[The ambivalence concept by Carl Friedrich von Weizsäcker - attempt at an exegesis].

Abstract

Carl Friedrich von Weizsäcker treated the problematic implications of scientific-technological progress, emerging in the lifetime of his generation, under the key-word "ambivalence". Obviously it means a proto-theoretical, fuzzy concept that cannot be introduced explicitly per definition; starting with an intuitive perception, "ambivalence" should gradually gain meaning by using it in different argumentative contexts. Following a circular course (Kreisgang)--a procedure typical for Weizsäcker's style of thought--, he moves successively from explicit ambivalence in the application sphere of science through ambivalent features in scientists' behaviour and action up to the general ambivalence of human existence, disclosed only at an anthropological level of deliberation. The given paper delineates the ambivalence concept used by Weizsäcker during the 1960s and 1970s.