Hans Köchler (born 18 October 1948) is a retired professor of philosophy at the University of Innsbruck, Austria, and president of the International Progress Organization, a non-governmental organization in consultative status with the United Nations. In his general philosophical outlook he is influenced by Husserl and Heidegger, his legal thinking has been shaped by the approach of Kelsen. Köchler has made contributions to phenomenologyDie Subjekt-Objekt-Dialektik in der transzendentalen Phänomenologie. Das Seinsproblem zwischen Idealismus und Realismus. Meisenheim a. G.: Anton Hain, 1974. Phenomenological Realism. Frankfurt a. M./Bern: Peter Lang, 1986. and philosophical anthropologyDer innere Bezug von Anthropologie und Ontologie. Das Problem der Anthropologie im Denken Martin Heideggers. Meisenheim a. G.: Anton Hain, 1974. and has developed a hermeneutics of trans-cultural understanding"Kulturelles Selbstverständnis und Koexistenz: Voraussetzungen für einen fundamentalen Dialog" (1972), in: Philosophie und Politik: Dokumentation eines interdisziplinären Seminars. Innsbruck: Arbeitsgemeinschaft für Wissenschaft und Politik, 1973, pp. 75-78. that has influenced the discourse on the relations between Islam and the West."The Dialogue of Civilizations: Philosophical Basis, Current State and Prospects," in: Asia Europe Journal, Vol. 1, No. 3 (August 2003), pp. 315-320.Civilization as Instrument of World Order? Future Islam, New Delhi, July/August 2006
Early life and academic career In his student years, Hans Köchler was actively involved as a board member of the European Forum Alpbach and established contacts with leading European intellectuals and philosophers such as Manès Sperber, Hans-Georg Gadamer and Rudi Supek of the Praxis school who he invited to his lecture series that he organized from 1969 onwards.Innsbruck Lectures 1969-1989 At the beginning of the 1970s, he had joined the team around Otto Molden, the founder of the European Forum Alpbach. These were his formative philosophical years; he initially developed an interest in existential philosophy, transcendental philosophy and phenomenology. In particular, he undertook an epistemological critique of Husserl's transcendental idealism"The 'A priori' Moment of the Subject-Object-Dialectic in Transcendental Phenomenology: The Relationship between 'A priori' and 'Ideality'," in: Analecta Husserliana, Vol. 3 (1974), pp. 183-198. and interpreted Heidegger's philosophy of Being in the sense of social critique,Skepsis und Gesellschaftskritik im Denken Martin Heideggers. Meisenheim a. G.: Anton Hain, 1978. opening up—in the Cold War era—a dialogue with humanist philosophers of the Praxis school in Yugoslavia and in Czechoslovakia.See correspondence with Rudi Supek in the archive of Arbeitsgemeinschaft für Wissenschaft und Politik, University of Innsbruck, Austria. As a doctoral student, he also had met in Alpbach with Ernst Bloch, Arthur Koestler and Karl Popper.See archive of Arbeitsgemeinschaft für Wissenschaft und Politik, University of Innsbruck, Austria.
In 1972, Köchler graduated at the University of Innsbruck with a doctor degree in philosophy (Dr. phil.) with highest honours ("sub auspiciis praesidentis rei publicae"). In the years following his graduation he expanded his scholarly interest to philosophy of law and later political philosophy.Philosophie - Recht - Politik. Vienna/New York: Springer, 1985. Since the early 1970s he has been promoting the idea of inter-cultural dialogue which—since the last decade—has become known under the slogan of dialogue of civilizations. Köchler first outlined his hermeneutical philosophy of dialogue and his concept of cultural self-comprehension in lectures at the University of Innsbruck (1972)Kulturelles Selbstverständnis und Koexistenz: Voraussetzungen für einen fundamentalen Dialog (Cultural Self-comprehension and Co-existence: Preconditions of Fundamental Dialogue), in: Philosophie und Politik. Dokumentation eines interdisziplinären Seminars. Innsbruck: Arbeitsgemeinschaft für Wissenschaft und Politik, 1973, pp. 75-78. In this text he coined the term "dialogue of cultures". and at the Royal Scientific Society in Amman, Jordan, in March 1974Text of the lecture: Cultural-Philosophical Aspects of International Cooperation. Studies in International Cultural Relations, II. Vienna: International Progress Organization, 1978. and discussed that notion in a tour around the world (March–April 1974) for which he got support and encouragement from Austrian Foreign Minister Rudolf Kirchschläger (later to become President of Austria) and in the course of which he met with intellectuals and political leaders on all continents. Among his interlocutors were Yussef el-Sebai, Minister of Culture of Egypt,Al Ahram, Cairo, 15 March 1974. Prof. S. Nurul Hasan, Minister of Education, Social Welfare and Culture of India, Mulk Raj Anand, Indian novelist, Prince Subhadradis Diskul of Thailand, Charoonphan Israngkul Na Ayudhya, Foreign Minister of Thailand, Prof. Ida Bagus Mantra, Director-General for Culture of Indonesia, and the President of Senegal, Léopold Sédar Senghor.See the article published in Le Soleil, Dakar, 27 April 1974: "L'Europe a beaucoup à apprendre ..." In recognition of his contribution to the dialogue among civilizations he received an honorary doctor degree (Doctor of Humanities honoris causa) from the Mindanao State University (Philippines) (2004)."MSU confers award on Austrian Professor," Manila Bulletin, Manila, Philippines, 28 September 2004. In 2012 he received an honorary doctor degree from the Armenian State Pedagogical University.
In 1982 he was appointed as University Professor of Philosophy (with special emphasis on Political Philosophy and Philosophical Anthropology) at the University of Innsbruck. From 1990 until 2008 he has served as Chairman of the Department of Philosophy at the University of Innsbruck (Austria). In 2019 he joined the team of Berlin University of Digital Sciences.Berlin University of Digital Sciences / People / University Council. At Innsbruck University, Professor Köchler also has acted as Chairperson of the Arbeitsgemeinschaft für Wissenschaft und Politik (Working Group for Sciences and Politics) since 1971. He was a member of the Doctoral Grants Committee of the Austrian Academy of Sciences (2000–2006) and is Life Fellow—since 2010 co-president—of the International Academy for Philosophy. Since 2010 he is also a member of the advisory board of the Indian Yearbook of International Law and Policy.
Additional professorships: Visiting Professor at the University of Malaya, Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia (1998). Visiting Professorial Lecturer at the Polytechnic University of the Philippines, Manila (since 2004). Honorary Professor of Philosophy at Pamukkale University, Turkey (since 2008).Star Gazete, Istanbul, Turkey, 16 October 2008. Member of the Faculty, Center for Cultural Diplomacy Studies, Berlin, Germany (since 2018)
Research
During the 1970s, he co-operated with Cardinal Karol Wojtyła of Kraków, later to become Pope John Paul II, within the framework of the International Society for Phenomenology.See Nancy Mardas Billias and Agnes B. Curry in: Karol Wojtyla's Philosophical Legacy. Washington, DC: The Council for Research in Values and Philosophy, 2008, pp. 6-7. He published the first comment articles on the future Pope's anthropological conception.E.g. "The Dialectical Conception of Self-determination. Reflections on the Systematic Approach of Karol Wojtyla," in: Analecta Husserliana, Vol. 6 (1977), pp. 75-80. During the 1980s he engaged in a critique of legal positivism (Philosophie—Recht—Politik, 1985) and developed a theory according to which human rights are the basis of the validity of international law (Die Prinzipien des Völkerrechts und die Menschenrechte, 1981). He also dealt with the applicability of democracy in inter-state relations (Democracy in International Relations, 1986). Legal theory led him to questions of political philosophy, and in particular a critique of the representative paradigm of democracy. During the 1990s Köchler got increasingly involved in questions of world order—including the role and philosophical foundations of civilizational dialogue—and in what he has called the dialectic relationship between power and law. Köchler's bibliography contains more than 700 books, reports and scholarly articles in several languages (Albanian, Arabic, Chinese, English, French, German, Italian, Japanese, Korean, Persian, Spanish, Serbo-Croat, Turkish). His publications deal with issues of phenomenology, existential philosophy, anthropology, human rights, philosophy of law, theory of international law, international criminal law, United Nations reform, theory of democracy, etc. He acts as editor of the series Studies in International Relations (Vienna), Veröffentlichungen der Arbeitsgemeinschaft für Wissenschaft und Politik (Innsbruck), and as member of the editorial board of the international academic journal Hekmat va Falsafeh (Wisdom and Philosophy), published by the Philosophy Department of Allameh Tabatabaii University, Iran.
Köchler has served in several committees and expert groups dealing with issues of international democracy, human rights and development such as the Research Network on Transnational Democracy sponsored by the European Commission;Report presented at the final meeting of the research network on "The Political Theory of Transnational Democracy" at the University of Cambridge (UK), 29 March 1996. the Council of Europe's Expert Group on Democratic Citizenship (1998–2000);Report on democratic citizenship prepared for the Council of Europe (1999), published in: Concepts of democratic citizenship. Strasbourg: Council of Europe Publishing, 2000, pp. 147-165. and the Asia-Europe Foundation’s expert meeting on Cultural, Religious and Social Conceptions of Justice in Asia & Europe (Singapore, 2004).Second Year of ASEF Cultures & Civilisations Dialogue 2004/2005: 4th to 6th ASEF Talks on the Hill, 7th to 12th Asia-Europe Lecture Tours. Ed. Bertrand Fort. Singapore: Asia-Europe Foundation (ASEF), 2005, .
Köchler calls in his research paper "The “Global War on Terror” and its Implications for Muslim-Western Relations " presented during the International Roundtable Conference at the University of Sains Malaysia, Centre for Policy Research and International Studies (CenPRIS) Penang, Malaysia, during 13–14 December 2007, the "official narrative" of 9/11, told by the American authorities, an "official conspiracy theory".The “Global War on Terror” and its Implications for Muslim-Western Relations", p.21 Moreover, he claims that the Western establishment refuses to investigate what really happened on 9/11 and this is part of a collective denial process.The “Global War on Terror” and its Implications for Muslim-Western Relations", p.6
Non-governmental organizations (NGOs)
Köchler is the Founder and President (since 1972) of the International Progress Organization (I.P.O.), an international non-governmental organization (NGO) in consultative status with the United Nations and with a membership in over 70 countries, representing all continents. He was the founder and Secretary-General (1973-1977) of Euregio Alpina (Study Group for the Alpine Region), a transnational planning structure for the Alpine region and predecessor of the new concept of the "Euro Regions" in the framework of the European Union. During the 1970s and 1980s Köchler participated in the international phenomenological movement and organized several conferences and colloquia on the phenomenology of the life-world; he was the organizer of the Eighth International Phenomenological Conference in Salzburg (1980) and is the co-founder of the Austrian Society of Phenomenology. Other activities or functions:Source: Hans Köchler Bibliography and Reader. Manila, 2007. Coordinator of the International Committee for Palestinian Human Rights (ICPHR) (1988–);