Wilhelm Hennis

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Wilhelm Hennis (born February 18, 1923 in Hildesheim ; † November 10, 2012 in Freiburg im Breisgau ) was a German political scientist .

Live and act

Hennis, son of the sales representative and botanist Wilhelm Hennis and his wife Gertrud Hennis born. Hellberg and grandson of the founder of an orchid nursery of the same name, spent the first ten years of his life in his native Hildesheim. In 1933 the family emigrated to Venezuela , where the father, on behalf of President Juan Vicente Gómez, was to plant a mulberry plantation in San Juan de los Morros, a small town on the edge of the Llanos , in order to make Venezuela self-sufficient in silk production . The project quickly failed due to climatic reasons, which is why the family moved to the capital Caracas , where Hennis attended the German Humboldt School. At the end of 1937 he returned to Germany because of a better education and attended the Freiherr von Fletcher School in Dresden , where he lived in the boarding school . After graduating from high school in 1942, he was immediately drafted into the Navy and served as an officer until his discharge in August 1945. He survived the sinking of the U2 submarine .

In the winter semester 1945/46 , Hennis enrolled at the Georg-August University in Göttingen to study law , which he completed after seven semesters in October 1949 with the first state examination at the Higher Regional Court of Celle . Then he wrote his doctoral thesis The problem of sovereignty with which he in 1951 Rudolf Smend doctorate was. In 1945 Hennis was one of the founders of the Göttingen University newspaper , where he gained his first journalistic experience. He was also involved in the SDS with fellow students who were friends, including Horst Ehmke and Peter von Oertzen . Like them, Hennis always felt connected to the teacher Rudolf Smend, whose treatises on constitutional law he first published in 1954. In this respect, Hennis is part of the German constitutional law doctrine in the early Federal Republic of the Smend School in the school dispute, although he repeatedly distanced himself from their understanding of constitution and fundamental rights.

After completing his doctorate, Hennis went to Bonn , where he worked as a research assistant for the SPD parliamentary group in the Bundestag . He worked for Adolf Arndt , the parliamentary group's legal expert, who during this time was preparing several lawsuits before the newly established Federal Constitutional Court , through which the SPD wanted to gain influence on foreign policy. Hennis was involved in the preparation of the briefs on which the lawsuits against the Schuman Plan and the EVG Treaty were based. In 1951 Arndt also took over the representation of the constitutional complaint of the Hamburg Senate Director Erich Lüth and left his young colleague Hennis to work out the complaint, which was received by the Federal Constitutional Court in December 1951. The Lüth judgment , which was epoch-making for the dogmatics of fundamental rights, was not issued until 1958. By this time, Hennis had long since given up law in favor of political science. With his role as "indispensable link (...) in the causal chain", which led to the momentous judgment, he liked to flirt in later years.

At the invitation of Henry Kissinger , Hennis traveled to the USA in 1952 and spent the summer at Harvard . He was able to extend his stay in America by a few months and came into personal contact with Otto Kirchheimer , Eric Voegelin and Leo Strauss . In March 1953, Hennis became Carlo Schmid's assistant at the Institute for Political Science at the University of Frankfurt am Main . Here he gave in the fall of 1959 his habilitation thesis The concept of political science - a contribution to its reconstruction one with which he in June 1960 habilitated and in 1963 under the title policy and Practical Philosophy. A study to reconstruct political science was first published. The work had not met with unanimous approval in the faculty, in which a dispute over the direction between empirical-social-scientific and philosophical orientation within the political science that was being developed became apparent. In the summer of 1960, Hennis was offered a position at the University of Education in Hanover , and in 1962 he was appointed full professor of political science alongside Siegfried Landshut at the University of Hamburg . From there he went to the University of Freiburg in 1967 , where he held the chair for political theory until his retirement in 1988 . Hennis' academic students include Heinrich Meier , Reinhard Mehring, and Petra Weber .

From 1960 to 1975, Hennis was co-editor of the Politica series . Treatises and texts on political science in Luchterhand-Verlag . This project is remarkable for the intellectual history of the Federal Republic insofar as the second editor was Roman Schnur , an avowed Schmittian , who founded the magazine Der Staat at the same time with Ernst-Wolfgang Böckenförde . The declared goal of the editors of Politica was to overcome the old fronts between Schmitt and Smend schools in the younger generation. The series opened with Iring Fetscher's work Rousseau's political philosophy and, in 1962, brought the influential habilitation thesis Structural Change of the Public by Jürgen Habermas as the fourth volume . A dispute between the editors came about as early as 1963 about a second volume by Habermas, the collection of essays Theory and Practice : Schnur rejected another title by the Frankfurt artist, Hennis, which was to become Habermas' antipode after 1968, advocated the book. In the dispute, Schnur got out of the project, for which Hennis and Hans Maier were now responsible.

Hennis joined the SPD in 1946 , but left the party in 1958 to protest against their support for the fight against atomic death . In 1962 he returned to the party. At this point in time, Hennis had already made a name for himself as an important academic proponent of an electoral reform that aimed at moving from proportional representation to relative majority voting . So he had in office thought and concept of democracy , promoted his Frankfurt inaugural lecture in February 1961 for the electoral system in a one-man constituencies on the British model, which the Parliamentary system of government would be more appropriate than the proportional representation. He tried to win his party for this demand, which was not very popular there, and in 1966 he supported the formation of the grand coalition “solely with the justification of laying the constitutional and electoral foundations of a parliamentary chancellor democracy in the long run”. In February 1967, Hennis was appointed by Interior Minister Paul Lücke alongside Günter Dürig , Thomas Ellwein , Ferdinand Hermens , Erwin Scheuch and Ulrich Scheuner on the advisory board on electoral reform, which was chaired by Theodor Eschenburg . When it became clear that the reform was being delayed by the SPD in order to keep the FDP as a possible coalition partner, Hennis left the party again in 1969, this time for good.

In Freiburg , Hennis has been a target of the student movement since 1968 . For his part, he made a name for himself as a staunch opponent of the movement with his lecture Die deutsche Unruhe , published in the magazine Merkur in February 1969 . Against the background of the Weimar experience , he saw dangers for the state and universities. In 1970, Hennis was one of the closest founding circle of the Bund Freiheit der Wissenschaft : together with Hans Maier , Richard Löwenthal and Hermann Lübbe , he formulated the call for a foundation ( Ernst Nolte provided the name) and was a member of the founding committee. In a series of publications, Hennis positioned himself as a conservative admonisher against tendencies of the 1970s: in democratization. On the problem of a term (1969) he turned against the transfer of the state organization principle of democracy to the social sphere, in legitimacy. On a category of civil society (1975) he argued against Habermas ' legitimation problems in late capitalism and in Organized Socialism (1977) against the Orientierungsrahmen '85 , a program paper of the left wing of the SPD. After the formation of the social-liberal coalition in 1969, Hennis also joined the CDU and worked on the party’s policy commission headed by his fellow student in Göttingen, Richard von Weizsäcker .

Hennis' campaign against the civil use of nuclear energy stood across from his party-political commitment . He considered Paragraph 9a of the Atomic Energy Act , which regulates waste disposal, to be unconstitutional, "since it is not possible to dispose of it in a way that is responsible for future generations." Together with Max Himmelträger and Fabian von Schlabrendorff , he won over the publisher Ernst Klett to commission Hasso Hofmann to issue a legal opinion that expanded into the monograph Legal Issues on Nuclear Waste Management . Hennis declared the peaceful use of atomic energy "unworthy of a free society".

In 1977/78 Hennis was the Theodor Heuss Professorship at the New School for Social Research in New York . Here he came into contact with Hans Staudinger , who had studied in Heidelberg before the First World War and who deeply admired Max Weber . At Hennis, an old passion for Weber was reactivated: He later reported that this passion was in 1944 with reading Karl Jaspers ' book Max Weber. German Being in Political Thought, Research and Philosophy (1932) and shaped his studies, but then he would have distanced himself in the wake of Eric Voegelin and Leo Strauss von Weber. After returning from New York, Hennis turned to in-depth Weber reading, published the first essay on the subject in 1982 ( Max Weber's question ) and then published for over twenty years in this field; his Weber studies are now available in three volumes ( Max Weber's questioning (1987), Max Weber's science of humans (1996) and Max Weber and Thukydides (2003)). Hennis ties in early Weber-interpretations Karl Löwith and Siegfried Landshut and turns decidedly against the use of Weber as a founding father of modern sociology , as a result of the works, Talcott Parsons had prevailed and by the editors of Max Weber Complete Edition championed becomes. Hennis, on the other hand, places Weber in the tradition of political philosophy since Plato and in his work sets out the central question of the fate of humanity under the conditions of modernity, from which the consistent theme of the connection between personality and order of life emerged.

Hennis saw political science as practical science . He had set out his approach in the post-doctoral thesis Politics and Practical Philosophy and always adhered to it. It followed on from the Aristotelian distinction between theory and practice. While theoretical sciences strive for knowledge for their own sake, practical sciences (in Aristotle's politics, ethics and economics) always relate to human action and thus to conscious choice. Political science as a practical science in this tradition is determined for Hennis by two essential aspects: on the one hand by its teleological character, insofar as it is always related to the meaning and purpose of domination and therefore necessarily contains normative elements, on the other hand by its scientific method, which never can lead to such exact results as in the theoretical sciences, rather in the topic , the collection and weighing of arguments, find their appropriate way of working. According to Hennis, this tradition was lost in the wake of modern rationalism ( René Descartes , Francis Bacon ; transferred by Thomas Hobbes to political theory), which transferred the concept of the theoretical sciences to practice. Hennis' reconstruction of the traditional understanding of science contrasted it with the predominant empirical-scientistic approaches of political science. In his writings, always starting from current problems, he dealt with questions of government theory , political parties and the history of ideas . Since the 1960s he has accompanied the political development of the Federal Republic in articles in the daily press.

Hennis was with the art historian Haide Hennis, geb. Gundelach, (1922–2004) married.

Honors

In 1987 Hennis received the Great Federal Cross of Merit of the Federal Republic of Germany and in 2003 the Reuchlin Prize of the city of Pforzheim . In 1988 he was elected a corresponding member of the Göttingen Academy of Sciences . On July 14, 2009 he received the Dr. rer. pole. honorary of the University of Hamburg. Christine Landfried gave the laudation . In the same year he was awarded the Theodor Eschenburg Prize of the DVPW .

Fonts (selection)

  • The problem of sovereignty. A contribution to the recent history of literature and current problems in political science. With a foreword by Christian Starck . Mohr Siebeck, Tübingen 2003, ISBN 3-16-147974-2 (at the same time: Göttingen, University, dissertation, 1951 typed; published for the first time on Hennis' 80th birthday).
  • Politics and Practical Philosophy. A study on the reconstruction of political science (= Politica. Treatises and texts on political science. 14, ZDB -ID 504386-4 ). Luchterhand, Neuwied am Rhein u. a. 1963 (At the same time: Frankfurt am Main, University, habilitation paper, 1959/1960).
  • Max Weber's question. Studies on the biography of the work. Mohr, Tübingen 1987, ISBN 3-16-345150-0 (In English: Max Weber. Essays in Reconstruction. Translated by Keith Tribe. Allen & Unwin, London 1988, ISBN 0-04-301301-5 ; in Italian: Il problema Max Weber. A cura di Enzo Grillo. Laterza, Rome et al. 1991, ISBN 88-420-3753-2 ; in French: La Problema de Max Weber. Traduit de l'allemand par Lilyane Deroche-Gurcel. Presses Universitaires de France, Paris 1996, ISBN 2-13-046650-8 ).
  • Max Weber's Science of Man. New studies on the biography of the work. Mohr, Tübingen 1996, ISBN 3-16-146543-1 kart., ISBN 3-16-146544-X (In English: Max Weber's Science of Man. New Studies for a Biography of the Work. Translated by Keith Tribe. Threshold Press, Newbury 2000, ISBN 1-903152-00-3 ).
  • Politics as a practical science. Essays on political theory and government theory. Piper, Munich 1968 (In English: Politics as a practical Science. Translated by Keith Tribe. Palgrave Macmillan, Basingstoke et al. 2009, ISBN 978-0-230-00728-4 ).
  • On the way to the party state. Essays from four decades (= Reclams Universal Library . No. 9724). Reclam, Stuttgart 1998, ISBN 3-15-009724-X .
  • Political science treatises. 2 volumes. Mohr Siebeck, Tübingen:
  • Max Weber and Thucydides. The "Hellenic intellectual culture" and the origins of Weber's political way of thinking (= news of the Academy of Sciences in Göttingen. Philological-Historical Class. Year 2003, No. 1, ISSN  0065-5287 ).
  • Max Weber and Thucydides. Supplements to the biography of the work. Mohr Siebeck, Tübingen 2003, ISBN 3-16-147973-4 .

literature

Web links

Footnotes

  1. ^ Political scientist Wilhelm Hennis has died. In: Badische Zeitung , November 10, 2012, accessed on January 9, 2015.
  2. ^ Hennis' curriculum vitae from January 12, 1951 from the doctoral files, printed by: Reinhard Mehring: Laudatio. Award of the Theodor Eschenburg Prize to Prof. Dr. Dr. hc Wilhelm Hennis on September 24, 2009 at the congress of the German Association for Political Science in Kiel. In: PVS 50 (2009), pp. 816–823, here: pp. 817 f.
  3. ^ Wilhelm Hennis: Political Science as a Profession . In: Wilhelm Hennis: Governing in the modern state. Political science treatises I , Tübingen 1999, pp. 381-415, here: pp. 399 f.
  4. ^ Last in 3rd edition: Rudolf Smend: Staatsrechtliche Abhandlungen und other essays . Duncker & Humblot, Berlin 1994.
  5. ↑ In addition the review by Ernst-Wolfgang Böckenförde : Hennis, Wilhelm, Constitution and Constitutional Reality. A German problem. Tübingen 1968, JCB Mohr . In: Der Staat 9 (1970), pp. 533-536.
  6. ^ Thomas Darnstädt : classified information Karlsruhe. The internal files of the Federal Constitutional Court. Munich 2018, p. 201 and p. 204–207 (the constitutional complaint is dated December 18, 1951). Regarding the course of the proceedings: BVerfGE 7, 198 .
  7. ^ Wilhelm Hennis: Political Science as a Profession . In: Wilhelm Hennis: Governing in the modern state. Political science treatises I , Tübingen 1999, pp. 381-415, here: pp. 403 ff., Quoted on p. 405.
  8. ^ Stephan Schlak : Wilhelm Hennis. Scenes from a history of ideas in the Federal Republic , Munich 2008, p. 54 f.
  9. ↑ On the habilitation process: Reinhard Mehring: Teleologie und Topik. From practical philosophy to political science . In: Andreas Anter (ed.): Wilhelm Hennis' political science. Questions and Diagnoses , Tübingen 2013, pp. 47–72, here: pp. 49–51.
  10. ^ Stephan Schlak: Wilhelm Hennis. Scenes from a history of ideas in the Federal Republic , Munich 2008, pp. 75–78.
  11. ^ Rüdiger Voigt: Wilhelm Hennis and the social democracy . In: Andreas Anter (ed.): Wilhelm Hennis' political science , Tübingen 2013, pp. 153–166, here: pp. 153 f.
  12. ↑ Wilhelm Hennis: Office thought and concept of democracy . In: Wilhelm Hennis: Political Science and Political Thought. Political science treatises II , Tübingen 2000, pp. 127–147, especially: pp. 135 ff.
  13. ^ Wilhelm Hennis: The German Bundestag 1949-1965. Achievements and reform tasks . Published in 1966 in the magazine The Month , reprinted in: Wilhelm Hennis: On the way to the party state , Stuttgart 1998, pp. 21–48, quoted on p. 29.
  14. ^ Stephan Schlak: Wilhelm Hennis. Scenes from a history of ideas in the Federal Republic , Munich 2008, p. 124 f. with p. 252, note 23.
  15. ↑ Founding appeal from 1970.
  16. ↑ Hans Maier: Bad Years, Good Years. Ein Leben 1931 ff. , Munich 2011, p. 172 f.
  17. ↑ Both texts reprinted in: Wilhelm Hennis: Political Science and Political Thinking. Political Science Treatises II , Tübingen 2000.
  18. ^ Wilhelm Hennis: Organized Socialism. On the strategic understanding of the state and politics of social democracy . Klett, Stuttgart 1977.
  19. ^ Stephan Schlak: Wilhelm Hennis. Scenes from a history of ideas in the Federal Republic . Munich 2008, p. 174.
  20. ^ Hasso Hofmann: Legal issues of atomic disposal . Klett-Cotta, Stuttgart 1981.
  21. ↑ To this section: Wilhelm Hennis: Political Science as Profession . In: Wilhelm Hennis: Governing in the modern state. Political science treatises I , Tübingen 1999, pp. 381-415, here: p. 405 (also both quotations).
  22. ^ Stephan Schlak: Wilhelm Hennis. Scenes from a history of ideas in the Federal Republic . Munich 2008, p. 186 f.
  23. ^ Wilhelm Hennis: Max Weber's question . Tübingen 1987, p. III (preliminary remark).
  24. ^ Wilhelm Hennis: Max Webers Questioning , Tübingen 1987, pp. 3–8.
  25. ↑ Critical to the complete edition: Wilhelm Hennis: In the long shadow of an edition - To the publication of the first volume of the Max Weber Complete Edition (MWG) (1985) . In: Wilhelm Hennis: Max Weber and Thukydides , Tübingen 2003, pp. 73–86.
  26. ^ Wilhelm Hennis: Max Webers Wissenschaft vom Menschen , Tübingen 1996, p. 94.
  27. ^ Wilhelm Hennis: Politics and practical philosophy. A study on the reconstruction of political science . In: Wilhelm Hennis: Political Science and Political Thought. Political science treatises II , Tübingen 2000, pp. 1–126, here: pp. 30 f.
  28. ↑ To this: Reinhard Mehring: Teleologie und Topik. From practical philosophy to political science . In: Andreas Anter (ed.): Wilhelm Hennis' political science. Questions and Diagnoses , Tübingen 2013, pp. 47–72.
  29. ^ Wilhelm Hennis: Politics and practical philosophy. A study on the reconstruction of political science . In: Wilhelm Hennis: Political Science and Political Thought. Political science treatises II , Tübingen 2000, pp. 1–126, here: pp. 35–46.
  30. ↑ Complete list of Hennis 'newspaper articles in: Andreas Anter (Hrsg.): Wilhelm Hennis' political science. Questions and Diagnoses , Tübingen 2013, pp. 347–357.
  31. ^ List of members . In: Yearbook of the Göttingen Academy of Sciences . tape 2011 , no. 1 , 2012, p. 44 .
  32. ↑ Review ( H-Soz-Kult ).
personal data
SURNAME Hennis, Wilhelm
BRIEF DESCRIPTION German political scientist
DATE OF BIRTH February 18, 1923
PLACE OF BIRTH Hildesheim
DATE OF DEATH November 10, 2012
Place of death Freiburg in Breisgau