Thomas Zwenger

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Thomas Zwenger (born August 10, 1950 in Caputh ) is a German philosopher and professor at the Ludwig Maximilians University in Munich .

biography

Zwenger studied philosophy , German and Indology at the LMU Munich from 1970 to 1976 . This was followed by doctoral studies at the Justus Liebig University in Giessen with the subjects philosophy, history and psychology . During this time he heard in Frankfurt a. M. also lectures with Karl-Otto Apel , Herbert Schnädelbach and Jürgen Habermas . This course was funded by a doctoral scholarship from the German National Academic Foundation. In addition, Zwenger completed a psychotherapeutic training (Psychodrama Stuttgart) and worked for several years as a psychotherapist and communication trainer. From 1984 to 1985 Zwenger was as part of a research stay funded by the German Academic Exchange Service at Balliol College in Oxford. His studies there were related to the dissertation project that had already started. I.a. he studied with Donald Davidson , who was visiting professor at Oxford during this time. In 1989 he received his doctorate with a systematic thesis on the Anglo-American "analytical theory of action" and its possible transcendental philosophical criticism with Hans Michael Baumgartner in Gießen. In 1992 Zwenger took over the position of an academic councilor at the Philosophical Seminar A at the University of Bonn . In 2008 he received his habilitation at the Faculty of Philosophy, Philosophy of Science and Religious Studies at LMU Munich with a thesis entitled “ Philosophy of History - A Critical Foundation”. Since leaving Bonn and returning to Munich in 2015, Zwenger has been an adjunct professor at LMU Munich.

Research priorities

Zwenger developed an interest in a rationalistic "philosophy of the Kantian type" (HM Baumgartner). Historically, this view is based on the tradition of self- and ultimately justifying thought that began with Plato and ran through the stations of Cartesian-Kantian critical rationalism to German German idealism . Zwenger sees philosophy in such a context as being oriented towards the central enlightenment concept of freedom, as the self-enlightenment of reason. Philosophy in this sense is for him indispensable metaphysics , but always as human self-reflection as "ζ⎝ον λόγον ἔχον" [zoon logon echon, d. H. the being who has the logos (reason)]. Philosophy thus sets itself in opposition to the (positive) sciences , which (descriptively) endeavor to acquire "object knowledge" (knowledge of objects), while philosophy is exclusively (normatively) concerned with justifying the validity of terms. It follows from this that such a philosophy, as a transcendental discussion of validity, necessarily means a critical position against modern and postmodern aestheticism and thus has an effect in all areas of culture. From this basic philosophical attitude, Zwenger's work gives rise to thematic focal points in the philosophy of Plato, Kant and German idealism, especially Schelling . He developed a special research interest in the theoretical problems of the philosophy of history .

Publications

Editorships

  • Understanding Kant. On the interpretation of philosophical texts, 1st edition 2001, 2nd edition Wissenschaftliche Buchgesellschaft, Darmstadt 2004 (with Dieter Schönecker ). (Online: content)
  • Oswald Spengler: The Fall of the West . Newly edited and with an afterword by Th. Zwenger, Wiesbaden 2008.
  • Philosophical series: "Spirit and Spiritual Science", Verlag Karl Alber Freiburg / Munich; edited by Hans Joas, Martin Mulsow, Jörg Noller, Birgit Recki, Thomas Zwenger. From this volume 1: The actuality of the mind. Classical positions according to Kant and their relevance in modern times; ed. v. Jörg Noller u. Thomas Zwenger; Freiburg / Munich 2018. (Online)

Books and articles

  • Philosophy of history. A critical foundation. Darmstadt (Scientific Book Society) 2008.
  • Keyword “reflection”, in: New Handbook of Basic Philosophical Concepts, ed. VP Kolmer, AG Wildfeuer, Munich / Freiburg (Alber) 2011.
  • The problem of the historical context. History as a narrative construction with a practical purpose. In: J. Nida-Rümelin, E. Özmen (ed.): World of Reasons, German Yearbook Philosophy, Vol. 4, Hamburg (Meiner) 2012.
  • History - what is it actually? In: M. Rathgeb, M. Helmerich, R. Krömer, K. Lengnink, G. Nickel (Eds.), Mathematik im Prozess. Philosophical, historical and didactic perspectives, Wiesbaden (Springer) 2013.
  • Science on the devil, in: Considering - Knowledge - Ethics (formerly Ethics and Social Sciences (EuS), Dispute Forum for Consideration Culture) 22/2011, Issue 4.
  • The reason of the story. Philosophy of history according to Schelling. In: Wiener Jahrbuch für Philosophie, ed. v. R. Langthaler, Vienna 2015.
  • The 'mind' as a basic concept of a critical philosophy? Reflections on Kant's understanding of reason. In: J. Noller, Th. Zwenger (ed.), Die Aktuellität des Geistes, Classical Positions according to Kant and their relevance in modern times, Munich / Freiburg (Alber) 2018.

Web links

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ T. Zwenger Vita
personal data
SURNAME Zwenger, Thomas
BRIEF DESCRIPTION German philosopher, author
DATE OF BIRTH August 10, 1950
PLACE OF BIRTH Caputh