Max Bense
Encyclopedia
Max Bense was a German
philosopher, writer, and publicist, known for his work in philosophy of science
, logic
, aesthetics
, and semiotics
. His thoughts combine natural sciences, art
, and philosophy
under a collective perspective and follow a definition of reality, which – under the term existential rationalism – is able to remove the separation between humanities and natural sciences.
as a consequence of World War I
. Starting in 1920, he attended grammar school in Cologne
and after 1930 he studied physics, chemistry, mathematics, geology, and philosophy at the University of Bonn
. During his studies, his interest in literature is revealed by several contributions to newspapers, journals, and broadcast, for which he wrote several radio drama
s. In 1937 he received his doctor's degree (Dr. phil. nat.) with his dissertation "Quantenmechanik und Daseinsrelativität" (Quantum Mechanics
and Relativity of Dasein
). He used the term Relativity of Dasein, which he adopted from Max Scheler
, for explaining that novel theories do not have to contradict classical science. Bense – declared opponent of national socialism – knowingly opposed the Deutsche Physik
of the Nazi regime, which rejected the theory of relativity
due to Einstein's
Jewish origin. Therefore he did not receive his postdoctoral qualification.
In 1938 Bense initially worked as a physicist at the Bayer AG in Leverkusen
. After the outbreak of World War II
he was a soldier, firstly as a meteorologist, then as a medical technician in Berlin
and Georgenthal
, where he was mayor for a short time after the end of the war. In 1945 the University of Jena appointed him to curator
(Chancellor of the University) and offered him the possibility of postdoctoral work (habilitation
), which was likely to be cumulative, at the Social-Pedagogic Faculty, which was followed by an appointment to Professor extraordinarius of philosophical and scientific propaedeutics
.
In 1948, Bense fled from the political development of the Soviet occupation zone to Boppard
; and he was appointed as a guest professor in philosophy and theory of science by the University of Stuttgart
in 1949, and as senior lecturer (associate professor) there in 1950. In 1955, Bense raised a controversy concerning mythologizing
tendencies of German postwar culture. Thereupon he became the target of public polemics, resulting in a postponement of his appointment to full professor until 1963.
In addition, he worked at the adult education centre and at the College of Design in Ulm
from 1953 to 1958; he was also guest professor at the Hamburg College for Visual Arts from 1958 to 1960 and in 1966/67.
Max Bense became professor emeritus
on February 7, 1978 and died in 1990 as an internationally accredited scientist.
s – as a statistical language repertoire, and which opposes literature that is based upon meaning. Conversely, Bense studied the concept of style, which he applied to mathematics – following Gottfried Wilhelm Leibniz' Mathesis Universalis –, designing a universal markup language
. "Die Mathematik in der Kunst" ("Mathematics in Art"; 1949) was his starting point for investigating mathematical principles of form in the history of art. From this, Bense developed a perspective to see the mathematical spirit in works of literary art, especially in metrics
and rhythm
. Bense's thoughts assumed the correlation of a mathematical and linguistic consciousness, which have a common origin and have grown into complementary modes of thought. He considered the atomistic structures
of the linguistic modes to be equivalent. By using non-interpretable basic elements (characters) and rules or operators, these forms give meaning, impart information and make stylistically formed language possible. He considered the aesthetic and the semantic information to be generally separated and not to be defined until they are used. This was the first German integration of Ludwig Wittgenstein
's work into the field of aesthetics.
Some of Bense's knowledge is based on the investigations of the American mathematician George David Birkhoff
. Thus some termini like "redundancy" and "entropy" have to be equated with "Ordnungsmaß" and "Materialverbrauch" (consumption of material) from Birkhoff's aesthetics research.
in philosophy. He saw the natural world replaced by an artificial one. As a forerunner of the computer age, Bense thought about the technical counterparts of human existence; unlike many of his contemporaries he considered machines as pure products of human intelligence, having algorithm
s as a basis, but soon he posed ethical questions, which were not discussed in ethics of technology
until decades later. His pragmatic views of technology, influenced by Walter Benjamin
, which lacked either belief in progress or its rejection, brought him the criticism of Theodor W. Adorno
– and again put him in the role of the opposition.
, informatics
, and the occupation with electronic calculating machines, but also by Wittgenstein's concept of the language-game
, Bense tried to put into perspective or to extend the traditional view of literature. In that, he was one of the first philosophers of culture who integrated the technical possibilities of the computer
into their thoughts and investigated them across disciplinary boundaries. He statistically and topologically
analysed linguistic phenomena, subjected them to questions of semiotic, information theory
, and communication theory
using structuralistic
approaches. Thus Bense became the first theoretician of concrete poetry
, which was started by Eugen Gomringer
in 1953, and encouraged e.g. Helmut Heißenbüttel
, Claus Bremer, Reinhard Döhl
, Ludwig Haring, and Franz Mon to perform further experiments, and also had influence on Ernst Jandl
's language deconstruction (see also Stuttgarter Gruppe/Schule).
and Arno Schmidt
. His constructions of analogy to visual arts
made major contributions to the understanding of cubism
and dadaism.
and modern technology constructively complement one another. From this concept of science, he hoped for progressive knowledge, which must always be ethically scrutinized, and at the same time, for the prevention of regression. Because of that, Bense argued for enlightenment
and put himself into that tradition.
After 1984 Max Bense applied his theories of visual art to screen media. Because of that, early thoughts of media studies
concerning the internet
, especially the concept of digital poetry
, can be traced back to Bense.
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, writer, and publicist, known for his work in philosophy of science
Philosophy of science
The philosophy of science is concerned with the assumptions, foundations, methods and implications of science. It is also concerned with the use and merit of science and sometimes overlaps metaphysics and epistemology by exploring whether scientific results are actually a study of truth...
, logic
Logic
In philosophy, Logic is the formal systematic study of the principles of valid inference and correct reasoning. Logic is used in most intellectual activities, but is studied primarily in the disciplines of philosophy, mathematics, semantics, and computer science...
, aesthetics
Aesthetics
Aesthetics is a branch of philosophy dealing with the nature of beauty, art, and taste, and with the creation and appreciation of beauty. It is more scientifically defined as the study of sensory or sensori-emotional values, sometimes called judgments of sentiment and taste...
, and semiotics
Semiotics
Semiotics, also called semiotic studies or semiology, is the study of signs and sign processes , indication, designation, likeness, analogy, metaphor, symbolism, signification, and communication...
. His thoughts combine natural sciences, art
Art
Art is the product or process of deliberately arranging items in a way that influences and affects one or more of the senses, emotions, and intellect....
, and philosophy
Philosophy
Philosophy is the study of general and fundamental problems, such as those connected with existence, knowledge, values, reason, mind, and language. Philosophy is distinguished from other ways of addressing such problems by its critical, generally systematic approach and its reliance on rational...
under a collective perspective and follow a definition of reality, which – under the term existential rationalism – is able to remove the separation between humanities and natural sciences.
Life
Max Bense spent his early childhood in his birthplace Strasbourg and in 1918 his family was deported from Alsace-LorraineAlsace-Lorraine
The Imperial Territory of Alsace-Lorraine was a territory created by the German Empire in 1871 after it annexed most of Alsace and the Moselle region of Lorraine following its victory in the Franco-Prussian War. The Alsatian part lay in the Rhine Valley on the west bank of the Rhine River and east...
as a consequence of World War I
World War I
World War I , which was predominantly called the World War or the Great War from its occurrence until 1939, and the First World War or World War I thereafter, was a major war centred in Europe that began on 28 July 1914 and lasted until 11 November 1918...
. Starting in 1920, he attended grammar school in Cologne
Cologne
Cologne is Germany's fourth-largest city , and is the largest city both in the Germany Federal State of North Rhine-Westphalia and within the Rhine-Ruhr Metropolitan Area, one of the major European metropolitan areas with more than ten million inhabitants.Cologne is located on both sides of the...
and after 1930 he studied physics, chemistry, mathematics, geology, and philosophy at the University of Bonn
University of Bonn
The University of Bonn is a public research university located in Bonn, Germany. Founded in its present form in 1818, as the linear successor of earlier academic institutions, the University of Bonn is today one of the leading universities in Germany. The University of Bonn offers a large number...
. During his studies, his interest in literature is revealed by several contributions to newspapers, journals, and broadcast, for which he wrote several radio drama
Radio drama
Radio drama is a dramatized, purely acoustic performance, broadcast on radio or published on audio media, such as tape or CD. With no visual component, radio drama depends on dialogue, music and sound effects to help the listener imagine the characters and story...
s. In 1937 he received his doctor's degree (Dr. phil. nat.) with his dissertation "Quantenmechanik und Daseinsrelativität" (Quantum Mechanics
Quantum mechanics
Quantum mechanics, also known as quantum physics or quantum theory, is a branch of physics providing a mathematical description of much of the dual particle-like and wave-like behavior and interactions of energy and matter. It departs from classical mechanics primarily at the atomic and subatomic...
and Relativity of Dasein
Dasein
Dasein is a German word famously used by Martin Heidegger in his magnum opus Being and Time, which generally translates to being in its ontological and philosophical sense Dasein is a German word famously used by Martin Heidegger in his magnum opus Being and Time, which generally translates to...
). He used the term Relativity of Dasein, which he adopted from Max Scheler
Max Scheler
Max Scheler was a German philosopher known for his work in phenomenology, ethics, and philosophical anthropology...
, for explaining that novel theories do not have to contradict classical science. Bense – declared opponent of national socialism – knowingly opposed the Deutsche Physik
Deutsche Physik
Deutsche Physik or Aryan Physics was a nationalist movement in the German physics community in the early 1930s against the work of Albert Einstein, labeled "Jewish Physics"...
of the Nazi regime, which rejected the theory of relativity
Theory of relativity
The theory of relativity, or simply relativity, encompasses two theories of Albert Einstein: special relativity and general relativity. However, the word relativity is sometimes used in reference to Galilean invariance....
due to Einstein's
Albert Einstein
Albert Einstein was a German-born theoretical physicist who developed the theory of general relativity, effecting a revolution in physics. For this achievement, Einstein is often regarded as the father of modern physics and one of the most prolific intellects in human history...
Jewish origin. Therefore he did not receive his postdoctoral qualification.
In 1938 Bense initially worked as a physicist at the Bayer AG in Leverkusen
Leverkusen
Leverkusen is a city in North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany on the eastern bank of the Rhine. To the South, Leverkusen borders the city of Cologne and to the North is the state capital Düsseldorf....
. After the outbreak of World War II
World War II
World War II, or the Second World War , was a global conflict lasting from 1939 to 1945, involving most of the world's nations—including all of the great powers—eventually forming two opposing military alliances: the Allies and the Axis...
he was a soldier, firstly as a meteorologist, then as a medical technician in Berlin
Berlin
Berlin is the capital city of Germany and is one of the 16 states of Germany. With a population of 3.45 million people, Berlin is Germany's largest city. It is the second most populous city proper and the seventh most populous urban area in the European Union...
and Georgenthal
Georgenthal
Georgenthal is a municipality in the district of Gotha, in Thuringia, Germany....
, where he was mayor for a short time after the end of the war. In 1945 the University of Jena appointed him to curator
Curator
A curator is a manager or overseer. Traditionally, a curator or keeper of a cultural heritage institution is a content specialist responsible for an institution's collections and involved with the interpretation of heritage material...
(Chancellor of the University) and offered him the possibility of postdoctoral work (habilitation
Habilitation
Habilitation is the highest academic qualification a scholar can achieve by his or her own pursuit in several European and Asian countries. Earned after obtaining a research doctorate, such as a PhD, habilitation requires the candidate to write a professorial thesis based on independent...
), which was likely to be cumulative, at the Social-Pedagogic Faculty, which was followed by an appointment to Professor extraordinarius of philosophical and scientific propaedeutics
Propaedeutics
Propaedeutics or propedeutics is a historical term for an introductory course into a discipline: art, science, etc. Etymology: pro- + Greek: paideutikós, "pertaining to teaching"....
.
In 1948, Bense fled from the political development of the Soviet occupation zone to Boppard
Boppard
Boppard is a town in the Rhein-Hunsrück-Kreis in Rhineland-Palatinate, Germany, lying in the Rhine Gorge, a UNESCO World Heritage Site. It belongs to no Verbandsgemeinde. The town is also a state-recognized tourism resort and is a winegrowing centre.-Location:Boppard lies on the upper Middle...
; and he was appointed as a guest professor in philosophy and theory of science by the University of Stuttgart
University of Stuttgart
The University of Stuttgart is a university located in Stuttgart, Germany. It was founded in 1829 and is organized in 10 faculties....
in 1949, and as senior lecturer (associate professor) there in 1950. In 1955, Bense raised a controversy concerning mythologizing
Mythology
The term mythology can refer either to the study of myths, or to a body or collection of myths. As examples, comparative mythology is the study of connections between myths from different cultures, whereas Greek mythology is the body of myths from ancient Greece...
tendencies of German postwar culture. Thereupon he became the target of public polemics, resulting in a postponement of his appointment to full professor until 1963.
In addition, he worked at the adult education centre and at the College of Design in Ulm
Ulm
Ulm is a city in the federal German state of Baden-Württemberg, situated on the River Danube. The city, whose population is estimated at 120,000 , forms an urban district of its own and is the administrative seat of the Alb-Donau district. Ulm, founded around 850, is rich in history and...
from 1953 to 1958; he was also guest professor at the Hamburg College for Visual Arts from 1958 to 1960 and in 1966/67.
Max Bense became professor emeritus
Emeritus
Emeritus is a post-positive adjective that is used to designate a retired professor, bishop, or other professional or as a title. The female equivalent emerita is also sometimes used.-History:...
on February 7, 1978 and died in 1990 as an internationally accredited scientist.
Mathematics in art and language
Already in his first publication, "Raum und Ich" ("Space and Ego"; 1934), Bense combined theoretical philosophy with mathematics, semiotics, and aesthetics; this remained his thematic emphasis. For the first time, he phrased a rational aesthetics, which defines the components of language – words, syllables, phonemePhoneme
In a language or dialect, a phoneme is the smallest segmental unit of sound employed to form meaningful contrasts between utterances....
s – as a statistical language repertoire, and which opposes literature that is based upon meaning. Conversely, Bense studied the concept of style, which he applied to mathematics – following Gottfried Wilhelm Leibniz' Mathesis Universalis –, designing a universal markup language
Markup language
A markup language is a modern system for annotating a text in a way that is syntactically distinguishable from that text. The idea and terminology evolved from the "marking up" of manuscripts, i.e. the revision instructions by editors, traditionally written with a blue pencil on authors' manuscripts...
. "Die Mathematik in der Kunst" ("Mathematics in Art"; 1949) was his starting point for investigating mathematical principles of form in the history of art. From this, Bense developed a perspective to see the mathematical spirit in works of literary art, especially in metrics
Meter (poetry)
In poetry, metre is the basic rhythmic structure of a verse or lines in verse. Many traditional verse forms prescribe a specific verse metre, or a certain set of metres alternating in a particular order. The study of metres and forms of versification is known as prosody...
and rhythm
Rhythm
Rhythm may be generally defined as a "movement marked by the regulated succession of strong and weak elements, or of opposite or different conditions." This general meaning of regular recurrence or pattern in time may be applied to a wide variety of cyclical natural phenomena having a periodicity or...
. Bense's thoughts assumed the correlation of a mathematical and linguistic consciousness, which have a common origin and have grown into complementary modes of thought. He considered the atomistic structures
Atomism
Atomism is a natural philosophy that developed in several ancient traditions. The atomists theorized that the natural world consists of two fundamental parts: indivisible atoms and empty void.According to Aristotle, atoms are indestructible and immutable and there are an infinite variety of shapes...
of the linguistic modes to be equivalent. By using non-interpretable basic elements (characters) and rules or operators, these forms give meaning, impart information and make stylistically formed language possible. He considered the aesthetic and the semantic information to be generally separated and not to be defined until they are used. This was the first German integration of Ludwig Wittgenstein
Ludwig Wittgenstein
Ludwig Josef Johann Wittgenstein was an Austrian philosopher who worked primarily in logic, the philosophy of mathematics, the philosophy of mind, and the philosophy of language. He was professor in philosophy at the University of Cambridge from 1939 until 1947...
's work into the field of aesthetics.
Some of Bense's knowledge is based on the investigations of the American mathematician George David Birkhoff
George David Birkhoff
-External links:* − from National Academies Press, by Oswald Veblen....
. Thus some termini like "redundancy" and "entropy" have to be equated with "Ordnungsmaß" and "Materialverbrauch" (consumption of material) from Birkhoff's aesthetics research.
Technology and ethics
Bense considered the destruction of the social and intellectual middle-class world since the beginning of the 20th century a parallel to the destruction of the concept of beingBeing
Being , is an English word used for conceptualizing subjective and objective aspects of reality, including those fundamental to the self —related to and somewhat interchangeable with terms like "existence" and "living".In its objective usage —as in "a being," or "[a] human being" —it...
in philosophy. He saw the natural world replaced by an artificial one. As a forerunner of the computer age, Bense thought about the technical counterparts of human existence; unlike many of his contemporaries he considered machines as pure products of human intelligence, having algorithm
Algorithm
In mathematics and computer science, an algorithm is an effective method expressed as a finite list of well-defined instructions for calculating a function. Algorithms are used for calculation, data processing, and automated reasoning...
s as a basis, but soon he posed ethical questions, which were not discussed in ethics of technology
Technology assessment
Technology assessment Technology assessment Technology assessment (TA, German Tenteractive, and communicative process that aims to contribute to the formation of public and political opinion on societal aspects of science and technology.- General description :...
until decades later. His pragmatic views of technology, influenced by Walter Benjamin
Walter Benjamin
Walter Bendix Schönflies Benjamin was a German-Jewish intellectual, who functioned variously as a literary critic, philosopher, sociologist, translator, radio broadcaster and essayist...
, which lacked either belief in progress or its rejection, brought him the criticism of Theodor W. Adorno
Theodor W. Adorno
Theodor W. Adorno was a German sociologist, philosopher, and musicologist known for his critical theory of society....
– and again put him in the role of the opposition.
Structural analysis of language
Inspired by neuroscienceNeuroscience
Neuroscience is the scientific study of the nervous system. Traditionally, neuroscience has been seen as a branch of biology. However, it is currently an interdisciplinary science that collaborates with other fields such as chemistry, computer science, engineering, linguistics, mathematics,...
, informatics
Information technology
Information technology is the acquisition, processing, storage and dissemination of vocal, pictorial, textual and numerical information by a microelectronics-based combination of computing and telecommunications...
, and the occupation with electronic calculating machines, but also by Wittgenstein's concept of the language-game
Language-game
A language-game is a philosophical concept developed by Ludwig Wittgenstein, referring to simple examples of language use and the actions into which the language is woven.- Description :...
, Bense tried to put into perspective or to extend the traditional view of literature. In that, he was one of the first philosophers of culture who integrated the technical possibilities of the computer
Computer
A computer is a programmable machine designed to sequentially and automatically carry out a sequence of arithmetic or logical operations. The particular sequence of operations can be changed readily, allowing the computer to solve more than one kind of problem...
into their thoughts and investigated them across disciplinary boundaries. He statistically and topologically
Topology
Topology is a major area of mathematics concerned with properties that are preserved under continuous deformations of objects, such as deformations that involve stretching, but no tearing or gluing...
analysed linguistic phenomena, subjected them to questions of semiotic, information theory
Information theory
Information theory is a branch of applied mathematics and electrical engineering involving the quantification of information. Information theory was developed by Claude E. Shannon to find fundamental limits on signal processing operations such as compressing data and on reliably storing and...
, and communication theory
Communication theory
Communication theory is a field of information and mathematics that studies the technical process of information and the human process of human communication.- History :- Origins :...
using structuralistic
Structuralism
Structuralism originated in the structural linguistics of Ferdinand de Saussure and the subsequent Prague and Moscow schools of linguistics. Just as structural linguistics was facing serious challenges from the likes of Noam Chomsky and thus fading in importance in linguistics, structuralism...
approaches. Thus Bense became the first theoretician of concrete poetry
Concrete poetry
Concrete poetry or shape poetry is poetry in which the typographical arrangement of words is as important in conveying the intended effect as the conventional elements of the poem, such as meaning of words, rhythm, rhyme and so on....
, which was started by Eugen Gomringer
Eugen Gomringer
Eugen Gomringer is often called the father of concrete poetry. Gomringer lives in the region of Bamberg in Germany, he writes in German .-References:...
in 1953, and encouraged e.g. Helmut Heißenbüttel
Helmut Heißenbüttel
Helmut Heißenbüttel was a German novelist and poet. Among Heißenbüttel's works are Das Textbuch and Marlowe's Ende . He received the important Georg Büchner Prize in 1969...
, Claus Bremer, Reinhard Döhl
Reinhard Döhl
Reinhard Döhl was a German writer and scholar in the fields of literature and media studies, also remembered as a poet and artist....
, Ludwig Haring, and Franz Mon to perform further experiments, and also had influence on Ernst Jandl
Ernst Jandl
Ernst Jandl was an Austrian writer, poet, and translator.- Poetry :Influenced by Dada he started to write experimental poetry, first published in the journal "Neue Wege" in 1952....
's language deconstruction (see also Stuttgarter Gruppe/Schule).
Discussion with writers
In his work with literature and literary language, Bense was not content with only theoretical considerations; he had close contact to authors like Alfred AnderschAlfred Andersch
Alfred Hellmuth Andersch was a German writer, publisher, and radio editor. The son of a conservative East Prussian army officer, he was born in Munich, Germany and died in Berzona, Ticino, Switzerland...
and Arno Schmidt
Arno Schmidt
Arno Schmidt was a German author and translator.-Biography:Born in Hamburg, son of a police constable, Schmidt moved with his widowed mother to Lauban and attended the secondary school in Görlitz. He then worked as a clerk in a textile company in Greiffenberg...
. His constructions of analogy to visual arts
Visual arts
The visual arts are art forms that create works which are primarily visual in nature, such as ceramics, drawing, painting, sculpture, printmaking, design, crafts, and often modern visual arts and architecture...
made major contributions to the understanding of cubism
Cubism
Cubism was a 20th century avant-garde art movement, pioneered by Pablo Picasso and Georges Braque, that revolutionized European painting and sculpture, and inspired related movements in music, literature and architecture...
and dadaism.
Understanding of science
As a theoretician of science, Bense represented the synthetic intellectual concept, where classical humanismHumanism
Humanism is an approach in study, philosophy, world view or practice that focuses on human values and concerns. In philosophy and social science, humanism is a perspective which affirms some notion of human nature, and is contrasted with anti-humanism....
and modern technology constructively complement one another. From this concept of science, he hoped for progressive knowledge, which must always be ethically scrutinized, and at the same time, for the prevention of regression. Because of that, Bense argued for enlightenment
Age of Enlightenment
The Age of Enlightenment was an elite cultural movement of intellectuals in 18th century Europe that sought to mobilize the power of reason in order to reform society and advance knowledge. It promoted intellectual interchange and opposed intolerance and abuses in church and state...
and put himself into that tradition.
After 1984 Max Bense applied his theories of visual art to screen media. Because of that, early thoughts of media studies
Media studies
Media studies is an academic discipline and field of study that deals with the content, history and effects of various media; in particular, the 'mass media'. Media studies may draw on traditions from both the social sciences and the humanities, but mostly from its core disciplines of mass...
concerning the internet
Internet
The Internet is a global system of interconnected computer networks that use the standard Internet protocol suite to serve billions of users worldwide...
, especially the concept of digital poetry
Digital poetry
Digital poetry is a form of electronic literature, displaying a wide range of approaches to poetry, with a prominent and crucial use of computers...
, can be traced back to Bense.
Publications
All publications are in German.- Raum und Ich. Eine Philosophie über den Raum. Luken & Luken, Berlin 1934
- Aufstand des Geistes. Eine Verteidigung der Erkenntnis. Deutsche Verlags-Anstalt, Stuttgart 1935
- Anti-Klages oder Von der Würde des Menschen. Widerstands-Verlag (Anna Niekisch), Berlin 1937
- Kierkegaard-Brevier. Insel, Leipzig 1937
- Quantenmechanik und Daseinsrelativität. Eine Untersuchung über die Prinzipien der Quantenmechanik und ihre Beziehung zu Schelers Lehre von der Daseinsrelativität der Gegenstandsarten. Welzel, Cologne 1938
- Vom Wesen deutscher Denker oder Zwischen Kritik und Imperativ. Oldenbourg, Munich/Berlin 1938
- Die abendländische Leidenschaft oder Zur Kritik der Existenz. Oldenbourg, Munich/Berlin 1938
- Geist der Mathematik. Abschnitte aus der Philosophie der Arithmetik und Geometrie. Oldenbourg, Munich/Berlin 1939
- Aus der Philosophie der Gegenwart. Staufen, Cologne 1940
- Einleitung in die Philosophie. Eine Einübung des Geistes. Oldenbourg, Munich 1941
- Sören Kierkegaard. Leben im Geist. Hoffmann und Campe, Hamburg 1942
- Physikalische Welträtsel. Ein Buch von Atomen, Kernen, Strahlen und Zellen. Staufen, Cologne 1942
- Briefe großer Naturforscher und Mathematiker. Staufen, Cologne 1943
- Das Leben der Mathematiker. Bilder aus der Geistesgeschichte der Mathematik. Staufen, Cologne 1944
- Über Leibniz. Leibniz und seine Ideologie. Der geistige Mensch und die Technik. Rauch, Jena 1946
- Konturen einer Geistesgeschichte der Mathematik. Die Mathematik und die Wissenschaften. (2 volumes) Claassen & Goverts, Hamburg 1946-1949
- Philosophie als Forschung. Staufen, Cologne 1947
- Umgang mit Philosophen. Essays. Staufen, Cologne 1947
- Hegel und Kierkegaard. Eine prinzipielle Untersuchung. Staufen, Cologne 1948
- Von der Verborgenheit des Geistes. Habel, Berlin 1948
- Was ist Existenzphilosophie?. Butzon & Bercker, Kevelaer 1949
- Moderne Naturphilosophie. Butzon & Bercker, Kevelaer 1949
- Technische Existenz. Essays. Deutsche Verlags-Anstalt, Stuttgart 1949
- Geschichte der Wissenschaften in Tabellen. Butzon&Bercker, Kevelaer 1949
- Literaturmetaphysik. Der Schriftsteller in der technischen Welt. Deutsche Verlags-Anstalt, Stuttgart 1950
- Ptolemäer und Mauretanier oder Die theologische Emigration der deutschen Literatur. Kiepenheuer & Witsch, Cologne/Berlin 1950
- Was ist Elektrizität? Butzon & Bercker, Kevelaer 1950
- Die Philosophie. Suhrkamp, Frankfurt/Main 1951
- Plakatwelt. Vier Essays. Deutsche Verlags-Anstalt, Stuttgart 1952
- Die Theorie Kafkas. Kiepenheuer & Witsch, Cologne/Berlin 1952
- Der Begriff der Naturphilosophie. Deutsche Verlags-Anstalt, Stuttgart 1953
- Aesthetica (I). Metaphysische Beobachtungen am Schönen. Deutsche Verlags-Anstalt, Stuttgart 1954
- Descartes und die Folgen (I). Ein aktueller Traktat. Agis, Krefeld/Baden-Baden 1955
- Aesthetica (II). Aesthetische Information. Agis, Baden-Baden 1956
- Rationalismus und Sensibilität. Präsentationen. (Mit Elisabeth Walther) Agis, Krefeld/Baden-Baden 1956
- Aesthetica (III). Ästhetik und Zivilisation. Theorie der ästhetischen Zivilisation. Agis, Krefeld/Baden-Baden 1958
- Kunst und Intelligenz als Problem der Moderne. Kulturamt, Dortmund 1959
- Aesthetica (IV). Programmierung des Schönen. Allgemeine Texttheorie und Textästhetik. Agis, Krefeld/Baden-Baden 1960
- Grignan-Serie. Beschreibung einer Landschaft. Der Augenblick, Stuttgart 1960
- Descartes und die Folgen (II). Ein Geräusch in der Straße. Agis, Krefeld/Baden-Baden 1960
- Die Idee der Politik in der technischen Welt. Kulturamt, Dortmund 1960
- aprèsfiche für uns hier und für andere von Max Bense. Werbung für „Rheinlandschaft“. Burkhardt, Stuttgart 1961
- Bestandteile des Vorüber. Dünnschliffe Mischtexte Montagen. Kiepenheuer & Witsch, Cologne 1961
- Rosenschuttplatz. (With Clytus Gottwald) Mayer, Stuttgart 1961
- Reste eines Gesichtes. (With Karl-Georg Pfahler). Mayer, Stuttgart 1961
- Entwurf einer Rheinlandschaft. Kiepenheuer & Witsch, Cologne/Berlin 1962
- theorie der texte. Eine Einführung in neuere Auffassungen und Methoden. Kiepenheuer & Witsch, Cologne 1962
- Die präzisen Vergnügen. Versuche und Modelle. Limes, Wiesbaden 1964
- Aesthetica. Einführung in die neue Aesthetik. Agis, Baden-Baden 1965
- Zufällige Wortereignisse. Mayer, Stuttgart 1965
- Brasilianische Intelligenz. Eine cartesianische Reflexion. Limes, Wiesbaden 1965
- jetzt. Mayer, Stuttgart 1965
- tallose berge. Mayer, Stuttgart 1965
- Ungehorsam der Ideen. Abschließender Traktat über Intelligenz und technische Welt. Kiepenheuer & Witsch, Cologne/Berlin 1965
- zusammenfassende grundlegung moderner ästhetik. galerie press, St. Gallen 1966
- Epische Studie zu einem epikureischen Doppelspiel. Hake, Cologne 1967
- Die Zerstörung des Durstes durch Wasser. Einer Liebesgeschichte zufälliges Textereignis. Kiepenheuer & Witsch, Cologne 1967
- Semiotik. Allgemeine Theorie der Zeichen. Agis, Baden-Baden 1967
- kleine abstrakte ästhetik. edition rot, Stuttgart 1969
- Einführung in die informationstheoretische Ästhetik. Grundlegung und Anwendung in der Texttheorie. Rowohlt, Reinbek 1969
- Der Monolog der Terry Jo. (With Ludwig Harig) In: Klaus Schöning (Ed.): Neues Hörspiel. Texte. Partituren. Suhrkamp, Frankfurt/Main 1969, pp. 59-91
- Artistik und Engagement. Präsentation ästhetischer Objekte. Kiepenheuer & Witsch, Cologne 1970
- Existenzmitteilung aus San Franzisko. Hake, Cologne 1970
- nur glas ist wie glas. werbetexte. Fietkau, Berlin 1970
- Die Realität der Literatur. Autoren und ihre Texte. Kiepenheuer & Witsch, Cologne 1971
- Zeichen und Design. Semiotische Ästhetik. Agis, Baden-Baden 1971
- Wörterbuch der Semiotik. (With Elisabeth Walther) Kiepenheuer & Witsch, Cologne 1973
- Semiotische Prozesse und Systeme in Wissenschaftstheorie und Design, Ästhetik und Mathematik. Semiotik vom höheren Standpunkt. Agis, Baden-Baden 1975
- Vermittlung der Realitäten. Semiotische Erkenntnistheorie. Agis, Baden-Baden 1976
- Das Auge Epikurs. Indirektes über Malerei. Deutsche Verlags-Anstalt, Stuttgart 1979
- Die Unwahrscheinlichkeit des Ästhetischen und die semiotische Konzeption der Kunst. Agis, Baden-Baden 1979
- Axiomatik und Semiotik in Mathematik und Naturerkenntnis. Agis, Baden-Baden 1981
- Zentrales und Occasionelles. Poetische Bemerkungen. Edition Künstlerhaus, Stuttgart 1981
- Das Universum der Zeichen. Essays über die Expansionen der Semiotik. Agis, Baden-Baden 1983
- Das graue Rot der Poesie. Gedichte. Agis, Baden-Baden 1983
- Kosmos Atheos. Gedichte. Agis, Baden-Baden 1985
- Repräsentation und Fundierung der Realitäten. Fazit semiotischer Perspektiven. Agis, Baden-Baden 1986
- Nacht-Euklidische Verstecke. Poetische Texte. Agis, Baden-Baden 1988
- Poetische Abstraktionen. Gedichte und Aphorismen. Manus Presse, Stuttgart 1990
- Der Mann, an den ich denke. Ein Fragment. (from his unpublished works, ed. by Elisabeth Walther) edition rot, Stuttgart 1991
- Die Eigenrealität der Zeichen. (from his unpublished works, ed. by Elisabeth Walther) Agis, Baden-Baden 1992
Secondary literature
All references are in German.- Eckardt, Michael: "...sich in die wissenschaftliche Welt allerbestens einführen können." Max Bense, Walter Wolf und Georg Klaus zwischen Kooperation und Konflikt an der Universität Jena in den Jahren 1945-1949; in: HOSSFELD, U./KAISER, T./MESTRUP, H. (Ed.)(2007): Hochschule im Sozialismus. Studien zur Friedrich-Schiller-Universität Jena (1945-1990). Cologne/Weimar/Vienna 2007, 1929-1970.
- Eckardt, Michael: Max Bense in Thüringen, in: Palmbaum 14 (2006) 1, 104–111.
- Eckardt, Michael: Benses Kierkegaard in Jena, Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung, January 31, 2006, p. 8.
- Ernst, Christoph: Max Bense: Der Essay zwischen Poesie und Prosa, in: ders., Essayistische Medienreflexion. Bielefeld, Transcript 2005, 135–144, ISBN 3-89942-376-3
- Thomé, Horst: Einheit des Wissens im Zeichen „technischer Existenz“ – Max Bense, in: Becker, Norbert und Quarthal, Franz (Ed.) (2004), Die Universität Stuttgart nach 1945: Geschichte – Entwicklungen – Persönlichkeiten, Ostfildern, Thorbecke 2004, 345–348, ISBN 3-7995-0145-2
- Eckardt, Michael: Bemerkungen zum Brief von Georg Klaus an Max Bense, in: Fuchs-Kittowski, Klaus und Piotrowski, Siegfried (Ed.), Kybernetik und Interdisziplinarität in den Wissenschaften. Berlin: Trafo-Verlag 2004, 391–392.
- Büscher, Barbara; Herrmann, Hans-Christian von; Hoffmann, Christoph (Ed.): Ästhetik als Programm: Max Bense. Daten und Streuungen. Berlin, Vice Versa 2004, 307 pp., with illustrations, ISBN 3-00-014180-4
- Eckardt, Michael: Angewandte Wissenschaftsrevison – Überschneidungen und Parallelen im Schaffen von Max Bense und Georg Klaus, in: Grundlagenstudien aus Kybernetik und Geisteswissenschaft / Humankybernetik, 43 (2002) 4, 143–152.
- Eckardt, Michael: Philosophie und Philosophen in Jena: Max Bense und Georg Klaus, in: Weißbecker, M. (Ed.), Gewalten, Gestalten, Erinnerungen. Beiträge zur Geschichte der FSU Jena in den ersten Jahren nach 1945. Jena, Thüringer Forum für Bildung und Wissenschaft 2002, pp. 51–69, ISBN 3-935850-12-3
- Michael Eckardt und Engell, Lorenz (Ed.): Das Programm des Schönen. Ausgewählte Beiträge der Stuttgarter Schule zur Semiotik der Künste und der Medien. Weimar, VDG Verlag und Datenbank für Geisteswissenschaften 2002, 334 pp., ill., graph. depict., ISBN 3-89739-315-8
- Elisabeth Walther: Max Bense und die Kybernetik, in: "Computer Art Faszination", 1999, p. 360
- Harry Walter: Max Bense in Stuttgart, 1994. 16 pages, 11 pictures. Stapled. Deutsches Literaturarchiv Marbach ISBN 3-929146-25-8
External links
All links are in German.- max-bense.de
- Stuttgarter Schule
- Elisabeth Walther: "Max Bense und die Kybernetik", netzliteratur.net
- Elisabeth Walther-Bense: Chronologic Bibliography of Bense's publications and broadcasts, stuttgarter-schule.de
- Herbert W. Franke: "Das sogenannte Schöne. Max Bense, Informationsästhetik und naturwissenschaftliche Erklärung der Kunst", TelepolisTelepolisTelepolis is the name of a German Internet magazine, published by the Heinz Heise Verlag since the beginning of 1996. It was founded by journalists Armin Medosch and Florian Rötzer and deals with privacy, science, culture, internet-related and general politics and media.Telepolis received the...
, April 9, 1998 - Tilman Baumgärtel: "Die präzisen Vergnügen." "Kreativität mit Großrechenanlagen: Zur Wiederentdeckung der 'Stuttgarter Schule' um Max Bense." Telepolis, March 20, 2005
- Hermann Rotermund: "Keine Anrufung des großen Bären. Max Bense als Wegbereiter für Konkrete Poesie und Netzliteratur", Radio BremenRadio BremenRadio Bremen , Germany's smallest public radio and television broadcaster, is the legally mandated broadcaster for the city-state of Bremen...
, 2001 - Marlis Gerhardt: "Modern ist, wer seiner Zeit gewachsen ist. Max Bense: ein Porträt", SWR2, June 19, 2007, downloadable rtfRich Text FormatThe Rich Text Format is a proprietary document file format with published specification developed by Microsoft Corporation since 1987 for Microsoft products and for cross-platform document interchange....
-file, 17 pp., 64 kB - Daniel Fetzner: „fogpatch“ Creative research project (2007-2010) about the text "Existenzmitteilung aus San Franzisko"