Areas of Specialization and Areas of Competence
Main areas of interest in systematic research:
philosophy of biology, philosophy of complexity and process-philosophy.
The subject of the Habilitation-thesis is a process-theoretical consideration of the ontogenetic/embryo-genetic becoming of organisms. The process-philosophical approach is suggested as a possible way to solve some essential problems of the modern systemic consideration of organisms. The main aim of the thesis is the foundation of a synthesis of the modern theory of complex systems with process-thought which leads beyond 20th century process-philosophy.
The subject of the Ph.D. was a philosophical examination of the theoretical foundations of the physical theory of self-organization and the biological theories of autopoiesis and radical constructivism.
- Historical focus:
The philosophies of A.N. Whitehead, G. W. Leibniz, Aristotle, H. Bergson, and Ch. S. Peirce.
- Recent focus:
The concept of genetic information, Bio-semiotics, the relevance of Charles S. Peirce for current biology. - Teaching Competence:
Metaphysics (ancient, modern), systems-theory, history of biology, philosophy of time and memory, theodicy, the relevance of process-philosophy to psychology, and philosophy and landscape-architecture.
Scientific Curriculum Vitae
ACADEMIC APPOINTMENTS
- Technical University of Berlin (Institute of Philosophy)
Privatdozent, winter 2010-present
(“Privatdozent” is the title of a lecturer who fulfilled the Habilitation-examination. A Privatdozent is entitled to supervise Master- and Ph.D. projects and can apply for a full professorship.)
- Claremont School of Theology in Claremont/CA (Center for Process Studies)
Co-lecturer, June 2008
Course taught (with Professor John B. Cobb Jr.): Summer-session about the science-and-religion issue.
- Technical University of Berlin (Institute of Philosophy)
Temporary Lecturer, October 1997-February 2002
Courses taught: 7 courses for graduate and undergraduate students about the concept of the organism in history and philosophy of biology, the concept of evolution in 20th century biology and systems-theories, the concept of the universals in western philosophy, and process-philosophies.
- Humboldt University Berlin (Institute of Human-Ontogenetics and Theory of Science)
Temporary Lecturer, April 1995-February 1997
Courses taught: 4 courses for graduate and undergraduate students about the philosophical problems of the theories of self-organization, autopoiesis, radical constructivism, and the process-philosophy of A.N. Whitehead.
EDUCATION
- March 2002-July 2009
Technical University of Berlin/Germany (Institute of Philosophy)
Habilitation in Philosophy.
Title of the Habilitation-Thesis: „Organismus als Prozess. Ontogenetisches Werden im Lichte der Naturphilosophien von Alfred N. Whitehead und Henri Bergson [Organism as Process. Ontogenetic Becoming in the Light of the Natural-Philosophies of Alfred N. Whitehead and Henri Bergson]”
Note: The German Habilitation is an extended research project following the PhD and qualifying a researcher for full professorship at a German university. It is not the same as a postdoctoral. Its research and formal requirements are more advanced than a postdoc. Research requirements include an advanced thesis and a public lecture plus viva voce exam. Candidates who have passed the Habilitation, but do not hold a professoral chair yet, will carry the title PD (Privatdozent) and are entitled to supervise PhD students.
- April 1991-February 1994
Humboldt University Berlin/Germany (Institute of Human-Ontogenetics and Theory of Science)
Ph.D. in Philosophy of Science.
Title of the Dissertation: „Struktur und Selbstreflexion [Structure and Self-reflection]”
- March 1990-March 1991
Humboldt University Berlin/Germany (Institute for Theoretical Physics)
Additional studies in physics of self-organization and complexity (nonlinear dynamical systems).
Technical University of Chemnitz/Germany (Department of Mechanical Engineering)
- September 1985-February 1990
Academy of Science in Dresden/Germany (Department of Material-Research)
Dipl. Ing. in Engineering (roughly equivalent to M.Sc.) with additional studies in theoretical physics.