Max Bense (7 February 1910 in Strasbourg – 29 April 1990 in Stuttgart) was a German philosopher, writer, and publicist, known for his work in

philosophy of science Philosophy of science is a branch of philosophy concerned with the foundations, methods, and implications of science. The central questions of this study concern what qualifies as science, the reliability of scientific theories, and the ult ...

logic Logic is the study of correct reasoning. It includes both formal and informal logic. Formal logic is the science of deductively valid inferences or of logical truths. It is a formal science investigating how conclusions follow from premise ...

aesthetics Aesthetics, or esthetics, is a branch of philosophy that deals with the nature of beauty and taste, as well as the philosophy of art (its own area of philosophy that comes out of aesthetics). It examines aesthetic values, often expressed t ...

, and

semiotics Semiotics (also called semiotic studies) is the systematic study of sign processes ( semiosis) and meaning making. Semiosis is any activity, conduct, or process that involves signs, where a sign is defined as anything that communicates something ...

. His thoughts combine

natural sciences Natural science is one of the branches of science concerned with the description, understanding and prediction of natural phenomena, based on empirical evidence from observation and experimentation. Mechanisms such as peer review and repeatab ...

art Art is a diverse range of human activity, and resulting product, that involves creative or imaginative talent expressive of technical proficiency, beauty, emotional power, or conceptual ideas. There is no generally agreed definition of wha ...

, and philosophy under a collective perspective and follow a definition of reality, which – under the term ''existential rationalism'' – is able to remove the separation between humanities and natural sciences.

Life

Max Bense spent his early childhood in his birthplace Strasbourg and in 1918 his family was deported from Alsace-Lorraine as a consequence of

World War I World War I (28 July 1914 11 November 1918), often abbreviated as WWI, was one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, the United States, and the Ottoman Empire, with fightin ...

. Starting in 1920, he attended grammar school in

Cologne Cologne ( ; german: Köln ; ksh, Kölle ) is the largest city of the German western state of North Rhine-Westphalia (NRW) and the fourth-most populous city of Germany with 1.1 million inhabitants in the city proper and 3.6 millio ...

and after 1930 he studied physics, chemistry, mathematics, geology, and philosophy at the

University of Bonn The Rhenish Friedrich Wilhelm University of Bonn (german: Rheinische Friedrich-Wilhelms-Universität Bonn) is a public research university located in Bonn, North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany. It was founded in its present form as the ( en, Rhine ...

. During his studies, his interest in literature is revealed by several contributions to newspapers, journals, and broadcast, for which he wrote several

radio drama Radio drama (or audio drama, audio play, radio play, radio theatre, or audio theatre) is a dramatized, purely acoustic performance. With no visual component, radio drama depends on dialogue, music and sound effects to help the listener imagine ...

s. In 1937 he received his doctor's degree (Dr. phil. nat.) with his dissertation "Quantenmechanik und Daseinsrelativität" (

Quantum Mechanics Quantum mechanics is a fundamental theory in physics that provides a description of the physical properties of nature at the scale of atoms and subatomic particles. It is the foundation of all quantum physics including quantum chemistr ...

and Relativity of ''

Dasein ''Dasein'' () (sometimes spelled as Da-sein) is the German word for 'existence'. It is a fundamental concept in the existential philosophy of Martin Heidegger. Heidegger uses the expression ''Dasein'' to refer to the experience of being that is p ...

''). He used the term ''Relativity of Dasein'', which he adopted from

Max Scheler Max Ferdinand Scheler (; 22 August 1874 – 19 May 1928) was a German philosopher known for his work in phenomenology, ethics, and philosophical anthropology. Considered in his lifetime one of the most prominent German philosophers,Davis, Zach ...

, for explaining that novel theories do not have to contradict classical science. Bense – declared opponent of

national socialism Nazism ( ; german: Nazismus), the common name in English for National Socialism (german: Nationalsozialismus, ), is the far-right totalitarian political ideology and practices associated with Adolf Hitler and the Nazi Party (NSDAP) in Naz ...

– knowingly opposed the

Deutsche Physik ''Deutsche Physik'' (, "German Physics") or Aryan Physics (german: Arische Physik) was a nationalist movement in the German physics community in the early 1930s which had the support of many eminent physicists in Germany. The term was taken ...

of the Nazi regime (cf. Johannes Juilfs), which rejected the

theory of relativity The theory of relativity usually encompasses two interrelated theories by Albert Einstein: special relativity and general relativity, proposed and published in 1905 and 1915, respectively. Special relativity applies to all physical phenomena in ...

due to Einstein's

Jew Jews ( he, יְהוּדִים, , ) or Jewish people are an ethnoreligious group and nation originating from the Israelites Israelite origins and kingdom: "The first act in the long drama of Jewish history is the age of the Israelites""T ...

ish origin. Therefore, he did not receive his postdoctoral qualification. In 1938, Bense initially worked as a physicist at the

Bayer AG Bayer AG (, commonly pronounced ; ) is a German multinational pharmaceutical and biotechnology company and one of the largest pharmaceutical companies in the world. Headquartered in Leverkusen, Bayer's areas of business include pharmaceutica ...

Leverkusen Leverkusen () is a city in North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany, on the eastern bank of the Rhine. To the south, Leverkusen borders the city of Cologne, and to the north the state capital, Düsseldorf. With about 161,000 inhabitants, Leverkusen is o ...

. After the outbreak of

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposing ...

he was a soldier, firstly as a meteorologist, then as a medical technician in

Berlin Berlin ( , ) is the capital and List of cities in Germany by population, largest city of Germany by both area and population. Its 3.7 million inhabitants make it the European Union's List of cities in the European Union by population within ci ...

and

Georgenthal Georgenthal is a municipality in the district of Gotha, in Thuringia, Germany. The former municipalities Leinatal, Hohenkirchen and Petriroda Petriroda is a village and a former municipality in the district of Gotha, in Thuringia, Germany. ...

, where he was mayor for a short time after the end of the war. In 1945 the

University of Jena The University of Jena, officially the Friedrich Schiller University Jena (german: Friedrich-Schiller-Universität Jena, abbreviated FSU, shortened form ''Uni Jena''), is a public research university located in Jena, Thuringia, Germany. The un ...

appointed him to

curator A curator (from la, cura, meaning "to take care") is a manager or overseer. When working with cultural organizations, a curator is typically a "collections curator" or an "exhibitions curator", and has multifaceted tasks dependent on the parti ...

(Chancellor of the University) and offered him the possibility of postdoctoral work ( habilitation), which was likely to be cumulative, at the Social-Pedagogic Faculty, which was followed by an appointment to

Professor extraordinarius Academic ranks in Germany are the titles, relative importance and power of professors, researchers, and administrative personnel held in academia. Overview Appointment grades * (Pay grade: ''W3'' or ''W2'') * (''W3'') * (''W2'') * (''W2'', ...

of philosophical and scientific

propaedeutics Propaedeutics or propedeutics (from Ancient Greek , ''propaídeusis'' 'preparatory education') is a historical term for an introductory course into an art or science. The etymology of propedeutics comprises the Latin prefix ''pro'', meaning earlier ...

. In 1948, Bense fled from the political development of the

Soviet occupation zone The Soviet Occupation Zone ( or german: Ostzone, label=none, "East Zone"; , ''Sovetskaya okkupatsionnaya zona Germanii'', "Soviet Occupation Zone of Germany") was an area of Germany in Central Europe that was occupied by the Soviet Union as a ...

Boppard Boppard (), formerly also spelled Boppart, is a town and municipality (since the 1976 inclusion of 9 neighbouring villages, ''Ortsbezirken'') in the Rhein-Hunsrück-Kreis (district) in Rhineland-Palatinate, Germany, lying in the Rhine Gorge, a UNE ...

; and he was appointed as a guest professor in philosophy and theory of science by the University of Stuttgart in 1949, and as senior lecturer (associate professor) there in 1950. In 1955, Bense raised a controversy concerning mythologizing tendencies of German postwar culture. Thereupon he became the target of public

polemics Polemic () is contentious rhetoric intended to support a specific position by forthright claims and to undermine the opposing position. The practice of such argumentation is called ''polemics'', which are seen in arguments on controversial topics ...

, resulting in a postponement of his appointment to

full professor Professor (commonly abbreviated as Prof.) is an academic rank at universities and other post-secondary education and research institutions in most countries. Literally, ''professor'' derives from Latin as a "person who professes". Professors ...

until 1963. In addition, he worked at the adult education center in

Ulm Ulm () is a city in the German state of Baden-Württemberg, situated on the river Danube on the border with Bavaria. The city, which has an estimated population of more than 126,000 (2018), forms an urban district of its own (german: link=no, ...

and at the

Ulm School of Design The Ulm School of Design (german: Hochschule für Gestaltung Ulm) was a college of design based in Ulm, Germany. It was founded in 1953 by Inge Aicher-Scholl, Otl Aicher and Max Bill, the latter being first rector of the school and a former stu ...

from 1953 to 1958. He was also guest professor at the Hamburg College for Visual Arts from 1958 to 1960 and in 1966/67. Max Bense became professor emeritus on 7 February 1978 and died in 1990 as an internationally accredited scientist.

Philosophy

Mathematics in art and language

Already in his first publication, "Raum und Ich" ("Space and Ego"; 1934), Bense combined theoretical philosophy with mathematics, semiotics, and aesthetics; this remained his thematic emphasis. For the first time, he phrased a rational aesthetics, which defines the components of language – words, syllables,

phoneme In phonology and linguistics, a phoneme () is a unit of sound that can distinguish one word from another in a particular language. For example, in most dialects of English, with the notable exception of the West Midlands and the north-wes ...

s – as a statistical language repertoire, and which opposes literature that is based upon meaning. Conversely, Bense studied the concept of style, which he applied to mathematics – following

Gottfried Wilhelm Leibniz Gottfried Wilhelm (von) Leibniz . ( – 14 November 1716) was a German polymath active as a mathematician, philosopher, scientist and diplomat. He is one of the most prominent figures in both the history of philosophy and the history of math ...

' ''Mathesis Universalis'' –, designing a universal markup language. "Die Mathematik in der Kunst" ("Mathematics in Art"; 1949) was his starting point for investigating mathematical principles of form in the history of art. From this, Bense developed a perspective to see the mathematical spirit in works of literary art, especially in

metrics Metric or metrical may refer to: * Metric system, an internationally adopted decimal system of measurement * An adjective indicating relation to measurement in general, or a noun describing a specific type of measurement Mathematics In mathema ...

and

rhythm Rhythm (from Greek , ''rhythmos'', "any regular recurring motion, symmetry") generally means a " movement marked by the regulated succession of strong and weak elements, or of opposite or different conditions". This general meaning of regular re ...

. Bense's thoughts assumed the correlation of a mathematical and linguistic consciousness, which have a common origin and have grown into complementary modes of thought. He considered the atomistic structures of the linguistic modes to be equivalent. By using non-interpretable basic elements (characters) and rules or operators, these forms give meaning, impart information and make stylistically formed language possible. He considered the aesthetic and the semantic information to be generally separated and not to be defined until they are used. This was the first German integration of

Ludwig Wittgenstein Ludwig Josef Johann Wittgenstein ( ; ; 26 April 1889 – 29 April 1951) was an Austrian-British philosopher who worked primarily in logic, the philosophy of mathematics, the philosophy of mind, and the philosophy of language. He is con ...

's work into the field of aesthetics. Some of Bense's knowledge is based on the investigations of the American mathematician

George David Birkhoff George David Birkhoff (March 21, 1884 – November 12, 1944) was an American mathematician best known for what is now called the ergodic theorem. Birkhoff was one of the most important leaders in American mathematics in his generation, and during ...

. Thus some termini like "redundancy" and "entropy" have to be equated with "Ordnungsmaß" and "Materialverbrauch" (consumption of material) from Birkhoff's aesthetics research.

Technology and ethics

Bense considered the destruction of the social and intellectual middle-class world since the beginning of the 20th century a parallel to the destruction of the concept of being in philosophy. He saw the natural world replaced by an artificial one. As a forerunner of the computer age, Bense thought about the technical counterparts of human existence; unlike many of his contemporaries he considered machines as pure products of human intelligence, having

algorithm In mathematics and computer science, an algorithm () is a finite sequence of rigorous instructions, typically used to solve a class of specific problems or to perform a computation. Algorithms are used as specifications for performing ...

s as a basis, but soon he posed ethical questions, which were not discussed in

ethics of technology The ethics of technology is a sub-field of ethics addressing the ethical questions specific to the Technology Age, the transitional shift in society wherein personal computers and subsequent devices provide for the quick and easy transfer of info ...

until decades later. His pragmatic views of technology, influenced by

Walter Benjamin Walter Bendix Schönflies Benjamin (; ; 15 July 1892 – 26 September 1940) was a German Jewish philosopher, cultural critic and essayist. An eclectic thinker, combining elements of German idealism, Romanticism, Western Marxism, and Jewish ...

, which lacked either belief in progress or its rejection, brought him the criticism of

Theodor W. Adorno Theodor W. Adorno ( , ; born Theodor Ludwig Wiesengrund; 11 September 1903 – 6 August 1969) was a German philosopher, sociologist, psychologist, musicologist, and composer. He was a leading member of the Frankfurt School of criti ...

– and again put him in the role of the opposition.

Structural analysis of language

Inspired by

neuroscience Neuroscience is the scientific study of the nervous system (the brain, spinal cord, and peripheral nervous system), its functions and disorders. It is a multidisciplinary science that combines physiology, anatomy, molecular biology, developme ...

, informatics, and the occupation with electronic calculating machines, but also by Wittgenstein's concept of the

language-game A language-game (german: Sprachspiel) is a philosophical concept developed by Ludwig Wittgenstein, referring to simple examples of language use and the actions into which the language is woven. Wittgenstein argued that a word or even a sentence h ...

, Bense tried to put into perspective or to extend the traditional view of literature. In that, he was one of the first philosophers of culture who integrated the technical possibilities of the computer into their thoughts and investigated them across disciplinary boundaries. He statistically and topologically analysed linguistic phenomena, subjected them to questions of semiotic, information theory, and communication theory using structuralistic approaches. Thus Bense became the first theoretician of

concrete poetry Concrete poetry is an arrangement of linguistic elements in which the typographical effect is more important in conveying meaning than verbal significance. It is sometimes referred to as visual poetry, a term that has now developed a distinct me ...

, which was started by

Eugen Gomringer Eugen Gomringer (born 20 January 1925 in Cachuela Esperanza, Bolivia) is a Bolivian-born German concrete poet. He is head of the Institut für Konstruktive Kunst und Konkrete Poesie (IKKP) in Rehau, Germany. Between 1977 and 1990, he was a profes ...

in 1953, and encouraged e.g. Helmut Heißenbüttel, Claus Bremer, Reinhard Döhl, Ludwig Haring, and Franz Mon to perform further experiments, and also had influence on

Ernst Jandl Ernst Jandl (; 1 August 1925 – 9 June 2000) was an Austrian writer, poet, and translator. He became known for his experimental lyric, mainly sound poems (''Sprechgedichte'') in the tradition of concrete and visual poetic forms. Poetry Inf ...

's language deconstruction (see also Stuttgarter Gruppe/Schule).

Discussion with writers

In his work with literature and literary language, Bense was not content with only theoretical considerations; he had close contact to authors like

Alfred Andersch Alfred Hellmuth Andersch (; 4 February 1914 – 21 February 1980) was a German writer, publisher, and radio editor. The son of a conservative East Prussian army officer, he was born in Munich, Germany and died in Berzona, Ticino, Switzerland. Ma ...

and

Arno Schmidt Arno Schmidt (; 18 January 1914 – 3 June 1979) was a German author and translator. He is little known outside of German-speaking areas, in part because his works present a formidable challenge to translators. Although he is not one of the p ...

. His constructions of analogy to

visual arts The visual arts are art forms such as painting, drawing, printmaking, sculpture, ceramics, photography, video, filmmaking, design, crafts and architecture. Many artistic disciplines such as performing arts, conceptual art, and textile art ...

made major contributions to the understanding of cubism and

dadaism Dada () or Dadaism was an art movement of the European avant-garde in the early 20th century, with early centres in Zürich, Switzerland, at the Cabaret Voltaire (Zurich), Cabaret Voltaire (in 1916). New York Dada began c. 1915, and after 192 ...

Understanding of science

As a theoretician of science, Bense represented the ''synthetic intellectual concept,'' where classical

humanism Humanism is a philosophy, philosophical stance that emphasizes the individual and social potential and Agency (philosophy), agency of Human, human beings. It considers human beings the starting point for serious moral and philosophical in ...

and modern technology constructively complement one another. From this concept of science, he hoped for progressive knowledge, which must always be ethically scrutinized, and at the same time, for the prevention of regression. Because of that, Bense argued for enlightenment and put himself into that tradition. After 1984 Max Bense applied his theories of visual art to screen media. Because of that, early thoughts of media studies concerning the

internet The Internet (or internet) is the global system of interconnected computer networks that uses the Internet protocol suite (TCP/IP) to communicate between networks and devices. It is a '' network of networks'' that consists of private, pub ...

, especially the concept of

digital poetry Digital poetry is a form of electronic literature, displaying a wide range of approaches to poetry, with a prominent and crucial use of computers. Digital poetry can be available in form of CD-ROM, DVD, as installations in art galleries, in c ...

, may be traced back to Bense.

Publications

''All publications are in German.'' * ''Raum und Ich. Eine Philosophie über den Raum''. Luken & Luken, Berlin 1934 * ''Aufstand des Geistes. Eine Verteidigung der Erkenntnis''. Deutsche Verlags-Anstalt, Stuttgart 1935 * ''Anti-Klages oder Von der Würde des Menschen''. Widerstands-Verlag (Anna Niekisch), Berlin 1937 * ''Kierkegaard-Brevier''. Insel, Leipzig 1937 * ''Quantenmechanik und Daseinsrelativität. Eine Untersuchung über die Prinzipien der Quantenmechanik und ihre Beziehung zu Schelers Lehre von der Daseinsrelativität der Gegenstandsarten''. Welzel, Cologne 1938 * ''Vom Wesen deutscher Denker oder Zwischen Kritik und Imperativ''. Oldenbourg, Munich/Berlin 1938 * ''Die abendländische Leidenschaft oder Zur Kritik der Existenz.'' Oldenbourg, Munich/Berlin 1938 * ''Geist der Mathematik. Abschnitte aus der Philosophie der Arithmetik und Geometrie''. Oldenbourg, Munich/Berlin 1939 * ''Aus der Philosophie der Gegenwart''. Staufen, Cologne 1940 * ''Einleitung in die Philosophie. Eine Einübung des Geistes''. Oldenbourg, Munich 1941 * ''Sören Kierkegaard. Leben im Geist''. Hoffmann und Campe, Hamburg 1942 * ''Physikalische Welträtsel. Ein Buch von Atomen, Kernen, Strahlen und Zellen''. Staufen, Cologne 1942 * ''Briefe großer Naturforscher und Mathematiker''. Staufen, Cologne 1943 * ''Das Leben der Mathematiker. Bilder aus der Geistesgeschichte der Mathematik''. Staufen, Cologne 1944 * ''Über Leibniz. Leibniz und seine Ideologie. Der geistige Mensch und die Technik''. Rauch, Jena 1946 * ''Konturen einer Geistesgeschichte der Mathematik. Die Mathematik und die Wissenschaften''. (2 volumes) Claassen & Goverts, Hamburg 1946-1949 * ''Philosophie als Forschung''. Staufen, Cologne 1947 * ''Umgang mit Philosophen. Essays''. Staufen, Cologne 1947 * ''Hegel und Kierkegaard. Eine prinzipielle Untersuchung''. Staufen, Cologne 1948 * ''Von der Verborgenheit des Geistes''. Habel, Berlin 1948 * ''Was ist Existenzphilosophie?'' Butzon & Bercker, Kevelaer 1949 * ''Moderne Naturphilosophie''. Butzon & Bercker, Kevelaer 1949 * ''Technische Existenz. Essays''. Deutsche Verlags-Anstalt, Stuttgart 1949 * ''Geschichte der Wissenschaften in Tabellen''. Butzon&Bercker, Kevelaer 1949 * ''Literaturmetaphysik. Der Schriftsteller in der technischen Welt''. Deutsche Verlags-Anstalt, Stuttgart 1950 * ''Ptolemäer und Mauretanier oder Die theologische Emigration der deutschen Literatur''. Kiepenheuer & Witsch, Cologne/Berlin 1950 * ''Was ist Elektrizität?'' Butzon & Bercker, Kevelaer 1950 * ''Die Philosophie''. Suhrkamp, Frankfurt/Main 1951 * ''Plakatwelt. Vier Essays''. Deutsche Verlags-Anstalt, Stuttgart 1952 * ''Die Theorie Kafkas''. Kiepenheuer & Witsch, Cologne/Berlin 1952 * ''Der Begriff der Naturphilosophie.'' Deutsche Verlags-Anstalt, Stuttgart 1953 * ''Aesthetica (I). Metaphysische Beobachtungen am Schönen''. Deutsche Verlags-Anstalt, Stuttgart 1954 * ''Descartes und die Folgen (I). Ein aktueller Traktat''. Agis, Krefeld/Baden-Baden 1955 * ''Aesthetica (II). Aesthetische Information''. Agis, Baden-Baden 1956 * ''Rationalismus und Sensibilität. Präsentationen''. (Mit Elisabeth Walther) Agis, Krefeld/Baden-Baden 1956 * ''Aesthetica (III). Ästhetik und Zivilisation. Theorie der ästhetischen Zivilisation''. Agis, Krefeld/Baden-Baden 1958 * ''Kunst und Intelligenz als Problem der Moderne''. Kulturamt, Dortmund 1959 * ''Aesthetica (IV). Programmierung des Schönen. Allgemeine Texttheorie und Textästhetik''. Agis, Krefeld/Baden-Baden 1960 * ''Grignan-Serie. Beschreibung einer Landschaft''. Der Augenblick, Stuttgart 1960 * ''Descartes und die Folgen (II). Ein Geräusch in der Straße''. Agis, Krefeld/Baden-Baden 1960 * ''Die Idee der Politik in der technischen Welt''. Kulturamt, Dortmund 1960 * ''aprèsfiche für uns hier und für andere von Max Bense. Werbung für „Rheinlandschaft“''. Burkhardt, Stuttgart 1961 * ''Bestandteile des Vorüber. Dünnschliffe Mischtexte Montagen''. Kiepenheuer & Witsch, Cologne 1961 * ''Rosenschuttplatz''. (With Clytus Gottwald) Mayer, Stuttgart 1961 * ''Reste eines Gesichtes''. (With Karl-Georg Pfahler). Mayer, Stuttgart 1961 * ''Entwurf einer Rheinlandschaft''. Kiepenheuer & Witsch, Cologne/Berlin 1962 * ''theorie der texte. Eine Einführung in neuere Auffassungen und Methoden''. Kiepenheuer & Witsch, Cologne 1962 * ''Die präzisen Vergnügen. Versuche und Modelle''. Limes, Wiesbaden 1964 * ''Aesthetica. Einführung in die neue Aesthetik''. Agis, Baden-Baden 1965 * ''Zufällige Wortereignisse''. Mayer, Stuttgart 1965 * ''Brasilianische Intelligenz. Eine cartesianische Reflexion''. Limes, Wiesbaden 1965 * ''jetzt''. Mayer, Stuttgart 1965 * ''tallose berge''. Mayer, Stuttgart 1965 * ''Ungehorsam der Ideen. Abschließender Traktat über Intelligenz und technische Welt''. Kiepenheuer & Witsch, Cologne/Berlin 1965 * ''zusammenfassende grundlegung moderner ästhetik''. galerie press, St. Gallen 1966 * ''Epische Studie zu einem epikureischen Doppelspiel''. Hake, Cologne 1967 * ''Die Zerstörung des Durstes durch Wasser. Einer Liebesgeschichte zufälliges Textereignis''. Kiepenheuer & Witsch, Cologne 1967 * ''Semiotik. Allgemeine Theorie der Zeichen''. Agis, Baden-Baden 1967 * ''kleine abstrakte ästhetik''. edition rot, Stuttgart 1969 * ''Einführung in die informationstheoretische Ästhetik. Grundlegung und Anwendung in der Texttheorie''. Rowohlt, Reinbek 1969 * ''Der Monolog der Terry Jo''. (With Ludwig Harig) In: Klaus Schöning (Ed.): ''Neues Hörspiel. Texte. Partituren.'' Suhrkamp, Frankfurt/Main 1969, pp. 59–91 * ''Artistik und Engagement. Präsentation ästhetischer Objekte''. Kiepenheuer & Witsch, Cologne 1970 * ''Existenzmitteilung aus San Franzisko''. Hake, Cologne 1970 * ''nur glas ist wie glas. werbetexte''. Fietkau, Berlin 1970 * ''Die Realität der Literatur. Autoren und ihre Texte''. Kiepenheuer & Witsch, Cologne 1971 * ''Zeichen und Design. Semiotische Ästhetik''. Agis, Baden-Baden 1971 * ''Wörterbuch der Semiotik''. (With Elisabeth Walther) Kiepenheuer & Witsch, Cologne 1973 * ''Semiotische Prozesse und Systeme in Wissenschaftstheorie und Design, Ästhetik und Mathematik. Semiotik vom höheren Standpunkt''. Agis, Baden-Baden 1975 * ''Vermittlung der Realitäten. Semiotische Erkenntnistheorie''. Agis, Baden-Baden 1976 * ''Das Auge Epikurs. Indirektes über Malerei''. Deutsche Verlags-Anstalt, Stuttgart 1979 * ''Die Unwahrscheinlichkeit des Ästhetischen und die semiotische Konzeption der Kunst''. Agis, Baden-Baden 1979 * ''Axiomatik und Semiotik in Mathematik und Naturerkenntnis''. Agis, Baden-Baden 1981 * ''Zentrales und Occasionelles. Poetische Bemerkungen''. Edition Künstlerhaus, Stuttgart 1981 * ''Das Universum der Zeichen. Essays über die Expansionen der Semiotik''. Agis, Baden-Baden 1983 * ''Das graue Rot der Poesie. Gedichte''. Agis, Baden-Baden 1983 * ''Kosmos Atheos. Gedichte''. Agis, Baden-Baden 1985 * ''Repräsentation und Fundierung der Realitäten. Fazit semiotischer Perspektiven''. Agis, Baden-Baden 1986 * ''Nacht-Euklidische Verstecke. Poetische Texte''. Agis, Baden-Baden 1988 * ''Poetische Abstraktionen. Gedichte und Aphorismen''. Manus Presse, Stuttgart 1990 * ''Der Mann, an den ich denke. Ein Fragment''. (from his unpublished works, ed. by Elisabeth Walther) edition rot, Stuttgart 1991 * ''Die Eigenrealität der Zeichen''. (from his unpublished works, ed. by Elisabeth Walther) Agis, Baden-Baden 1992

Secondary literature

''All references are in German.'' * Eckardt, Michael: "...sich in die wissenschaftliche Welt allerbestens einführen können." Max Bense, Walter Wolf und Georg Klaus zwischen Kooperation und Konflikt an der Universität Jena in den Jahren 1945-1949; in: HOSSFELD, U./KAISER, T./MESTRUP, H. (Ed.)(2007): ''Hochschule im Sozialismus. Studien zur Friedrich-Schiller-Universität Jena (1945-1990)''. Cologne/Weimar/Vienna 2007, 1929-1970. * Eckardt, Michael: "Max Bense in Thüringen", in: ''Palmbaum'' 14 (2006) 1, 104–111. * Eckardt, Michael: "Benses Kierkegaard in Jena", ''Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung'', 31 January 2006, p. 8. * Ernst, Christoph: "Max Bense: Der Essay zwischen Poesie und Prosa", in: ders., ''Essayistische Medienreflexion''. Bielefeld, Transcript 2005, 135–144, * Thomé, Horst: "Einheit des Wissens im Zeichen „technischer Existenz“ – Max Bense", in: Becker, Norbert und Quarthal, Franz (Ed.) (2004), ''Die Universität Stuttgart nach 1945: Geschichte – Entwicklungen – Persönlichkeiten, Ostfildern'', Thorbecke 2004, 345–348, * Eckardt, Michael: "Bemerkungen zum Brief von Georg Klaus an Max Bense", in: Fuchs-Kittowski, Klaus und Piotrowski, Siegfried (Ed.), ''Kybernetik und Interdisziplinarität in den Wissenschaften.'' Berlin: Trafo-Verlag 2004, 391–392. * Büscher, Barbara; Herrmann, Hans-Christian von; Hoffmann, Christoph (Ed.): ''Ästhetik als Programm: Max Bense. Daten und Streuungen''. Berlin, Vice Versa 2004, 307 pp., with illustrations, * Eckardt, Michael: "Angewandte Wissenschaftsrevison – Überschneidungen und Parallelen im Schaffen von Max Bense und Georg Klaus", in: ''Grundlagenstudien aus Kybernetik und Geisteswissenschaft / Humankybernetik'', 43 (2002) 4, 143–152. * Eckardt, Michael: "Philosophie und Philosophen in Jena: Max Bense und Georg Klaus", in: Weißbecker, M. (Ed.), ''Gewalten, Gestalten, Erinnerungen. Beiträge zur Geschichte der FSU Jena in den ersten Jahren nach 1945.'' Jena, Thüringer Forum für Bildung und Wissenschaft 2002, pp. 51–69, * Michael Eckardt und Engell, Lorenz (Ed.): ''Das Programm des Schönen. Ausgewählte Beiträge der Stuttgarter Schule zur Semiotik der Künste und der Medien.'' Weimar, VDG Verlag und Datenbank für Geisteswissenschaften 2002, 334 pp., ill., graph. depict., * Elisabeth Walther: "Max Bense und die Kybernetik", in: ''Computer Art Faszination'', 1999, p. 360 * Harry Walter: ''Max Bense in Stuttgart'', 1994. 16 pages, 11 pictures. Stapled. Deutsches Literaturarchiv Marbach

External links

*
max-bense.de

Stuttgarter Schule
* Elisabeth Walther

''netzliteratur.net'' * Elisabeth Walther-Bense

''stuttgarter-schule.de'' * Herbert W. Franke

Max Bense, Informationsästhetik und naturwissenschaftliche Erklärung der Kunst",

Telepolis ''Telepolis'' is a German Internet magazine, published by the Heinz Heise Verlag since the beginning of 1996. It was founded by journalists Armin Medosch and Florian Rötzer and deals with privacy, science, culture, internet-related and ge ...

, 9 April 1998 * Tilman Baumgärtel
"Die präzisen Vergnügen."
"Kreativität mit Großrechenanlagen: Zur Wiederentdeckung der 'Stuttgarter Schule' um Max Bense." Telepolis, 20 March 2005 * Hermann Rotermund

Max Bense als Wegbereiter für Konkrete Poesie und Netzliteratur",

Radio Bremen Radio Bremen (RB), Germany's smallest public radio and television broadcaster, is the legally mandated broadcaster for the city-state Free Hanseatic City of Bremen (which includes Bremerhaven). With its headquarters sited in Bremen, Radio Brem ...

, 2001 *Marlis Gerhardt
"Modern ist, wer seiner Zeit gewachsen ist.
Max Bense: ein Porträt", SWR2, 19 June 2007
downloadable
rtf-file, 17 pp., 64 kB * Daniel Fetzner
„fogpatch“
Creative research project (2007-2010) about the text "Existenzmitteilung aus San Franzisko" {{DEFAULTSORT:Bense, Max 1910 births 1990 deaths Writers from Strasbourg People from Alsace-Lorraine Alsatian-German people German Peace Union politicians Philosophers of science German semioticians German non-fiction writers University of Bonn alumni University of Jena faculty University of Stuttgart faculty German male non-fiction writers 20th-century German philosophers 20th-century non-fiction writers