Max Bense

Max Bense (7 February 1910 in Strasbourg – 29 April 1990 in Stuttgart) was a German philosopher, writer, and publicist, known for his work in philosophy of science, logic, aesthetics, and semiotics. His thoughts combine natural sciences, art, and philosophy under a collective perspective and follow a definition of reality, which – under the term existential rationalism – is able to remove the separation between humanities and natural sciences.
Life
Max Bense spent his early childhood in his birthplace Strasbourg and in 1918 his family was deported from Alsace-Lorraine as a consequence of World War I. Starting in 1920, he attended grammar school in Cologne and after 1930 he studied physics, chemistry, mathematics, geology, and philosophy at the University of Bonn. During his studies, his interest in literature is revealed by several contributions to newspapers, journals, and broadcast, for which he wrote several radio dramas. In 1937 he received his doctor's degree (Dr. phil. nat.) with his dissertation "Quantenmechanik und Daseinsrelativität" (Quantum Mechanics and Relativity of Dasein). He used the term Relativity of Dasein, which he adopted from Max Scheler, for explaining that novel theories do not have to contradict classical science. Bense – declared opponent of national socialism – knowingly opposed the Deutsche Physik of the Nazi regime (cf. Johannes Juilfs), which rejected the theory of relativity due to Einstein's Jewish origin. Therefore, he did not receive his postdoctoral qualification.
In 1938, Bense initially worked as a physicist at the Bayer AG in Leverkusen. After the outbreak of World War II he was a soldier, firstly as a meteorologist, then as a medical technician in Berlin and Georgenthal, where he was mayor for a short time after the end of the war. In 1945 the University of Jena appointed him to curator (Chancellor of the University) and offered him the possibility of postdoctoral work (habilitation), which was likely to be cumulative, at the Social-Pedagogic Faculty, which was followed by an appointment to Professor extraordinarius of philosophical and scientific propaedeutics.
In 1948, Bense fled from the political development of the Soviet occupation zone to Boppard; and he was appointed as a guest professor in philosophy and theory of science by the University of Stuttgart in 1949, and as senior lecturer (associate professor) there in 1950. In 1955, Bense raised a controversy concerning mythologizing tendencies of German postwar culture. Thereupon he became the target of public polemics, resulting in a postponement of his appointment to full professor until 1963.
In addition, he worked at the adult education center in Ulm and at the Ulm School of Design from 1953 to 1958.
He was also guest professor at the Hamburg College for Visual Arts from 1958 to 1960 and in 1966/67.
Max Bense became professor emeritus on 7 February 1978 and died in 1990 as an internationally accredited scientist.
Philosophy
Mathematics in art and language
Already in his first publication, "Raum und Ich" ("Space and Ego"; 1934), Bense combined theoretical philosophy with mathematics, semiotics, and aesthetics; this remained his thematic emphasis. For the first time, he phrased a rational aesthetics, which defines the components of language – words, syllables, phonemes – as a statistical language repertoire, and which opposes literature that is based upon meaning. Conversely, Bense studied the concept of style, which he applied to mathematics – following Gottfried Wilhelm Leibniz' Mathesis Universalis –, designing a universal markup language. "Die Mathematik in der Kunst" ("Mathematics in Art"; 1949) was his starting point for investigating mathematical principles of form in the history of art. From this, Bense developed a perspective to see the mathematical spirit in works of literary art, especially in metrics and rhythm. Bense's thoughts assumed the correlation of a mathematical and linguistic consciousness, which have a common origin and have grown into complementary modes of thought. He considered the atomistic structures of the linguistic modes to be equivalent. By using non-interpretable basic elements (characters) and rules or operators, these forms give meaning, impart information and make stylistically formed language possible. He considered the aesthetic and the semantic information to be generally separated and not to be defined until they are used. This was the first German integration of Ludwig Wittgenstein's work into the field of aesthetics.
Some of Bense's knowledge is based on the investigations of the American mathematician George David Birkhoff. Thus some termini like "redundancy" and "entropy" have to be equated with "Ordnungsmaß" and "Materialverbrauch" (consumption of material) from Birkhoff's aesthetics research.
Technology and ethics
Bense considered the destruction of the social and intellectual middle-class world since the beginning of the 20th century a parallel to the destruction of the concept of being in philosophy. He saw the natural world replaced by an artificial one. As a forerunner of the computer age, Bense thought about the technical counterparts of human existence; unlike many of his contemporaries he considered machines as pure products of human intelligence, having algorithms as a basis, but soon he posed ethical questions, which were not discussed in ethics of technology until decades later. His pragmatic views of technology, influenced by Walter Benjamin, which lacked either belief in progress or its rejection, brought him the criticism of Theodor W. Adorno – and again put him in the role of the opposition.
Structural analysis of language
Inspired by neuroscience, informatics, and the occupation with electronic calculating machines, but also by Wittgenstein's concept of the language-game, Bense tried to put into perspective or to extend the traditional view of literature. In that, he was one of the first philosophers of culture who integrated the technical possibilities of the computer into their thoughts and investigated them across disciplinary boundaries. He statistically and topologically analysed linguistic phenomena, subjected them to questions of semiotic, information theory, and communication theory using structuralistic approaches. Thus Bense became the first theoretician of concrete poetry, which was started by Eugen Gomringer in 1953, and encouraged e.g. Helmut Heißenbüttel, Claus Bremer, Reinhard Döhl, Ludwig Haring, and Franz Mon to perform further experiments, and also had influence on Ernst Jandl's language deconstruction (see also Stuttgarter Gruppe/Schule).
Discussion with writers
In his work with literature and literary language, Bense was not content with only theoretical considerations; he had close contact to authors like Alfred Andersch and Arno Schmidt. His constructions of analogy to visual arts made major contributions to the understanding of cubism and dadaism.
Understanding of science
As a theoretician of science, Bense represented the synthetic intellectual concept, where classical humanism and modern technology constructively complement one another. From this concept of science, he hoped for progressive knowledge, which must always be ethically scrutinized, and at the same time, for the prevention of regression. Because of that, Bense argued for enlightenment and put himself into that tradition.
After 1984 Max Bense applied his theories of visual art to screen media. Because of that, early thoughts of media studies concerning the internet, especially the concept of digital poetry, may be traced back to Bense.
Publications
All publications are in German.
Raum und Ich. Eine Philosophie über den Raum. Luken & Luken, Berlin 1934
Aufstand des Geistes. Eine Verteidigung der Erkenntnis. Deutsche Verlags-Anstalt, Stuttgart 1935
Anti-Klages oder Von der Würde des Menschen. Widerstands-Verlag (Anna Niekisch), Berlin 1937
Kierkegaard-Brevier. Insel, Leipzig 1937
Quantenmechanik und Daseinsrelativität. Eine Untersuchung über die Prinzipien der Quantenmechanik und ihre Beziehung zu Schelers Lehre von der Daseinsrelativität der Gegenstandsarten. Welzel, Cologne 1938
Vom Wesen deutscher Denker oder Zwischen Kritik und Imperativ. Oldenbourg, Munich/Berlin 1938
Die abendländische Leidenschaft oder Zur Kritik der Existenz. Oldenbourg, Munich/Berlin 1938
Geist der Mathematik. Abschnitte aus der Philosophie der Arithmetik und Geometrie. Oldenbourg, Munich/Berlin 1939
Aus der Philosophie der Gegenwart. Staufen, Cologne 1940
Einleitung in die Philosophie. Eine Einübung des Geistes. Oldenbourg, Munich 1941
Sören Kierkegaard. Leben im Geist. Hoffmann und Campe, Hamburg 1942
Physikalische Welträtsel. Ein Buch von Atomen, Kernen, Strahlen und Zellen. Staufen, Cologne 1942
Briefe großer Naturforscher und Mathematiker. Staufen, Cologne 1943
Das Leben der Mathematiker. Bilder aus der Geistesgeschichte der Mathematik. Staufen, Cologne 1944
Über Leibniz. Leibniz und seine Ideologie. Der geistige Mensch und die Technik. Rauch, Jena 1946
Konturen einer Geistesgeschichte der Mathematik. Die Mathematik und die Wissenschaften. (2 volumes) Claassen & Goverts, Hamburg 1946-1949
Philosophie als Forschung. Staufen, Cologne 1947
Umgang mit Philosophen. Essays. Staufen, Cologne 1947
Hegel und Kierkegaard. Eine prinzipielle Untersuchung. Staufen, Cologne 1948
Von der Verborgenheit des Geistes. Habel, Berlin 1948
Was ist Existenzphilosophie? Butzon & Bercker, Kevelaer 1949
Moderne Naturphilosophie. Butzon & Bercker, Kevelaer 1949
Technische Existenz. Essays. Deutsche Verlags-Anstalt, Stuttgart 1949
Geschichte der Wissenschaften in Tabellen. Butzon&Bercker, Kevelaer 1949
Literaturmetaphysik. Der Schriftsteller in der technischen Welt. Deutsche Verlags-Anstalt, Stuttgart 1950
Ptolemäer und Mauretanier oder Die theologische Emigration der deutschen Literatur. Kiepenheuer & Witsch, Cologne/Berlin 1950
Was ist Elektrizität? Butzon & Bercker, Kevelaer 1950
Die Philosophie. Suhrkamp, Frankfurt/Main 1951
Plakatwelt. Vier Essays. Deutsche Verlags-Anstalt, Stuttgart 1952
Die Theorie Kafkas. Kiepenheuer & Witsch, Cologne/Berlin 1952
Der Begriff der Naturphilosophie. Deutsche Verlags-Anstalt, Stuttgart 1953
Aesthetica (I). Metaphysische Beobachtungen am Schönen. Deutsche Verlags-Anstalt, Stuttgart 1954
Descartes und die Folgen (I). Ein aktueller Traktat. Agis, Krefeld/Baden-Baden 1955
Aesthetica (II). Aesthetische Information. Agis, Baden-Baden 1956
Rationalismus und Sensibilität. Präsentationen. (Mit Elisabeth Walther) Agis, Krefeld/Baden-Baden 1956
Aesthetica (III). Ästhetik und Zivilisation. Theorie der ästhetischen Zivilisation. Agis, Krefeld/Baden-Baden 1958
Kunst und Intelligenz als Problem der Moderne. Kulturamt, Dortmund 1959
Aesthetica (IV). Programmierung des Schönen. Allgemeine Texttheorie und Textästhetik. Agis, Krefeld/Baden-Baden 1960
Grignan-Serie. Beschreibung einer Landschaft. Der Augenblick, Stuttgart 1960
Descartes und die Folgen (II). Ein Geräusch in der Straße. Agis, Krefeld/Baden-Baden 1960
Die Idee der Politik in der technischen Welt. Kulturamt, Dortmund 1960
aprèsfiche für uns hier und für andere von Max Bense. Werbung für „Rheinlandschaft“. Burkhardt, Stuttgart 1961
Bestandteile des Vorüber. Dünnschliffe Mischtexte Montagen. Kiepenheuer & Witsch, Cologne 1961
Rosenschuttplatz. (with Clytus Gottwald) Mayer, Stuttgart 1961
Reste eines Gesichtes. (With Karl-Georg Pfahler). Mayer, Stuttgart 1961
Entwurf einer Rheinlandschaft. Kiepenheuer & Witsch, Cologne/Berlin 1962
theorie der texte. Eine Einführung in neuere Auffassungen und Methoden. Kiepenheuer & Witsch, Cologne 1962
Die präzisen Vergnügen. Versuche und Modelle. Limes, Wiesbaden 1964
Aesthetica. Einführung in die neue Aesthetik. Agis, Baden-Baden 1965
Zufällige Wortereignisse. Mayer, Stuttgart 1965
Brasilianische Intelligenz. Eine cartesianische Reflexion. Limes, Wiesbaden 1965
jetzt. Mayer, Stuttgart 1965
tallose berge. Mayer, Stuttgart 1965
Ungehorsam der Ideen. Abschließender Traktat über Intelligenz und technische Welt. Kiepenheuer & Witsch, Cologne/Berlin 1965
zusammenfassende grundlegung moderner ästhetik. galerie press, St. Gallen 1966
Epische Studie zu einem epikureischen Doppelspiel. Hake, Cologne 1967
Die Zerstörung des Durstes durch Wasser. Einer Liebesgeschichte zufälliges Textereignis. Kiepenheuer & Witsch, Cologne 1967
Semiotik. Allgemeine Theorie der Zeichen. Agis, Baden-Baden 1967
kleine abstrakte ästhetik. edition rot, Stuttgart 1969
Einführung in die informationstheoretische Ästhetik. Grundlegung und Anwendung in der Texttheorie. Rowohlt, Reinbek 1969
Der Monolog der Terry Jo. (With Ludwig Harig) In: Klaus Schöning (Ed.): Neues Hörspiel. Texte. Partituren. Suhrkamp, Frankfurt/Main 1969, pp. 59–91
Artistik und Engagement. Präsentation ästhetischer Objekte. Kiepenheuer & Witsch, Cologne 1970
Existenzmitteilung aus San Franzisko. Hake, Cologne 1970
nur glas ist wie glas. werbetexte. Fietkau, Berlin 1970
Die Realität der Literatur. Autoren und ihre Texte. Kiepenheuer & Witsch, Cologne 1971
Zeichen und Design. Semiotische Ästhetik. Agis, Baden-Baden 1971
Wörterbuch der Semiotik. (With Elisabeth Walther) Kiepenheuer & Witsch, Cologne 1973
Semiotische Prozesse und Systeme in Wissenschaftstheorie und Design, Ästhetik und Mathematik. Semiotik vom höheren Standpunkt. Agis, Baden-Baden 1975
Vermittlung der Realitäten. Semiotische Erkenntnistheorie. Agis, Baden-Baden 1976
Das Auge Epikurs. Indirektes über Malerei. Deutsche Verlags-Anstalt, Stuttgart 1979
Die Unwahrscheinlichkeit des Ästhetischen und die semiotische Konzeption der Kunst. Agis, Baden-Baden 1979
Axiomatik und Semiotik in Mathematik und Naturerkenntnis. Agis, Baden-Baden 1981
Zentrales und Occasionelles. Poetische Bemerkungen. Edition Künstlerhaus, Stuttgart 1981
Das Universum der Zeichen. Essays über die Expansionen der Semiotik. Agis, Baden-Baden 1983
Das graue Rot der Poesie. Gedichte. Agis, Baden-Baden 1983
Kosmos Atheos. Gedichte. Agis, Baden-Baden 1985
Repräsentation und Fundierung der Realitäten. Fazit semiotischer Perspektiven. Agis, Baden-Baden 1986
Nacht-Euklidische Verstecke. Poetische Texte. Agis, Baden-Baden 1988
Poetische Abstraktionen. Gedichte und Aphorismen. Manus Presse, Stuttgart 1990
Der Mann, an den ich denke. Ein Fragment. (from his unpublished works, ed. by Elisabeth Walther) edition rot, Stuttgart 1991
Die Eigenrealität der Zeichen. (from his unpublished works, ed. by Elisabeth Walther) Agis, Baden-Baden 1992
Secondary literature
All references are in German.
Eckardt, Michael: "...sich in die wissenschaftliche Welt allerbestens einführen können." Max Bense, Walter Wolf und Georg Klaus zwischen Kooperation und Konflikt an der Universität Jena in den Jahren 1945-1949; in: HOSSFELD, U./KAISER, T./MESTRUP, H. (Ed.)(2007): Hochschule im Sozialismus. Studien zur Friedrich-Schiller-Universität Jena (1945-1990). Cologne/Weimar/Vienna 2007, 1929-1970.
Eckardt, Michael: "Max Bense in Thüringen", in: Palmbaum 14 (2006) 1, 104–111.
Eckardt, Michael: "Benses Kierkegaard in Jena", Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung, 31 January 2006, p. 8.
Ernst, Christoph: "Max Bense: Der Essay zwischen Poesie und Prosa", in: ders., Essayistische Medienreflexion. Bielefeld, Transcript 2005, 135–144,
Thomé, Horst: "Einheit des Wissens im Zeichen „technischer Existenz“ – Max Bense", in: Becker, Norbert und Quarthal, Franz (Ed.) (2004), Die Universität Stuttgart nach 1945: Geschichte – Entwicklungen – Persönlichkeiten, Ostfildern, Thorbecke 2004, 345–348,
Eckardt, Michael: "Bemerkungen zum Brief von Georg Klaus an Max Bense", in: Fuchs-Kittowski, Klaus und Piotrowski, Siegfried (Ed.), Kybernetik und Interdisziplinarität in den Wissenschaften. Berlin: Trafo-Verlag 2004, 391–392.
Büscher, Barbara; Herrmann, Hans-Christian von; Hoffmann, Christoph (Ed.): Ästhetik als Programm: Max Bense. Daten und Streuungen. Berlin, Vice Versa 2004, 307 pp., with illustrations,
Eckardt, Michael: "Angewandte Wissenschaftsrevison – Überschneidungen und Parallelen im Schaffen von Max Bense und Georg Klaus", in: Grundlagenstudien aus Kybernetik und Geisteswissenschaft / Humankybernetik, 43 (2002) 4, 143–152.
Eckardt, Michael: "Philosophie und Philosophen in Jena: Max Bense und Georg Klaus", in: Weißbecker, M. (Ed.), Gewalten, Gestalten, Erinnerungen. Beiträge zur Geschichte der FSU Jena in den ersten Jahren nach 1945. Jena, Thüringer Forum für Bildung und Wissenschaft 2002, pp. 51–69,
Michael Eckardt und Engell, Lorenz (Ed.): Das Programm des Schönen. Ausgewählte Beiträge der Stuttgarter Schule zur Semiotik der Künste und der Medien. Weimar, VDG Verlag und Datenbank für Geisteswissenschaften 2002, 334 pp., ill., graph. depict.,
Elisabeth Walther: "Max Bense und die Kybernetik", in: Computer Art Faszination, 1999, p. 360
Harry Walter: Max Bense in Stuttgart, 1994. 16 pages, 11 pictures. Stapled. Deutsches Literaturarchiv Marbach
External links
max-bense.de
Stuttgarter Schule
Elisabeth Walther: "Max Bense und die Kybernetik", netzliteratur.net
Elisabeth Walther-Bense: Chronologic Bibliography of Bense's publications and broadcasts, stuttgarter-schule.de
Herbert W. Franke: "Das sogenannte Schöne. Max Bense, Informationsästhetik und naturwissenschaftliche Erklärung der Kunst", Telepolis, 9 April 1998
Tilman Baumgärtel: "Die präzisen Vergnügen." "Kreativität mit Großrechenanlagen: Zur Wiederentdeckung der 'Stuttgarter Schule' um Max Bense." Telepolis, 20 March 2005
Hermann Rotermund: "Keine Anrufung des großen Bären. Max Bense als Wegbereiter für Konkrete Poesie und Netzliteratur", Radio Bremen, 2001
Marlis Gerhardt: "Modern ist, wer seiner Zeit gewachsen ist. Max Bense: ein Porträt", SWR2, 19 June 2007, downloadable rtf-file, 17 pp., 64 kB
Daniel Fetzner: „fogpatch“ Creative research project (2007-2010) about the text "Existenzmitteilung aus San Franzisko"
1910 births
1990 deaths
Writers from Strasbourg
People from Alsace-Lorraine
Alsatian-German people
German Peace Union politicians
Philosophers of science
Philosophers of technology
German semioticians
German non-fiction writers
University of Bonn alumni
Academic staff of the University of Jena
Academic staff of the University of Stuttgart
German male non-fiction writers
20th-century German philosophers
20th-century non-fiction writers