Harry Frankfurt

Harry Gordon Frankfurt (* May 29, 1929 in Langhorne, Pennsylvania) is an American philosopher. He is Emeritus Professor of Philosophy at Princeton University. His research interests include ethics, philosophy of mind, action theory and the philosophy of the 17th century. Since 2005, first published in book form work On Bullshit in the USA was a bestseller.

Life and work

Frankfurt has studied at Johns Hopkins University, where he 1949 Bachelor's and 1954 doctoral degrees earned. Subsequently, he was a soldier of the United States Army. In 1956 he became assistant professor at Ohio State University. 1962 was followed by a position as associate professor of philosophy at the State University of New York at Binghamton, New York. In 1963, he joined as a Research Associate at the Rockefeller University in New York City, where he was promoted to associate professor in 1964 and 1969, finally achieved a full professorship. From 1966 to 1973 he presided over as chairman of the philosophy group at Rockefeller University. In 1978 he moved to Yale University, the Department of Philosophy, he presided as chairman from 1978 to 1987. In addition to Frankfurt philosophy taught in this period jurisprudence. The last years of his formal teaching and research activities (1990-2002) he spent at Princeton University. Frankfurt is married and has two daughters.

Topic: Freedom

Harry Frankfurt is known especially for his analysis of the concept of freedom. Under free will initially Frankfurt understands the compliance of effective treatment will and higher -order volitions. A higher-level request, or second-order desire is a desire that relates itself to a desire or will. One example is the desire to stop smoking. Frankfurt holds a so -understood concept of freedom also for constitutive of the concept of the person.

Works

  • On Truth. Alfred Knopf, New York ( 2006); German: About the truth. The Hague: Mouton, 2007 ISBN 3-446-20838-0.
  • Taking ourselves seriously and Getting it right. Stanford University Press ( 2006); German: take yourself seriously. Frankfurt: Suhrkamp, 2007 ISBN 3-518-58485-5.
  • On Bullshit. Princeton University Press ( 2005)
  • The Reasons of Love. Princeton University Press ( 2004)
  • Freedom and self-determination, eds M. Betzler and B. Guckes, various translators. Berlin, Akademie Verlag (2001)
  • Necessity, Volition, and Love. Cambridge University Press ( 1999)
  • The Importance of What We Care about. Philosophical Essays. Cambridge University Press ( 1988)

Further reading

  • Michael H. Bishop: Can do without a concept of free will on the principle of alternative possibilities? Harry G. Frankfurt's criticism of the principle of alternative possibilities (PAP). In: Journal of Philosophical Research ( ZphF ), No. 4 /2004.
  • Ulrich Pothast: self-determination by shaping one's own will? In: German Journal of Philosophy, issue 4/ 2002.
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