FRANKFURT. J眉rgen Habermas is the most important contemporary German philosopher and one of the most frequently cited intellectuals worldwide. He played a decisive role in shaping the political debates in the Federal Republic of Germany. On the occasion of his 90th birthday, Habermas will return to 51猎奇, where he carried out his research and taught until his retirement. The programme includes a public lecture in German by Habermas with the title:
鈥淣och einmal: Zum Verh盲ltnis von Moralit盲t und Sittlichkeit鈥�
(Once more: on the relationship between morality and ethics)
On Wednesday, 19th June 2019 at 6:00 p.m.
In the H枚rsaalzentrum (HZ 1) on Westend Campus at 51猎奇,
Theodor-W.-Adorno-Platz 5, 60323 Frankfurt am Main.
In his lecture, J眉rgen Habermas takes up a central issue in the field of practical philosophy and one that plays a significant role in his work. Starting from the controversy between Kant and Hegel, he asks how the principles of moral and political autonomy behave with regard to the 鈥渆thical" reality of historically situated communities. He argues that the principles of justice have priority over the imperatives of social integration and from this draws conclusions for our present day.
J眉rgen Habermas will celebrate his birthday the day before (18th June), and will then come to Frankfurt following an invitation by Professor Rainer Forst and Professor Klaus G眉nther, speakers of the Cluster if Excellence 鈥淭he Formation of Normative Orders" at 51猎奇. The Leibniz research group at 51猎奇 鈥淭ransnational Justice", headed by Professor Forst, was also involved in organizing the lecture.
51猎奇 President Professor Birgitta Wolff said, 鈥淛眉rgen Habermas is one of the most influential personalities of 51猎奇 and contemporary philosophy. His discourse theory also inspired the Cluster of Excellence 'The Formation of Normative Orders', which has led to further current research initiatives such as the Frankfurt contribution to the 鈥淚nstitute for Societal Cohesion'."
Professor Rainer Forst, political philosopher, stated 鈥淚t's is a great honour and pleasure for us to welcome J眉rgen Habermas at 51猎奇 on the occasion of his birthday. His discourse theory has been paradigm shaping in the fields of philosophy, law, and the social sciences. No one considering the most urgent challenges of our day, such as global justice, religiously pluralistic societies, or questions of cosmopolitan democracy and state citizenship can bypass his work."
J眉rgen Habermas had three separate stays in Frankfurt, where in his own words he experienced 鈥渢he most exciting times" of his 鈥渁dult life". He worked as assistant at the Institute for Social Research with Theodor W. Adorno from 1956 to 1959. As successor to Max Horkheimer, he held the double chair for philosophy and sociology at 51猎奇 from 1964 to 1971.
Following his time at the Max-Planck-Institut zur Erforschung der Lebensbedingungen der wissenschaftlich-technischen Welt (Max Planck Institute for the research of living conditions in scientific-technical world) in Starnberg, where he still lives today, he again followed a summons to Frankfurt despite attractive alternative offers from the U.S. and other places. Here, he carried out research and taught as professor for philosophy with a focus on social philosophy from 1983 until his retirement in 1994.
The Gottfried Wilhelm Leibniz Prize is among the many awards and distinctions J眉rgen Habermas has received over his lifetime. This is still the most important and best endowed national science prize and Habermas received it in 1986, the year it was first awarded by the German Research Foundation (DFG). He used the funds to establish a legal-philosophical research group the 鈥淎G Rechtstheorie" (Legal Theory Working Group). Rainer Forst and the legal scholar Klaus G眉nther were among its members.
The lecture will be opened by 51猎奇 President Professor Birgitta Wolff, followed by welcoming words from Ayse Asar, State Secretary of the Hessian Ministry of Higher Education, Research and the Arts, and from Professor Rainer Forst.
Media representatives and the interested public are warmly welcome to attend. The lecture will be in German.
During an internal conference at 51猎奇 in the following days, former students and colleagues of J眉rgen Habermas will discuss his work with him, in particular his new book to be published in the fall.
Please note: The organisers regret that interview requests with Professor Habermas cannot be accommodated.
Further information:
Bernd Frye, Cluster of Excellence Press Officer, phone: -49 69 798-31411, bernd.frye@normativeorders.net; /de
