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Republikanischer Klub (Vienna), and Department of History of Medicine, Medical University of Vienna, are pleased to announce a Public Forum on the Occasion of the ISHPSSB Conference (International Society for the History, Philosophy and Social Studies of Biology) in Vienna (July 16-20, 2003): Konrad Lorenz, Austria, and the Nazi Past Place: Institut für Geschichte der Medizin, Währingerstraße 25, A-1090 Vienna Time: July 16, 2003, 6.00 pm. Organisation: Dr. Veronika Hofer, University of Vienna, Department of History Chair: Prof. Friedrich Stadler, Director of the Department of Contemporary History, University of Vienna Participants Prof. Mitchell G. Ash, History of Science Division, Dept. of History, Vienna University Science and National Socialism: Was Lorenz an Exceptional Case? Prof. Richard Burkhardt jr., History of Science Dept., University of Urbana/Illinois, specialist in History of Ethology Debates on Konrad Lorenz in Anglo-American Academia: Past and Present Dr. Veronika Hofer, History of Science, Vienna University, Konrad Lorenz and the Intellectual Matrix of pre-1938 Vienna Prof. Michael Hubenstorf, Director Dpt. of History of Medicine, Medical University Vienna Anatomy, Psychiatry, Pediatrics - Konrad Lorenz, Vienna Medicine, and the Nazi Experience Dr. Doron Rabinovici, Historian, Writer, and Commentator Is a scientific perception "judenrein"? Is a Jewish perception unscientific? Dr. Klaus Taschwer, social studies of science, University of Vienna, Science Reporter ?Falter" City Magazine, Vienna; Biographer of K. Lorenz The Austrian Denazification of Konrad Lorenz After 1945 The Aim of this Meeting This forum wants to present recent Austrian historical research on Konrad Lorenz to a wider international audience in academia. Austrian researchers will have an opportunity to answer questions from an international audience regarding the role of Konrad Lorenz in Austrian science and public life. This should work also for those Austrian intellectuals, who are not familiar with the standard methods and the special sorts of questions, which are well established in history, philosophy and social studies of biology. The international and the local audience together could eventually find different guidelines for the debate about Lorenz' Nazi past. The focus of this forum gravitates towards the interdisciplinary borderlines of history of biology itself (towards history of psychology, medicine, contemporary political history of the Austrian science system, or local Jewish intellectual context), which is why the reception among historians of biology has been (at best) marginal so far. The presentation will take place in a rather unusual setting: - participants will present and talk about Lorenz as a specifically Austrian figure and as an integral part of the Austrian public (political as well as scientific) discourse; - this meeting will take place in a historical university building that has been key to Lorenz' academic career in biology from 1933 to the 1950s, although this particular context is almost unknown among historians of biology. Abstracts: Mitchell G. Ash: Science and National Socialism: Was Lorenz an Exceptional Case? That many scientists behaved opportunistically under Nazism, for example by joining the party to gain career advantage or presenting their own views as compatible with Nazi ideology, is by now well known. Konrad Lorenz's behavior between 1938 and 1943 is often viewed in this light and considered - or even excused - as "normal" in the circumstances. I propose a different view, focusing on "racial policy" practice rather than ideology or careerism. Richard Burckhardt: Debates on K. Lorenz in Anglo-American Academia: Past and Present Interpreting Konrad Lorenz's political position in the Nazi era or choosing not to pursue the question has been an issue for scientists and others ever since the late 1930s. Published comments in English concerning Lorenz's political past first appeared in Daniel Lehrman's critique of Lorenzian ethology early in the 1950s, but sustained scholarly inquiry on the subject only began in the late 1970s. I comment briefly on different Anglo-American contexts in which Lorenz's political past was considered an issue or a non-issue. Veronika Hofer: Konrad Lorenz and the Intellectual Matrix of pre-1938 Vienna Konrad Lorenz was about preparing a new career in animal psychology after graduating in medicine from Vienna University in late 1928. That Lorenz studied psychology primarily with Karl Bühler and his Viennese school of psychology received no more international attention or systematic examination than the fact that Lorenz established a close intellectual cooperation with Bühler's very influential assistant, Egon Brunswick, while preparing for his Habilitation. I will discuss the specific scientific impact of this cooperation on Lorenz? its context in contemporary comparative psychology, and how Lorenz treated this biographical episode later on. I also propose a new perspective how to understand his studies into psychological effects of domestication from illuminating the intellectual background of his approach in the specific local context of interwar Vienna. Michael Hubenstorf: Anatomy, Psychiatry, Pediatrics - Konrad Lorenz, Vienna Medicine, and the Nazi Experience. K. Lorenz is known as an Austrian biologist, but he had his primary training in medicine. For many years he was assistant to the anatomists F.Hochstetter and E. Pernkopf in the medical school. And Hochstetter continued to be Lorenz' foremost patron and advisor well into the early 1950s. So we might ask: What has been the scientific, cultural and political influence of Vienna (Austrian? German?) medicine on Lorenz the biologist? And why has this never been adequately investigated? I find the medical influence in Lorenz' work to originate from the fields of human embryology, neurophysiology/psychiatry, and pediatrics in 1930/40s Vienna. Doron Rabinovici: Is a scientific perception "judenrein"? Is a Jewish perception unscientific? After 1945 Simon Wiesenthal spoke about the past of Konrad Lorenz; but there were also Jewish scientists who stood in contact with Konrad Lorenz. To some of them, questions about biography and identity of a scientist must have seemed unscientific. Klaus Taschwer: The Austrian Denazification of Konrad Lorenz After 1945 After returning home from Russian captivity in March 1948, Konrad Lorenz' "brown" past gave ample reason for debate on various occasions before he left Austria in November 1950 (e.g. during his "re-habilitation" at the University of Vienna, shortly before the failure of his appointment to the University of Graz, even in parliament). As it seems, both his NSDAP membership (that Lorenz tried to deny) and one of his papers from 1940 were the main reasons why Lorenz could not reach adequate positions at Austrian universities after 1948. To his foreign colleagues he presented different versions of the past and they didn't bother, as far as we know. Neither did the Max-Planck-Gesellschaft in Germany, and provided him with an opportunity to re-launch his international career.
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