Michael Schmidt-Salomon

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Michael Schmidt-Salomon as moderator at a book presentation by Rana Ahmad , January 2018

Michael Schmidt-Salomon (* 14. September 1967 in Trier as Michael Schmidt ) is a philosopher , author and CEO of evolutionary humanist Giordano Bruno Foundation (GBs) .

Life and career

Michael Schmidt-Salomon comes from a “liberal-catholic” family. His parents, Horst and Doris Schmidt, ran a fruit and vegetable wholesaler. He studied educational science at the University of Trier , where he obtained his diploma in pedagogy in 1992 and obtained his doctorate in the same subject in 1997. phil. with the dissertation topic Knowledge from Engagement . Fundamentals of a theory of neo-modernism with the evaluation summa cum laude .

In 1998 he received the Ethics Prize of the German General Sunday Gazette . From 1992 to 2001 he was a research assistant and lecturer at the University of Trier. From 2002 he worked as a lecturer, a. a. at the Institut d'Études Éducatives et Sociales (IEES) in Luxembourg. From 1999 to 2007 he was the editor of the magazine “ offe und Informations zur Zeit ” . In 2004 he was awarded the Ernst Topitsch Prize of the Kellmann Foundation for his work and for the 2003 novel Stollberg's Inferno . In 2019 he received an honorary doctorate from the Technical University in Liberec .

He was initially married to the qualified pedagogue Natascha Salomon, with whom he has a daughter (* 1990). With his second wife, the psychologist Elke Held, he formed the text and PR office Held & Salomon from 2001 to 2005 , which received the multimedia award of the state of Rhineland-Palatinate in 2001 for the Porta-L project . This marriage also resulted in a child, a son (* 2001).

Act

Social Commitment

In 2004 Michael Schmidt-Salomon and Herbert Steffen founded the Giordano-Bruno-Stiftung (gbs) ; was a managing board member until 2006 and has been board spokesman of the Giordano Bruno Foundation since 2006 . With the gbs, he coordinates around 150 events annually, as well as conferences and campaigns, some of which have received a high level of social and media coverage - starting with the series of events that are free of religion: great fun instead of hell! on the occasion of the Catholic World Youth Day 2005 in Cologne.

In 2005 he published the Manifesto of Evolutionary Humanism , whose theses he regularly brings to the public. With a circulation of 50,000 copies, the manifesto was widely used in German-speaking countries. All in all, his books have been sold over 300,000 times, according to his own statements. a. in Poland, China, South Korea, Italy and Sweden.

He is a founding member of the research group Weltanschauungen in Germany (fowid), the Humanist Press Service (hpd), the Institute for Weltanschauungsrecht (ifw) and the Hans Albert Institute (HAI). In addition, in 2007 he coordinated the Islam-critical campaign “We have sworn off!” And helped found the Central Council of Ex-Muslims and the foundation of the secular refugee aid .

According to the Global Thought Leader Index, Schmidt-Salomon is one of the most influential idea generators in German-speaking countries.

Children's author

In 2008, Schmidt-Salomon and the illustrator Helge Nyncke published the children's book Where please goes to God? asked the little piglet . In December 2007, the Federal Ministry of Family Affairs applied for this book to be placed on the list of publications harmful to minors, but the Federal Testing Office for media harmful to minors refused. After the Regensburg Bishop Gerhard Ludwig Müller in a sermon Schmidt-Salomon because of the book a. a. as a "spiritual gunman", he sued the bishop. The lawsuit was dismissed in the first instance for formal reasons. On the other hand, the Bavarian Administrative Court found on appeal that the bishop's assertions contradicted Schmidt-Salomon's publications and were likely to damage his public reputation. The bishop had not fulfilled his "duty of care, objectivity and truthfulness". The court sentenced the diocese of Regensburg to reimburse Schmidt-Salomon for the legal fees. This judgment was confirmed by the Federal Administrative Court.

Another collaboration with Nyncke is the 2008 children's book The Story of the Cheeky Dog. Why it is wise to be kind that aims to instill naturalistic ethics in children .

For the 200th birthday of Charles Darwin, the book Susi Neunmalklug explains the evolution was published in 2009 .

In 2015 he published Big Family - The Fantastic Journey into the Past together with the illustrator Anne-Barbara Kindle. It is about the representation of the history of evolution as a family history, in which the readers travel back via their mother, grandmother and great-grandmother to their ancestors to the origin of all life on earth. A short film was created from the book, which is used together with the book in Evokids teaching materials for primary schools.

Musician

Schmidt-Salomon composed and wrote the lyrics in the early 1990s for the musical Das Maria Syndrome as a tribute to the American composer Frank Zappa . The play was banned in 1994 with reference to § 166 StGB ( abuse of denominations, religious societies and ideological associations ).

In the Darwin year 2009 he composed and wrote Children of Evolution for the music video of the same name by Ricarda Hinz. Actor Walter Gontermann can be seen in the role of rocking Darwin . The gbs used the video in the campaign "Evolution Day instead of Ascension Day". The clip was one of the most viewed and highest rated educational videos on YouTube in February 2009.

Positions

Philosophical positions

Schmidt-Salomon advocates an " evolutionary humanism ", which he describes in the Manifesto of Evolutionary Humanism . The aim of the program is a secular worldview on a scientific basis, which should replace religion in social and personal-spiritual matters. Schmidt-Salomon emphasizes, however, that evolutionary humanism does not start from unshakable dogmas, but from hypotheses that are subject to constant revision by science. It goes against the idea of ​​eternal truths, scriptures or infallible prophets.

Schmidt-Salomon borrows from Peter Singer's positions . Like this he criticized speciesism , calls for fundamental rights for great apes and the promotion of effective altruism . He rejects the idea of ​​absolute free will and the categories of “good” and “bad” for evolutionary and ethical considerations, referring to Friedrich Nietzsche . By giving up these ways of thinking, he expects a strengthening of ethical awareness and at the same time a "more relaxed [...] world view", not in the sense of a "paradise [it] on earth" without conflicts, but a more sensible, relaxed and humorous attitude.

Schmidt-Salomon also regularly takes a position in current debates. In the circumcision debate , he calls for a ban on circumcision of minors for non-medical purposes, and he also advocates the right to euthanasia . Together with Uwe-Christian Arnold , Schmidt-Salomon wrote the work Last Help , in which he advocates the right to euthanasia. He sees the idea of ​​a multicultural society in which different cultures coexist as a failure and instead offers a transcultural society as an alternative. Through contact with Michael Braungart , he has become a staunch advocate of the cradle-to-cradle principle.

According to Schmidt-Salomon, the open society , which is based on the principles of freedom, equality, individuality and secularity, is threatened by Islamism and right-wing populism . As different as their goals are, what both movements have in common is that they want to dogmatically limit individual rights of freedom. In dealing with these, he pleads for a rational culture of debate and a fight against social inequalities. In his book The Limits of Tolerance (2016) he dealt with the principles and limits of an open society and criticized the attitude of so-called "empireism", which is all about being morally "on the right side" and being genuinely outraged be.

Debate with Joachim Kahl

With Joachim Kahl , whom he met in 1998 at an event on Lake Constance, Schmidt-Salomon conducted an argument in several publications in 2006 that dealt with the differences between Kahl's “secular” and Schmidt-Salomon's “evolutionary” humanism or the question which variant a modern humanism should follow.

In his criticism of Schmidt-Salomon's Manifesto of Evolutionary Humanism in 2005 , Joachim Kahl accused the author of subconscious “crypto-religious, yes omnipotent fantasies” and criticized his ten offers of evolutionary humanism as “door openers to arbitrariness”. For his part, Schmidt-Salomon criticized Kahl's work Weltlicher Humanismus , which he dismissed as a “humanistic reflection primer”. At an event organized by the Bavarian Humanist Academy , he accused Kahl of having too “conservative” a worldview for “contemporary humanism”, and added: “The term 'mainstream philosophy' seems to me to be a good match for Joachim Kahl's philosophy describe. Kahl's philosophy is a 'philosophy of balance', […] [he] tries to mediate between progressive and conservative thinking […] Kahl's extremism is middle-class extremism. "

In his criticism of Schmidt-Solomon's hope, Kahl responded to man . In his review he complained that the author had not yet detached himself from his “religious umbilical cord” and that he was making “religious claims”.

One of the main points of contention between the two philosophers is the terminology of “ good ” and “ bad ”. Kahl believed that the abolition of these moral categories, which Schmidt-Salomon advocated, would amount to abolishing the distinction between right and wrong.

In 2007, Alibri Verlag published a collection of selected texts by Schmidt-Salomons and Kahl as part of the series of publications by the Humanist Academy of Bavaria under the title What is Humanism Today? A dispute between Joachim Kahl and Michael Schmidt-Salomon .

Criticism of Peter Singer

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In 2015, Schmidt-Salomon canceled his participation as a laudator at the ceremony for the award of an animal welfare prize to the Australian philosopher Peter Singer . Protests by organizations for the disabled had already taken place beforehand. The occasion was an interview with Singer in the NZZ, in which he clarified and confirmed his attacked positions.

Publications

Books

Children's books

editor

Discography

  • Salomon (2001, promo CD)
  • Sick as the System (2004, demo CD)
  • The official CD for World Youth Day (2005)
  • Soundtrack for the film Enlightenment is Nuisance (2006)
  • Love you (2006)
  • With Ueber Mother - Disaster (2008)
  • With Darwin & The Naked Apes - Children of Evolution (2009)

literature

  • Change the world. The composer, musician and writer Michael Schmidt-Salomon . In: Krautgarten . Forum for Young Literature , No. 20, 1992, ISSN  0771-6079 .
  • Florian Ossadnik: Spinoza and the "scientific atheism" of the 21st century. Ethical and political consequences of early enlightenment and contemporary criticism of religion . In: Ludwig Tavernier (Ed.): Studies In European Culture . tape 8 . VDG Weimar, Kromsdorf / Weimar 2011, ISBN 978-3-89739-705-7 .

Web links

Commons : Michael Schmidt-Salomon  - Collection of Images

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ So in this interview and this author biography . It is unclear whether this means membership in the Liberal Catholic Church or just a Catholic background with little rigor. In a later interview he speaks of liberal Catholicism, cf. Michael Schmidt-Salomon: "The strength of our open society is education". Interview from December 22nd, 2016 on Galore . Online .
  2. ^ Speaker Michael Schmidt-Salomon, Association Philosophicum Lech. , Archive version of March 3, 2016 in the waybackmachine., And author biography on the Leibniz promo website was not a butter biscuit .
  3. ↑ Michael Schmidt-Salomon. The critic of religion. In: Tagesspiegel , March 30, 2008
  4. ↑ Ernst Topitsch Prize - Prize Winner 2004: Dr. Michael Schmidt-Salomon. In: Kellmann Foundation. April 6, 2006, accessed September 26, 2012 .
  5. ↑ hpd: Honorary doctorate for Michael Schmidt-Salomon , from November 5, 2019
  6. ↑ Lea Salomon's biography on Michael Schmidt-Salomon's and Lea Salomon's page on the book publication Leibnitz was not a butter biscuit.
  7. ↑ Michael Schmidt-Salomons: The most delicate dumbing down since esotericism existed. New cAge - Esoteric 2.0, May 2017.
  8. ↑ Biography Michael Schmidt-Salomon on Michael Schmidt-Salomons and Lea Salomons page for the book publication Leibnitz was not a butter biscuit.
  9. ↑ Dates. Retrieved April 17, 2020 .
  10. ↑ World Youth Day - The Heretics of Cologne. In: Stern , August 20, 2005
  11. ↑ Michael Schmidt-Salomon in conversation with Susanne Fritz: Evolutionary humanism as a form of belief - "I believe in people". Deutschlandfunk, accessed on April 17, 2020 (German).
  12. ↑ Michael Schmidt-Salomon: Bioethics in Evolutionary Humanism | bpb. Retrieved April 17, 2020 .
  13. ↑ Book reference: Manifesto of Evolutionary Humanism. Retrieved April 17, 2020 .
  14. ↑ MSSalomon: the person. Retrieved April 17, 2020 .
  15. ↑ Ranking list German 2016. In: Global Influence. Retrieved April 17, 2020 (Swiss Standard German).
  16. ↑ Religion critical children's book to endanger youth . In: Die Presse , January 29, 2007
  17. ↑ Children's books critical of religion may continue to appear. In: Tagesspiegel , March 6, 2008
  18. ^ Paul Tiedemann: Religious Freedom - Human Right or Tolerance Commandment? Springer (2012), p. 39.
  19. ↑ Where God is denied, human dignity falls. In: kath.net , May 28, 2008
  20. ↑ Sermon must quote correctly. In: sueddeutsche.de. March 4, 2011, accessed March 5, 2011 .
  21. ↑ Fiona Lorenz : Even bishops must stick to the truth. In: hpd.de. March 4, 2011, accessed March 5, 2011 .
  22. ↑ Limits of the Annunciation. In: Süddeutsche Zeitung , August 24, 2011
  23. ^ Nyncke / Schmidt-Salomon, The story of the cheeky dog ​​- Alibri Verlag Forum for Utopia and Skepticism. Retrieved April 17, 2020 .
  24. ↑ Mirjam Zimmermann: From "bus campaigns" critical of religion, "holy shit" and know-it-alls like "Susi Neunmalklug". Didactic suggestions for dealing with media criticism of religion . In: Theo-Web. Journal for Religious Education 12 (2013), no. 1, p. 170
  25. ↑ Big Family - The Fantastic Journey into the Past (book). Retrieved April 17, 2020 .
  26. ↑ Big Family - The Fantastic Journey into the Past (Video). Retrieved April 17, 2020 .
  27. ↑ EvoKids teaching materials. Retrieved April 17, 2020 .
  28. ^ Markus C. Schulte von Drach: Biology in elementary schools - evolution of the paper plane. Süddeutsche Zeitung, November 9, 2015, accessed on April 17, 2020 .
  29. ↑ Christian Schicha , Carsten Brosda (ed.): Handbook of media ethics . Springer VS (2010), pp. 410-411. ISBN 978-3-531-92248-5
  30. ^ Children of Evolution (video). Retrieved April 17, 2020 .
  31. ^ Kai Kupferschmidt: An ethic for naked monkeys. In: Der Tagesspiegel . April 30, 2008, accessed October 17, 2014 .
  32. ↑ Michèle Binswanger: Minority is acquired socially. In: Tages-Anzeiger . January 31, 2012, accessed October 17, 2014 .
  33. ↑ Basic Law for Gorillas? In: Die Zeit , July 31, 2012
  34. ↑ Beyond good and evil . 2009, pp. 9-22
  35. ^ Rolf Dietrich Herzberg : Unfreedom of will and accusation of guilt . Mohr Siebeck Verlag (2010), p. 41.
  36. ↑ Active euthanasia remains prohibited. In: SWR , November 6, 2015
  37. ↑ Does the circumcision debate need an update? In: FAZ , 23 August 2012
  38. ↑ Hope man . 2014, pp. 294-303
  39. ↑ Monika Griefahn, Edda Rydzy: The basic contradiction of the German sustainability strategy. Cradle to Cradle as a possible solution. Starting points and strategic potentials of cultural policy . Berlin (2012). Pp. 369-370
  40. ↑ Markus C. Schulte von Drach : "As long as right-wing populists or Islamists do not violate any laws, they must be tolerated" , interview with Michael Schmidt-Salomon, Süddeutsche Zeitung, November 29, 2016.
  41. ↑ : “We live in the age of empireism. Anyone who points out the dangers of political Islam will be branded a racist in no time at all; anyone who shows that not all Muslims dream of jihad will be presented as an incorrigible do-gooder ”. Michael Schmidt-Salomon, philosopher: deals with the open society , SWR, September 19, 2018.
  42. ↑ Nina Saam: Michael Schmidt-Salomon at Club Voltaire , Baden Online , April 10, 2018.
  43. ↑ Florian Chefai: Conversation with Michael Schmidt-Salomon about the "Philosophy of Serenity": What really matters in life , Humanistic Press Service, March 13, 2019.
  44. ↑ Armin Pfahl-Traughber : Review: "The Limits of Tolerance" - the new Michael Schmidt-Salomon , Humanistic Press Service, October 17, 2016.
  45. ↑ Humanism with the crease - critical considerations on Joachim Kahl's book "Secular Humanism". Contribution to the debate "Humanism between the art of living and criticism of the church" , June 27, 2006, accessed on November 29, 2016
  46. ↑ Joachim Kahl: False start. (PDF) On the criticism of Michael Schmidt-Salomon's “Manifesto of evolutionary humanism. Plea for an enlightened contemporary culture. (2005) ". June 27, 2006, p. 3 , accessed July 22, 2014 .
  47. ↑ Michael Schmidt-Salomon: Humanism with the crease - Critical considerations on Joachim Kahl's book "Secular Humanism". (PDF) Contribution to the debate "Humanism between the art of living and criticism of the church" (Fürth, June 27, 2006, organizer: Humanist Academy Bavaria). June 27, 2006, p. 1 ff. , Accessed on July 22, 2014 .
  48. ↑ Evangelical Central Office for Weltanschauung questions : What humanism can mean today . Material service 3/2008. Author: Reinhard Hempelmann .
  49. ↑ Joachim Kahl: Between Reductionism and Salvation Hopes. Michael Schmidt-Salomon on the way to a new religion ?! His recently published book “Hope Man. A better world is possible "leads to an" alternative creed ", which culminates in the bombastic promise:" I believe in man / Who is the hope of the earth / Not in all eternity / But for millions of years. "In: diesseits.de . March 11, 2014, accessed July 22, 2014 .
  50. ↑ Cf. for example Michael Schmidt-Salomon: Beyond Good and Evil. Why we are better people without morals.
  51. ↑ Michael Schmidt-Salomon: If you haven't heard the shot, you shouldn't talk about a false start ... Reply to Joachim Kahl's criticism of the manifesto of evolutionary humanism. 2005, p. 5 , accessed July 22, 2014 .
  52. ↑ "In this interview, Peter Singer represented positions that, in my opinion, not only contradict a humanistic-emancipatory understanding of politics, but also contradict his earlier standpoints." From humans and other animals. In: Die Zeit , May 26, 2015
  53. ↑ Laudator from philosopher Peter Singer cancels. In: Die Welt , May 26, 2015
  54. ↑ Philosophy Festival invites bioethicist Singer. In: Süddeutsche Zeitung , May 28, 2015
  55. ↑ Interview: Nina Streeck: Ethics: «An embryo has no right to life». In: Neue Zürcher Zeitung. Retrieved February 10, 2017 .
  56. ↑ The band goes to the Brights and u. a. Schmidt-Salomon a. To the author, the “new atheism” appears to be a resumption of old atheist arguments that is essentially unchanged in terms of content. So it says in the blurb. (No longer available online.) 2011, archived from the original on March 8, 2012 ; Retrieved on April 17, 2011 : “This work undertakes a critical comparison of the early Enlightenment criticism of religion by Baruch de Spinoza (1632–1677) with the current“ new atheism ”, that of the so-called“ Brights ”(R. Dawkins et al.) against the revelatory religions ins Field is led. [...] It can be made clear that Spinoza can be considered a pioneer of Bright's criticism of religion in a comprehensive and in no way distant sense. In addition, the perception arises that the “new atheists” - despite their starting point with current scientific theories - are not actually formulating any new criticism of religion, but only those topoi of the Enlightenment orthodoxy of the 17th and 18th centuries and their ethical ones and political and philosophical implications vary - but to expand content without this. " . Review on and by Till Kinzel for the IFB (PDF; 11 kB).
personal data
SURNAME Schmidt-Salomon, Michael
ALTERNATIVE NAMES Schmidt, Michael (maiden name)
BRIEF DESCRIPTION German philosopher, author and publicist critical of religion and culture
DATE OF BIRTH September 14, 1967
PLACE OF BIRTH Trier , Rhineland-Palatinate , Federal Republic of Germany