical oath of Hippocrates . The engineer oath was developed in cooperation with the German Federal Chamber of Engineers (BIngK) and included in the chamber's model professional regulations. It makes a natural-philosophical and ethical contribution to the protection of people and the environment.

Scientific memberships

In addition to his membership in the German Society for Philosophy - DGPhil - Liedtke u. a. also active in the scientific advisory board of the Masonic research lodge Quatuor Coronati. In addition, he participates in the Freemason Research Network and is a scientific member of the European Society for the Study of Western Esotericism (ESSWE), the first European research organization that also deals with Hermetic Philosophy.

Publications (books)

• The hermetic. Traditional philosophy of difference. Paderborn u. a. 1996.
• The engineer oath. Ethical - natural philosophy - legal perspectives (together with Ulrike Wendeling-Schröder , W. Meihorst). With a contribution from HRH The Prince of Wales. Bretten 2000.
• The romantic paradigm of chemistry. Friedrich von Hardenberg's natural philosophy between empiricism and alchemical speculation. Paderborn 2003.
• Hermes In Nuce. Hermetic writings of the 18th century (ed.). Sinzheim 2005.
• Spirituality in Freemasonry (ed.). Bamberg 2010.
• On the value of values ​​(ed.). Bamberg 2011.

Web links

• Homepage of Ralf Liedtke

Individual evidence

1. ↑ http://www.eg-bamberg.de/dialogschuleundwissenschaft.html
2. ↑ http://www.termaximus.de/
3. ↑ http://www.bingk.de/media/Must_Ord_BIngK.pdf  ( page no longer available , search in web archives )  Info: The link was automatically marked as defective. Please check the link according to the instructions and then remove this notice.  
4. ↑ http://www.freimaurerforschung.de/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=64&Itemid=41
5. ↑ http://www.esswe.org/#members/273/index.html