Organized by Dr. Natalia Hartinger, Dr. Reinhard G. Mueller, George Ogata, and Dr. Bettina Stumpp
Weekly meetings will take place on Wednesdays 10:30 a.m. – 12:30 p.m. (US Central Time) beginning on May 22, 2024. There will be at least 8 seminar sessions.
Content
Throughout the ages, we have oriented ourselves in different ways to that which is changing. Change, or later: “the new,” has been connected with divine creation and rebirth, with decay, with inspiration from higher powers, with Enlightenment and progress, and eventually with technological advances. Since the early modern period, change has no longer been considered as decay but rather as a chance for renewal and oftentimes for improving human life or making it easier. From Lat. innovare, i.e., “to change, to renew,” innovation refers to the introduction of something novel that is also considered beneficial or advantageous in some regard, i.e., something that alleviates the needs of orientation. Today, under the conditions of global competition, innovation has become a guiding value in politics, technology, business, science and art. And especially leaders are expected to orient themselves successfully to that which is new, make good use of it, and hence select and shape innovations.
In this seminar, we explore, via the philosophy of orientation, how we orient ourselves to “the new” and how something novel becomes an innovation. The first part of the seminar provides an overview of how we have oriented ourselves to “the new” over time; the second part explores the conditions of the possibility of how “the new” becomes an “innovation” in the different orientation worlds of science, business, and art. Eventually we will connect the concept of innovation with that of leadership responsibility.
Focal points will be:
- change and “the new” in myths, religions, history, and orientation; the concepts of creation, genius, and contingency
- innovation in terms of evolutionary theory
- innovation in science and the concept of truth
- innovation in business and the concept of value creation
- innovation in art and the concept of creativity
- innovation and the question of leadership responsibility
This seminar is discussion-based; this means participants are expected to read the respective passages before the sessions. The seminar is free. But the number of participants is limited. Please apply by May 16, 2024, via the application form below by briefly explaining 1.) your professional and/or academic background, 2.) your philosophical interests, and 3.) your motivation for joining the seminar (max. 50 words per field).