Dr. Volker Gerhardt (D) – BTK, 2008. június 7.

Dr. Volker Gerhardt, a németországi Humboldt Egyetem professzorának díszdoktori avatása a Debreceni Egyetemen 2008. június 7.

Volker Gerhardt was born in Guben, Brandenburg in 1944. After studying psychology, philosophy, sociology and law in Frankfurt am Main and Münster, he obtained his PhD degree in 1974 on the basis of a Kantian dissertation on Reason and Interest. In 1984, also in Münster, he earned his habilitation based on his work on the concept of power in Friedrich Nietzsche’s thinking. In 1985 Dr. Gerhardt was appointed to a professorship, and in 1986 he was a visiting scholar at the University of Zurich. After a position in Cologne, Volker Gerhardt accepted the offer to become the founding chair of the Philosophy Department at the University of Halle. Then he was appointed the head of the Philosophy Department at Humboldt University in Berlin, where he has been doing his teaching and research activities ever since. In 1998, he was elected a member of the Berlin-Brandenburg Academy of Sciences, of which he was Vice President until recently. He is responsible for the research projects of the Berlin Academy as well as for the co-ordination of all research programmes of all Academies of Science in Germany. In Volker Gerhardt’s view, his most important research area is systematic philosophy. He works on foundational aspects of philosophy. The following volumes in this project have already been published: Self-Determination. The Principle of Individuality (1999); Individuality. The Element of the World (2000); Participation. The Principle of Politics (2007). The fourth volume, entitled The Public Sphere. The Social Space of Consciousness, is to appear in 2009. Volker Gerhardt has been professionally related to the University of Debrecen for 17 years. Since 1998 he has been offering courses to MA and PhD students both in the Institute of Philosophy and in the Institute of German Studies. He has also efficiently supported visits by students and scholars from Debrecen to his university. In addition, in 1998 a book on Nietzsche by him was published in Debrecen.