In 1960, he was a crew member of the West German boat which won the gold medal in the eights event.
Life and career
Full Professor 1969–2003 (
Karlsruhe Institute of Technology, KIT = University of Karlsruhe, Germany), now Emeritus. President 2005-8 (now Honorary President) of the International Institute of Philosophy (I.I.P.), Paris, (i.e., the world academy of philosophers). President of the German Philosophical Society 1991-3, Vice President 1998–2003 of the
International Federation of Philosophical Societies (Fédération Internationale des Sociétés de Philosophie, FISP).
Visiting and honorary professorships in Argentina; Austria; Brazil, Chile, Hungary, India, Japan, Norway, Russia, Switzerland, Venezuela and the United States, incl. distinguished ones at
University of Illinois 1973,
University of Massachusetts 1976,
TCU, Texas, 1987.
Lenk started out with the
philosophy of science and the foundation of
logics (notably his habilitation thesis on the Critique of Logical Constants, 1968) and later on, since 1978, included
epistemology and pragmatic methodology of the social and natural sciences, technology+ economics, neuroscience and the
philosophy of language in several books on Interpretative Constructs (1993) and Schema Games (1995). Since 1978 he developed his basic epistemological methodology of what he calls “methodological (scheme-)interpretationism” focused on a pragmatic and constructive realism a bit similar to Putnam's internal realism and much earlier and more general than the according recent perspectivism in US philosophy of science. Since then he extended and differentiated
Wittgenstein’s later conception of “language games” toward “schema games” connecting and activating these with neuroscientific findings and analyses (for neurophilosophy cf. his book Consciousness as Scheme-Interpretation 2004).
In
applied philosophy he published rather many studies and books on performance and achievement (not only in sport), social responsibility (see, e.g., Mitcham's Encyclopedia on Science, Technology and Ethics (2005, 2015 2nd ed.)), and social
philosophy of technology. Lately, he turned to several books on Concrete Humanity 1988 and sustainability 2009 and
Philosophical Anthropology 2010, 2013. Lenk's autobiographical memorial recollections on
Ratzeburger Goldwasser (
Ratzeburg’s Golden Waters) 2013 and Golden Day at
Lago Albano 2015 present a lively overview of his athletic and academic career stages (except the three US visiting professorships).
Lenk's academic specializations comprise amongst others:
epistemology, methodology and
philosophy of science, incl. social sciences and technology, systems theory, neurosciences,
anthropology, theoretical sociology, action theory, philosophy and psychology of creativity, achievement motivation and group dynamics, neuro- and moral philosophy as well as applied ethics, sport science and philosophy of sport.
(Honorary) memberships in societies/committees
Professional societies/committees
Founding president of the bilateral Philosophical Societies with Argentina, Chile, Hungary (−2005), Romania, and the German-Russian Society of the Philosophy of Science and Technology
Founding member 1972 and President (1980–1) of the International Association of Sport Philosophy.
Member of the Steering Committee member of FISP 1994–2008
4 German, 9 University and 2 European Championships in rowing (4-, 8+) 1958–60, Olympic Goldmedalist in the eight oar crew (8+) 1960 (
Rome Olympics). Co-founder and coach of 3 German Championships (4+, 8+), 1 European silver medal (4+) and one World Championship (8+, 1966).
Distinguished Scholar Award of the International Assoc. for the Philosophy of Sport 1995
8 honorary doctor degrees: Cologne 1986 (Sports U.), Córdoba/Arg. 1992 (Nat. U., twice = from 2 depts.), Moscow 1995 (GUGN) and IUÖP 2001, Budapest 1993 (TU), Pecs 1994 (dist., Rostov/Don 2002)
5 honorary or distinguished professorships abroad (US, Russia, Hungary, Chile).
Publications
Overview
Lenk is the author of about 2500 articles and almost 150 books, incl. in Engl., a.o., Global
TechnoScience and Responsibility 2007, Grasping Reality 2003, Save Olympic Spirit 2012, Social Philosophy of Athletics 1979, Team Dynamics 1977, Comparative and Intercultural Philosophy (ed.) 2009, Kant Today (ed.) 2006, Land Development Strategies (co-ed.) 2009, Ethics Facing Globalization (co-ed.) 2006, Advances and Problems in the
Philosophy of Technology (co-ed.) 1997 (US)+2001, Epistemological Issues in Classical Chinese Philosophy (co-ed.) 1993, (Translations of books/articles into 20 languages.)
Bewusstsein als Schemainterpretation. Mentis, Paderborn, 2004,
ISBN3-89785-372-8
Verantwortung und Gewissen des Forschers. Studienverlag, Innsbruck, 2006,
ISBN3-7065-4211-0
Bewusstsein, Kreativität und Leistung. Wiss. Buchgesellschaft, Darmstadt, 2007,
ISBN978-3-534-20461-8
Das flexible Vielfachwesen. Einführung in die moderne philosophische Anthropologie zwischen Bio-, Techno- und Kulturwissenschaften. Velbrück Wiss., Weilerswist, 2010,
ISBN978-3-938808-59-7
Ratzeburger Goldwasser – vom Lago Albano bis Lambarene. Projektverlag, Bochum/Freiburg, 2013,
ISBN978-3-89733-290-4
Transkulturelle Logik – Universalität in der Vielfalt (with G. Paul). Projektverlag, Bochum/Freiburg, 2014,
ISBN978-3-89733-346-8
Social Philosophy of Athletics: A Pluralistic and Practice-Oriented Philosophical Analysis of Top Level Amateur Sport. Stipes, Champaign IL, 1979,
ISBN978-0875631653