Ágnes Heller facts for kids
Quick facts for kids
Ágnes Heller
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Ágnes Heller (2015)
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| Born | 12 May 1929 |
| Died | 19 July 2019 (aged 90) Balatonalmádi, Hungary
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| Era | 20th-century philosophy |
| Region | Western philosophy |
| School | Continental philosophy Budapest School |
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Main interests
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Political theory |
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Influences
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Ágnes Heller (born May 12, 1929 – died July 19, 2019) was an important Hungarian thinker and teacher. She was a main member of a group of philosophers called the Budapest School in the 1960s. Later, she taught about politics for 25 years at the New School for Social Research in New York City. She spent much of her life writing and teaching in Budapest.
Contents
Early Life and Big Questions
Ágnes Heller was born on May 12, 1929, to Pál Heller and Angéla Ligeti. Her family was Jewish and middle-class. During World War II, her father used his legal skills and knowledge of German to help people get papers to leave Europe. This was a time when the Nazis were in power.
In 1944, Ágnes's father was sent to the Auschwitz concentration camp, where he died. Ágnes and her mother were lucky and managed to avoid being sent away.
The terrible events of the the Holocaust deeply affected Ágnes. She often wondered: "How could this happen?" She wanted to understand why people did such bad things. This led her to think a lot about what is right and wrong, and where good and evil come from. She also asked: "What kind of world allows such things to happen?"
In 1947, Ágnes started studying science at the University of Budapest. But then, her boyfriend suggested she listen to a lecture by the philosopher György Lukács. His talk about philosophy and culture really spoke to her. It helped her think about how to live in the modern world after the war and the Holocaust.
That same year, she joined the Hungarian Communist Party. She became interested in Marxism, which is a way of thinking about society and economics. However, she soon felt that the Party stopped people from thinking freely. Because of this, she was kicked out of the Party for the first time in 1949.
Her Work and Ideas
Starting Her Career in Hungary
After 1953, Ágnes Heller was able to continue her studies. She earned her doctorate under the guidance of György Lukács. In 1955, she began teaching at the University of Budapest.
From Revolution to New Ideas
The Hungarian Revolution of 1956 was a very important event for Ágnes. During this time, she saw that academic freedom could challenge the government. She believed that Marx's ideas meant that people should have control over their own lives and society.
After the Revolution, Ágnes, Lukács, and other thinkers believed that Marxism and socialism should be applied differently in each country. This meant they questioned the role of the Soviet Union in Hungary. These ideas caused problems with the new government. Ágnes was kicked out of the Communist Party again and lost her university job in 1958. This happened because she refused to say that Lukács had done anything wrong during the Revolution.
She couldn't do research again until 1963. Then, she was invited to join the Sociological Institute at the Hungarian Academy of Sciences.
The Budapest School
From 1963, a group of thinkers formed what became known as the "Budapest School." This group was started by Lukács to update Marxist ideas. Ágnes Heller and her second husband, Ferenc Fehér, were key members. Other scholars like György Márkus and Mihály Vajda were also part of this group.
During this time, Ágnes Heller focused on several ideas. She explored what Marx's ideas meant for modern societies. She also thought about how individuals could gain more freedom. She believed in changing society and government "from the bottom up." This meant making changes through people's values, beliefs, and daily habits.
Challenges and Moving Abroad
Until 1968, the Budapest School supported changes within socialism. But after the Prague Spring in Czechoslovakia was stopped by the Warsaw Pact forces, Ágnes and the School felt that the governments in Eastern Europe were too corrupt. They believed that trying to reform them was pointless.
Ágnes explained that the government couldn't handle different opinions. She said that they started to think and write independently, which was a big challenge to the system. This view was not accepted by the government.
After Lukács died in 1971, members of the Budapest School faced difficulties. They were watched by the government and lost their university jobs. Instead of staying in Hungary as critics, Ágnes Heller and her husband, Ferenc Fehér, decided to move to Australia in 1977.
Life and Work Abroad
In Australia, Ágnes and Ferenc helped start Thesis Eleven in 1980. This became an important journal for social ideas.
Ágnes Heller's ideas during this time focused on the importance of individuals taking action. She believed in fairness and that human goodness is the source of all that is worthwhile. She was against ideas that denied equality, clear thinking, and self-determination.
In 1986, Ágnes and Ferenc moved to New York City. Ágnes became a professor of philosophy at The New School. She received many awards for her work, including the Hannah Arendt Prize in 1995 and the Szechenyi National Prize in Hungary in 1995. She also became a member of the Hungarian Academy of Sciences.
Ágnes Heller wrote many books and articles. She explored topics like ethics, the plays of Shakespeare, art, political ideas, modern life, and the role of Central Europe in history. From 1990, she became more interested in art and beauty, writing books like The Concept of The Beautiful (1998).
She received more awards, such as the Sonning Prize in 2006 and the Goethe Medal in 2010. In 2010, she joined a campaign for more women in the Hungarian government.
Ágnes Heller's books were known all over the world. Many scholars admired her work. She continued to be active in academics and politics globally, giving talks in many countries. She was a Professor Emeritus at the New School for Social Research in New York.
Personal Life
Ágnes Heller married fellow philosopher István Hermann in 1949. Their daughter, Zsuzsanna, was born in 1952. After they divorced in 1962, Ágnes married Ferenc Fehér in 1963. They had a son, György, born in 1964. Ferenc Fehér passed away in 1994.
Ágnes Heller was related to the famous violinist Leopold Auer and the composer György Ligeti.
On July 19, 2019, Ágnes Heller drowned while swimming in Lake Balaton in Hungary.
Awards and Honors
- Lessing Award, Hamburg (1981)
- Hannah Arendt professor of philosophy, Bremen, (1994)
- Széchenyi Prize (1995)
- Doctor honoris causa, Melbourne, (1996)
- Order of Merit of the Republic of Hungary (Civilian), Grand Cross – Star (2004)
- European Parliament Italian Section Award (2004)
- Pro Scientia Golden Medal (2005)
- Sonning Prize (2006)
- Hermann Cohen Award (2007)
- Vig Mónika Award (2007)
- Mazsike Várhegyi György Award (2007)
- Freeman of Budapest (2008)
- Goethe Medal (2010)
- Hungarian Socialist Party Medal for public activity (2011)
- Wallenberg Medal (2014)
- International Willy-Brandt Prize (2015)
- Friedrich Nietzsche Prize (posthum) (2019)
Works
Books
- Towards a Marxist Theory of Value. Carbondale: University of Southern Illinois, Telos Books, 1972.
- The Theory of Need in Marx. London: Allison and Busby, 1976.
- Renaissance Man. London, Boston, Henley: Routledge and Kegan Paul, 1978.
- On Instincts. Assen: Van Gorcum, 1979.
- A Theory of History. London: Routledge and Kegan Paul, 1982.
- Dictatorship Over Needs (with Ferenc Fehér and G. Markus). Oxford: Basil Blackwell, 1983.
- Hungary, 1956 Revisited: The Message of a Revolution – a Quarter of a Century After (with F. Fehér). London, Boston, Sydney: George Allen and Unwin, 1983.
- Everyday Life. London: Routledge and Kegan Paul, 1984.
- A Radical Philosophy B. Blackwell; First edition. (1 January 1984)
- The Power of Shame: A Rationalist Perspective. London: Routledge and Kegan Paul, 1985.
- Doomsday or Deterrence (with F. Fehér). White Plains: M. E. Sharpe, 1986.
- Eastern Left – Western Left. Freedom, Totalitarianism, Democracy (with F. Fehér). Cambridge, New York: Polity Press, Humanities Press, 1987.
- Beyond Justice, Oxford, Boston: Basil Blackwell, 1988.
- General Ethics. Oxford, Boston: Basil Blackwell, 1989.
- The Postmodern Political Condition (with F. Fehér). Cambridge, New York: Polity Press Columbia University Press, 1989.
- Can Modernity Survive? Cambridge, Berkeley, Los Angeles: Polity Press and University of California Press, 1990.
- From Yalta to Glasnost: The Dismantling of Stalin's Empire (with F. Fehér). Oxford, Boston: Basil Blackwell, 1990.
- The Grandeur and Twilight of Radical Universalism (with F. Fehér). New Brunswick: Transaction, 1990.
- A Philosophy of Morals. Oxford, Boston: Basil Blackwell, 1990.
- An Ethics of Personality. Cambridge: Basil Blackwell, 1996.
- A Theory of Modernity. Cambridge, MA: Wiley-Blackwell, 1999.
- The Time is Out of Joint: Shakespeare as Philosopher of History. Cambridge, MA: Wiley-Blackwell, 2000.
- The insolubility of the "Jewish question", or Why was I born Hebrew, and why not negro? Budapest: Múlt és Jövő Kiadó, 2004.
- Immortal Comedy: The Comic Phenomenon in Art, Literature, and Life. Lanham et al.: Lexington Books, Rowman and Littlefield Publishers Inc, 2005.
- A mai történelmi regény ("The historical novel today", in Hungarian). Budapest: Múlt és Jövő Kiadó, 2011.
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See also
In Spanish: Ágnes Heller para niños
