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Georg Harfensteller, PhD

Phenomenology • Social Philosophy • Theory of Violence

UNIVERSITÄT WIEN · INSTITUT FÜR PHILOSOPHIE · FORSCHUNGSKREIS PHÄNOMENOLOGIE

Curriculum Vitae

Academic career, research foci & teaching

Selected milestones of my academic trajectory — from the dissertation on phenomenology and political community to the present lectureship at the Institute of Philosophy, University of Vienna.

Academic Position

since 2022 — Lecturer at the Institute of Philosophy, University of Vienna

Teaching and research in phenomenology, social philosophy, and religious studies, with a focus on Alfred Schütz, Hannah Arendt, and the Vienna tradition of phenomenology.

Education

2022 — Dr. phil., University of Vienna
Dissertation: Tears in the Fabric of Reference. Violence as the Foundational Moment of Political Community
Supervisors: Prof. Dr. Georg Stenger & PD Dr. Michael Staudigl

2017 — MA Philosophy, University of Vienna

2014 — BA Philosophy, University of Vienna

Research Foci

  • Phenomenology of the Political (Schütz, Arendt, Waldenfels)
  • Social Philosophy of Communitarisation
  • Philosophy of Religion & Phenomenology of Religion
  • Shared Affectivity & Bodily Rootedness
  • Phenomenological Critique of Violence

Teaching

Winter Semester 2025/26
— Phenomenology of the Political (close-reading seminar)
— Introduction to Social Philosophy (lecture)

Summer Semester 2025
— Alfred Schütz: Provinces of Meaning & Lifeworlds (seminar)
— Phenomenological Methods (practice class)

Memberships & Roles

  • Alfred Schutz Circle — Member
  • German Society for Phenomenology
  • Forum for Phenomenology and Philosophy (Vienna)

Peer Review

  • Phänomenologische Forschungen
  • Human Studies
  • Religions (MDPI)