Prof. Dr. phil. Dr. h.c. mult. Dr.-Ing. E.h. Jürgen Mittelstraß, born in 1936 in Düsseldorf, studied philosophy, German studies, and Protestant theology in Bonn, Erlangen, Hamburg, and Oxford. In 1961, he received his Ph.D. at the University of Erlangen-Nuremberg, where he habilitated in 1968. Two years later, he was appointed professor of philosophy and philosophy of science at the University of Konstanz. From 1990 to 2005, he was director of the Center of Science and Philosophy. Currently, he is the chairman of the Austrian Science Council in Vienna and also works as director of the Science Forum in Konstanz.
The philosopher and scientific theorist has been a member of several renowned academic institutions and academies. He was a member of the Academia Europaea (from 2002 to 2008 as president), the Science Council, the Senate of the German Research Council as well as the Council for Research, Technology, and Innovation to the Federal Chancellor. Furthermore, he was President of the General Society for Philosophy in Germany and a founding member of the German-American Council. In 2010, Professor Mittelstraß was appointed to the World Commission for Ethics in Science and Technology (COMEST), an advising organ of UNESCO.
From 2000 to 2007, he received honorary Ph.D. degrees from six prestigious national and international universities as well as the honorary senator degree at the University of Erlangen-Nuremberg. In addition, he was honored with the Leibniz Prize of the German Research Council and the Federal Cross of Merit 1st Class.
Professor Mittelstraß’ research deals mainly with questions from the general scientific theory, history of philosophy and science, epistemology, philosophy of language, and cultural theory. Influenced by the constuctivist concept of the Erlangen school of philosophy, he is considered one of the main founders and representatives of the Konstanz school of philosophy. Furthermore, he is the editor of the “Enzyklopädie Philosophie und Wissenschaftstheorie” (Encyclopedia of Philosophy and Philosophy of Science).