Hans-Joachim Niemann
Encyclopedia
Hans Joachim Niemann, born in 1941 in Kiel
, is a German
philosopher who has developed the methods of critical rationalism for applying them in the fields of metaphysics and ethics.
) running a research project about laser isotope separation, oscillation and rotation spectroscopy of UF6 molecules at lowest temperatures which resulted in a number of reports and patents.
Since 1984 he has been a philosopher and freelance writer. His fields of research are epistemology, critical rationalism, problem solving based on rational ethics and criticism of the scientific standards in philosophy. From 1993 to 1999 he was a lecturer at the Universities of Bamberg and Passau
. He was cofounder of the Philosophical Society in Franconia (Bamberg) and the Society of Critical Philosophy (Nuremberg). He also cofounded and co-edited the philosophical journal Aufklärung und Kritik (Enlightenment and Critique).
Kiel
Kiel is the capital and most populous city in the northern German state of Schleswig-Holstein, with a population of 238,049 .Kiel is approximately north of Hamburg. Due to its geographic location in the north of Germany, the southeast of the Jutland peninsula, and the southwestern shore of the...
, is a German
Germany
Germany , officially the Federal Republic of Germany , is a federal parliamentary republic in Europe. The country consists of 16 states while the capital and largest city is Berlin. Germany covers an area of 357,021 km2 and has a largely temperate seasonal climate...
philosopher who has developed the methods of critical rationalism for applying them in the fields of metaphysics and ethics.
Biography
Niemann studied physics, chemistry and philosophy at the universities of Kiel, Munich, Marburg and Tübingen. He earned a degree in physical chemistry in 1970, and a doctorate in the field of laser-induced chemistry in 1972. After that he did some research work for the German Research Foundation. From 1973 to 1984 he was with KWU AG (Siemens AGSiemens AG
Siemens AG is a German multinational conglomerate company headquartered in Munich, Germany. It is the largest Europe-based electronics and electrical engineering company....
) running a research project about laser isotope separation, oscillation and rotation spectroscopy of UF6 molecules at lowest temperatures which resulted in a number of reports and patents.
Since 1984 he has been a philosopher and freelance writer. His fields of research are epistemology, critical rationalism, problem solving based on rational ethics and criticism of the scientific standards in philosophy. From 1993 to 1999 he was a lecturer at the Universities of Bamberg and Passau
University of Passau
The University of Passau is a public research university located in Passau, Lower Bavaria, Germany. Founded in 1978, it is the youngest university in Bavaria and has therefore the most modern campus in the state...
. He was cofounder of the Philosophical Society in Franconia (Bamberg) and the Society of Critical Philosophy (Nuremberg). He also cofounded and co-edited the philosophical journal Aufklärung und Kritik (Enlightenment and Critique).
Books
- Die Nutzenmaximierer - Der aufhaltsame Aufstieg des Vorteilsdenkens (The Utilility Maximizers. The Resistible Rise of Selfishness), Tübingen (Mohr Siebeck), ISBN 978-3-16-150856-1, 2011, x + 230 p.
- Die Strategie der Vernunft. Problemlösende Vernunft, rationale Metaphysik und Kritisch-Rationale Ethik, 2. verbesserte und erweiterte Auflage, (The Strategy of Reason. About Problemsolving, Metaphysics and Ethics Based on Critical Rationalism, 2nd revised and enlarged edition), Tübingen (Mohr Siebeck) 2008, ISBN 978-3-16-149878-7, 306 S.
- Lexikon des Kritischen Rationalismus, (Encyclopaedia of Critical Raionalism), Tübingen (Mohr Siebeck) 2004, ISBN 3-16-148395-2. More than a thousand headwords about critical rationalism, the most important arguments of K.R. Popper and H. Albert, quotations of the original wording. Edition for students in 2006, ISBN 3-16-149158-0.
Translations
- K. R. Popper, Die Quantentheorie und das Schisma in der Physik, ( Quantum Theory and the Schism in Physics, 1982) translated into German by Hans-Joachim Niemann, Tübingen (Mohr Siebeck) 2001, ISBN 3-16147568-2
- K. R. Popper, Realismus und das Ziel der Wissenschaft, (Realism and the Aim of Science, 1983) translated into German by Hans-Joachim Niemann, Tübingen (Mohr Siebeck) 2002, ISBN 3-16147772-3.
- Ian Narveson, Warum ich den Utilitarismus aufgab (Why I Abandoned Utilitarism), translated into German by Hans-Joachim Niemann, Aufklärung und Kritik, Sonderheft 7 (2003), S.50-67.
Articles
- Reason - A Victim of Nazi Legacy, Philosopher's Magazine, Winter 1999, p. 12-13.
- In Pursuit of Relativism. Nicholas RescherNicholas RescherNicholas Rescher is an American philosopher at the University of Pittsburgh. In a productive research career extending over six decades, Rescher has established himself as a systematic philosopher of the old style and author of a system of pragmatic idealism which weaves together threads of...
's Method of Double Writing, Quarterly Journal of Ideology 21 (3&4) Dec.1998, p. 63-95. - Propensity und Serendipity – Zwei Leitideen steuern den glücklichen Zufall, Aufklärung und Kritik 1, (2008), S. 48-73 (Propensity and SerendipitySerendipitySerendipity means a "happy accident" or "pleasant surprise"; specifically, the accident of finding something good or useful without looking for it. The word has been voted as one of the ten English words hardest to translate in June 2004 by a British translation company. However, due to its...
– Two Guiding Principles Controlling Personal Chance). - Über die Grenzen der Toleranz und 'objektive Toleranz' als Instrument der Gewaltminimierung, in: Eric HilgendorfEric HilgendorfEric Andreas Hilgendorf is a German professor of law and legal philosopher. He currently works at the University of Würzburg, serving as Dean of the Law Faculty and the Chair of the Department of Criminal Law, Criminal Procedure, Legal Theory, and Information and Computer Science Law.- Academic...
(Ed.), Wissenschaft, Recht und Religion – Hans AlbertHans AlbertHans Albert is a German philosopher. Born in Cologne, he lives in Heidelberg.His fields of research are Social Sciences and General Studies of Methods. He is a critical rationalist, giving special attention to rational heuristics...
zum 85. Geburtstag, Berlin (LOGOS) 2006, S. 313-338 ('About the Limits of Tolerance and 'Objective Tolerance' as an Instrument for Minimizing Violence'. Contains a proposal for amending the Charter of the UN. - 70 Jahre Falsifikation: Königsweg oder Sackgasse?, Aufklärung und Kritik 2, (2005), S. 52-79 (Seventy Years of Falsification: Patent Remedy or Dead-End?).
- Wie objektiv kann Ethik sein? Aufklärung und Kritik 5 (2001), S. 23-41 (Is Objectivity in Ethics Possible?).
- Die 'Krise in der Erkenntnistheorie' – Sokal, Bricmont und die wissenschaftlichen Standards in der Philosophie, CONCEPTUS Nr. 80 (1999), S. 1-35 (A Crisis in the Theory of Knowledge – SokalAlan SokalAlan David Sokal is a professor of mathematics at University College London and professor of physics at New York University. He works in statistical mechanics and combinatorics. To the general public he is best known for his criticism of postmodernism, resulting in the Sokal affair in...
, Bricmont and the Scientific Standards in Philosophy).