josef früchtl: my intellectual biography as a short story: born in 1954 ("it's a bad age for emotions", says maria braun in a film by fassbinder, the house of the 'economic miracle' is exploding, the voice of the football reporter on the radio is cracking: "it's over! it's over! it's over! germany is champion of the world!"), i studied in frankfurt/main, starting in the mid-70s (when willy brandt had resigned, the terrorism of the raf reached its highest point, the ecological movement began to develop and critical theory appeared in the gesture of rumpelstiltskin: breaking the attractive power of the commodity-society in trying to call its name). having completed my ma thesis, i went to paris for a year (the "capital of the 19th century", as benjamin proclaimed, and now foucault, derrida, deleuze and others were tempting, too, whereas in germany helmut kohl had become chancellor). a phd in 1986 (the year of chernobyl) with a work on mimesis - constellation of a central concept in adorno. afterwards i was given the chance to go to italy for two years (pisa, rome, naples) as a research scholarship holder of the alexander von humboldt-foundation (so much art, so much natural, i.e. cultural, beauty and so much sun). after my return (the berlin wall was coming down) i became an assistant teacher in the philosophical department of the university of frankfurt, getting to know a lot of young colleagues and famous professors of philosophy from the us (like richard rorty and martha nussbaum), being guests of jürgen habermas - an extraordinary and stimulating intellectual atmosphere, a liberal space for philosophical discussion and friendship (similar to what plato's socrates must have had in mind). the postdoctorate procedure took place in 1994/95 after having presented my manuscript aesthetic experience and moral judgement. shortly afterwards (and hard to believe), in spring 1996 (kohl still chancellor in germany), i was appointed professor of philosophy with a focus on aesthetics and the theory of culture at the university of münster. münster is a small town with tens of thousands of students (and bicycles). in 1648 the end of the 30 years war in europe was proclaimed there. it is a nice town to stay in for a few days. so the time had come to write a book on modern heroism: the impertinent self. a heroic history of modernity. it was published in the summer of 2004, when the amsterdam project became reality. (and in germany the short age of joschka fischer and a chancellor called gerhard schröder has faded away. "for the times" - bob dylan is on the road again - "they are a-changing". only woody allen seems to remain the same.)
