Biography

Born 1943, Mühlhausen/Thüringen, lives in Linz.

Ass. Prof. Univ.-Doz. Mag.phil. Dr. rer.nat. Rainer Born has been an assistant professor in the Department of Philosophy and the Theory of Science at the Johannes Kepler University in Linz since 1979. Born is also a lecturer in the Department of Data Processing at the Johannes Kepler University in Linz, as well as for epistemology, formal logic and introduction to scientific thought at the Catholic Theological Institute in Linz. He has organised scholarly symposia and congresses, and has been, since 1977, the co-publisher of the philosophical journal Conceptus as well as Conceptusstudien.

Quotes

Rainer P. Born
Prometheus in Hell.

"The real question is, how can we create new knowledge ‘within the other’? How can we convey new insight which does not immediately result or can be deduced from the prior background knowledge and its semantics/pragmatics? (...) There is a tendency to presuppose a universal language and, in this context, an universal sense common to all for the transmission of factual knowledge in the hope of being able to communicate ‘everything’ this way. Unfortunately, we are then bogged down in the misery from which Prometheus wanted to recue us: ‘They saw without seeing, they heard without hearing, resembling creatures in a dream’. (...) When passing on knowledge, we also have to consider how knowledge comes about and what experience is necessary for understanding it. (...) And this is where art comes in. Through experiencing alienation of or distance from everyday objects, the contemplators can open themselves to new ways of seeing things and can become familiar with new facts. Art can create a connection between reason and emotion, which can lead to a mutual reflective correction, to a re-introduction of human values into technology. (...) The world is turning into cyberspace - we project our theories onto reality. It is therefore quite probable that we will not even think in terms of wanting to contemplate Mount Everest while standing on our heads. The world will be replaced by technical gadgets. In contrast to this, art does not attempt ‘to imitate life but to anticipate it’ (Winterson)".