Hans Albert facts for kids
Quick facts for kids
Hans Albert
|
|
|---|---|
Albert in 2005
|
|
| Born | 8 February 1921 |
| Died | 24 October 2023 (aged 102) |
| Era | Contemporary philosophy |
| Region | Western philosophy |
| School |
|
|
Main interests
|
Philosophy of social science, Philosophy of science, epistemology, Rationality, Uncertainty, Justificationism |
|
Notable ideas
|
Application of critical rationalism to social and political theory Münchhausen trilemma |
|
Influences
|
|
Hans Albert (born February 8, 1921 – died October 24, 2023) was an important German philosopher. He taught social sciences at the University of Mannheim from 1963 until 1989. His main areas of study were social sciences and how we learn things.
Albert was a critical rationalist. This means he believed in using reason and testing ideas to find mistakes. He was also a strong critic of other ways of thinking, especially those from philosophers like Heidegger and Gadamer.
Contents
Hans Albert's Life and Career
Hans Albert was born in Cologne, Germany, on February 8, 1921. His father was a teacher of Latin and history.
In 1950, he earned a degree in business at the University of Cologne. He then got his PhD in social politics in 1952. From 1952 to 1958, he worked as a research assistant at the university. He also earned a higher degree in social politics in 1957. As a lecturer, he taught logic, the theory of science, and economics.
Starting in 1958, he attended a summer conference in Austria called the Alpbacher Hochschulwochen. There, he met Karl Popper, a famous philosopher whose ideas Albert greatly admired. After 1955, Albert also had discussions with Paul Feyerabend, another philosopher who supported critical rationalism at the time. Their letters were later published. In 1963, Albert became a professor at the University of Mannheim.
The Positivism Dispute
From 1961 to 1969, there was a big debate in German sociology called the Positivismusstreit (positivism dispute). This debate was between Karl Popper and Theodor W. Adorno. Hans Albert took part in this important discussion in 1961.
At first, the debate was not really about positivism, because both Adorno and Popper actually disagreed with positivism. Instead, it was more about the differences between social sciences and natural sciences. They also discussed the role of values in social sciences.
The debate continued in 1963 with Jürgen Habermas. In 1964, the discussion became very lively between Habermas and Albert. The arguments were later collected in a book published in 1969. This book was translated into many languages and reached a wide audience.
In 1989, Albert retired from teaching. However, he kept writing books and giving lectures at many universities. He gave talks on critical rationalism in Graz in 1990 and in Bayreuth in 1998.
Personal Life
Hans Albert lived in Heidelberg, Germany, with his Austrian wife. They had one son. On February 8, 2021, Hans Albert turned 100 years old. He passed away in Heidelberg on October 24, 2023, at the age of 102.
Hans Albert's Work
Understanding Critical Rationalism
Hans Albert took Karl Popper's idea of critical rationalism and made it a clear, wide-ranging principle. He showed that this way of thinking could be used not just in science, but also in everyday problem-solving. He believed that we should always be critical in all parts of human life. He thought that being critical was one of the oldest European traditions, going back to ancient Greek thinkers.
Before his many books, Albert became well-known for his part in the positivism dispute. He argued against the ideas of the Frankfurt School, led by Theodor W. Adorno and Max Horkheimer. His arguments included:
- Showing the differences between critical rationalism and positivism.
- Arguing against some sociologists who did not want to use scientific methods in their field.
- Suggesting new ways to think about the role of values in science.
- Explaining that Max Weber believed scientists could be free of personal values in their research.
Albert noticed that new ideas are often hard to spread. He called this problem "immunity against criticism." This means people sometimes resist new ideas because of their own beliefs.
The Münchhausen Trilemma
One of Albert's most famous ideas is the Münchhausen trilemma. This idea is named after Baron Munchausen, a fictional character who supposedly pulled himself out of a swamp by his own hair. The trilemma talks about the problem of trying to prove something for sure.
Albert concluded that any attempt to completely prove or verify a statement will always fail. This applies to all kinds of proofs, not just logical ones. He explained that a proof will always run into one of three problems:
- Endless reasons: To prove something, you need to prove the reasons behind it. But then you need to prove those reasons, and so on. This leads to an infinite regress (a never-ending chain of proofs).
- Stopping the chain: You could stop the chain of reasons by saying something is "obvious" or a "basic principle." But then your proof isn't truly universal, because others might not agree with your starting point. You have to accept that basic idea without proof.
- Circular reasoning: The third problem is using a circular argument. This is when you use the idea you are trying to prove as part of the proof itself.
Albert stressed that the Münchhausen trilemma applies to all kinds of conclusions. Because of this, he believed that it's impossible to prove anything with absolute certainty. From this, Albert concluded that science makes progress by trying to prove ideas wrong (called falsification), rather than trying to prove them right.
Albert also enjoyed studying how people tried to escape the problem of certain proof. For example, he discussed the ideas of Karl-Otto Apel, another leading German philosopher. Albert argued that critical rationalists should still value these attempts to prove things. This is because critical rationalism works best when other methods don't succeed.
Albert's Style of Discussion
Hans Albert believed strongly in critical rationalism. He preferred calm, serious discussions with people who had different ideas. He would carefully look at their arguments to find:
- Hidden assumptions.
- New and often surprising results.
- Better ways of thinking about the problem.
Albert's approach was based on a few key ideas:
- Critical rationalism is the best way to think, especially if other ways don't work.
- It's good to have an open mind and learn from discussions. Other people might have good ideas.
- Avoid being too serious or acting like you know everything.
- Don't hide your own beliefs, but don't preach them either.
Awards and Honors
Hans Albert received several awards for his work:
- Vits Prize, 1976
- Arthur Burckhard Prize, 1984
- Austrian Ehrenkreuz für Kunst und Wissenschaft der Republik Österreich (Cross of Honour for Science and Art), 1994
- Honorary doctorates from the universities of Linz (1995), Athens (1997), Kassel (2000), Graz (2006), and Klagenfurt (2007).
- Iron Cross, 2nd class
- Merit Cross 1st Class of the Federal Republic of Germany, 2008
See also
In Spanish: Hans Albert para niños
