Franz M. Wuketits

Franz M. Wuketits

Franz Wuketits (2007)
Born Franz Manfred Wuketits
5 January 1955
Parndorf, Burgenland, Austria
Occupation Writer & science journalist
university teacher
Language German
Nationality Austrian

Franz Manfred Wuketits (born Parndorf 1955) is an Austrian biologist, university teacher and epistemologist. He has written extensively on epistemology, the history and theory of biology, evolution theory, evolutionary ethics, evolutionary epistemology and sociobiology.[1]

Wuketits is co-founder of the Austrian citizen initiative "Mein Veto" ("My veto") which campaigns against state encroachment in areas of personal liberty and morality. The Initiative is particularly well supported among Austria's relatively large Intellectual class, and includes among its financial backers the tobacco corporation BAT.[2]

Life

Between 1973 and 1978 Wuketits studied zoology, paleontology, philosophy and scientific theory at the University of Vienna. He received his doctorate in 1978, and progressed, still at Vienna, to a habilitation qualification in 1980 with a paper entitled "Scientific theory with particular reference to the Life sciences"[1][3]

In 1982 he received national recognition in the form of the award of the Austrian Prize for Scientific Journalism.[1][4]

From 1987 till 2004 he was employed at the University of Graz where he taught the philosophy of biology. He also had guest professorships at several other universities including the Vienna University of Technology (1998–2004) and, in Palma de Majorca, at the University of the Balearic Islands (2006, 2008, 2009, 2010).

Since 2002 he has been on the board of the Konrad Lorenz Institute for Evolution and Cognition Research in Lower Austria. He is a member of the scientific advisory board of the Giordano Bruno Foundation which has as its mission "Support of Evolutionary Humanism". He also belongs to "Free Academy" in Berlin and to Vienna's Library Platform initiative.[5][6] Other roles have included providing scientific input for the Kapfenberg (in Styria) Summer Academy till 2008 (which was the final year for the event).

For many years he has been a co-producer/editor of the journal of the "Gesellschaft für kritische Philosophie Nürnberg" ("literally "Nuremberg Society from Critical Philosophy"/ GKPN), Aufklärung & Kritik[7] which promotes free thought and humanist philosophy. He is on the editorial/advisory board of various other journals and publications (Biological Theory, Ludus Vitalis, La Nuova Critica, Universitas etc.). From 2005 until 2008 he was also the editor of Bioscop, the journal of the Austrian Biologist Association (ABA).[8]

Wuketits on free will:[9]

We have only the illusion of free will. An illusion that has developed over the course of human evolution. In daily life we do not notice that it is an illusion. We are not constantly evaluating whether free will is behind what we do or do not do.

........Each of us is to some extent predefined, on the one hand through the evolution of our species. All our activities arise from abilities that come from our evolutionary history. The priority here is always to survive and to reproduce. The cultural elements are merely refinements of underlying evolutionary strategies.

The second element is the individual biography. The older we get, the more we drag around our experiences, influences, desires, hopes, anxieties. We cannot separate ourselves from these. All the decisions that we take we take on the basis of factors deriving from this evolutionary history and our individual histories [leaving no space for free will].[9][10]

Franz Wuketits
in conversation with Markus C. Schulte von Drach

Published output (not a complete list)

References

  1. 1 2 3 "European Humanist Federation: Prof. Dr. Franz Wuketits, Evolutionstheoretiker/Zoologe".
  2. ↑ Homepage of Mein Veto!
  3. ↑ Wissenschaftstheorie mit besonderer Berücksichtigung der Biowissenschaften
  4. ↑ Österreichischen Staatspreis für Wissenschaftliche Publizistik
  5. ↑ Plattform Bibliotheksinitiative
  6. ↑ "Der Verein Plattform BIBLIOTHEKSINITIATIVEN WIEN Wissenschaftlicher Beirat: Univ. Prof. Dr. Franz M. Wuketits
    Wissenschaftstheorie mit besonderer Berücksichtigung der Biowissenschaften, Universität Wien. Konrad Lorenz Institut für Evolutions- und Kognitionsforschung, Altenberg/Donau"    .
  7. ↑ http://www.gkpn.de/aufklaerung_und_kritik.htm
  8. ↑ "Bioscop Zeitschrift der Austrian Biologist Association (ABA) "....Herausgeber im Auftrag der ABA Prof. Dr. Franz M. Wuketits"" (PDF).
  9. 1 2 ""Moralisches Verhalten ist reiner Eigennutz" – Für den Biologen Franz Wuketits von der Uni Wien ist der freie Wille eine Illusion, die während der Evolution entstanden ist. Dies zu akzeptieren hätte weitgehende Folgen – zum Beispiel für unser Rechtssystem. (Interview transcript)". Interview with Markus C. Schulte von Drach. sueddeutsche.de. 4 July 2012. Retrieved 1 October 2014.
  10. ↑ Wir haben nur die Illusion eines freien Willens. Eine Illusion, die sich im Verlauf der Evolution beim Menschen entwickelt hat. Im Alltag bemerken wir nicht, dass dies nur eine Illusion ist. Wir überlegen uns ja nicht ständig, was wir tun oder nicht tun und fragen nicht, ob ein freier Wille dahinter steckt. Erst einmal ist jeder von uns gewissermaßen zweifach gebürdet: Zum einen durch die Evolution unserer Gattung. Alle unsere Aktivitäten entspringen Fähigkeiten, die in unserer Stammesgeschichte entstanden sind. Dabei geht es letztlich immer darum, zu überleben und sich fortzupflanzen. Unsere Kulturen stellen lediglich Verfeinerungen der Evolutionsstrategien dar. Das ist unsere jeweilige Biografie. Je älter wir werden, umso mehr schleppen wir mit uns herum: Erfahrungen, Prägungen, Wünsche, Hoffnungen, Ängste. Davon können wir uns nicht trennen. Alle Entscheidungen, die wir treffen, treffen wir auf der Basis dieser stammesgeschichtlichen und individualgeschichtlichen Faktoren.
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