Hans Joas
Autorenfoto zu Hans Joas
© Heike Steinweg

Hans Joas

Hans Joas was born in 1948 and is the Ernst Troeltsch Honorary Professor at the Faculty of Theology at Humboldt-Universität zu Berlin and teaches as a member of the Committee on Social Thought at the University of Chicago. He has received multiple accolades for his work, including the Hans Kilian Prize, the Max Planck Research Award, the Prix Ricœur, and most recently, the Prize of the German Society of Sociology in recognition of his life's work as a scholar.
Hans Joas was born in 1948 and is the Ernst Troeltsch Honorary Professor at the Faculty of Theology at Humboldt-Universität zu Berlin and teaches as a member of the Committee on Social Thought at the University of Chicago. He has received multiple accolades for his work, including the Hans Kilian Prize, the Max Planck Research Award, the Prix Ricœur, and most recently, the Prize of the German Society of Sociology in recognition of his life's work as a scholar.
Awards (selection)
Prize of the German Society of Sociology 2022
Theologischer Preis der Salzburger Hochschulwochen 2018

Prix Paul Ricœur 2017
Max Planck Research Award 2015
Distinguished Lifetime Achievement Award, American Sociological Association, Section History of Sociology 2015
Hans Kilian Prize 2013
Doctor honoris causa, Uppsala University 2013
Werner Heisenberg Medal of the Alexander von Humboldt Foundation 2012
Doctor honoris causa, University of Tübingen...

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Prize of the German Society of Sociology 2022
Theologischer Preis der Salzburger Hochschulwochen 2018

Prix Paul Ricœur 2017
Max Planck Research Award 2015
Distinguished Lifetime Achievement Award, American Sociological Association, Section History of Sociology 2015
Hans Kilian Prize 2013
Doctor honoris causa, Uppsala University 2013
Werner Heisenberg Medal of the Alexander von Humboldt Foundation 2012
Doctor honoris causa, University of Tübingen 2012
Member of Academia Europaea 2011
Bielefeld Science Award (Niklas Luhmann Prize) 2010

Praise
»It is not an exaggeration to consider philosopher and sociologist Hans Joas one of the most important contemporary German thinkers.« Dirk Pilz, Frankfurter Rundschau

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»It is not an exaggeration to consider philosopher and sociologist Hans Joas one of the most important contemporary German thinkers.« Dirk Pilz, Frankfurter Rundschau

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PUBLICATIONS

Latest first
Universalism
Year of Publication: 2025
Hans JoasYear of Publication: 2025

Universalism

Considering the well-being of all people when making moral and political decisions – for many people today, this is at least seen as an ideal. But such a humanist ethics was not always a given,...

Rights sold to:

Spanish world rights (Sal Terrae)

Under the Spell of Freedom
Year of Publication: 2020
Hans JoasYear of Publication: 2020

Under the Spell of Freedom

How do the history of religion and the history of political freedom relate to one another? The diversity of opinions on this in the fields of philosophy, the humanities and social sciences and in...

Rights sold to:

English world rights (Oxford UP), Spanish world rights (Sal Terrae)

 

The Power of the Sacred
Year of Publication: 2017
Hans JoasYear of Publication: 2017

The Power of the Sacred

»Disenchantment is a key term in the self-understanding of modernity. But what exactly does this concept mean? What was its original meaning when Max Weber introduced it? And can the...

Rights sold to:

English world rights (Oxford UP), Spanish world rights (Herder), France (Seuil), Netherlands (Lemniscaat), Hungary (Gondolat)

 

The Sacredness of the Person
Year of Publication: 2011
Hans JoasYear of Publication: 2011

The Sacredness of the Person

»What are the origins of the idea of human rights and universal human dignity? How can we most fully understand—and realize—these rights going into the future? In The...

Rights sold to:

English world rights (Georgetown UP), Spanish world rights (Sal Terrae), Chinese simplex rights (Shanghai People’s Publishing House), France (Labor et Fides), Italy (Franco Angeli), Croatia (Breza)

Previously published in the respective language / territory; rights available again: Brazilian Portuguese rights (UNESP)

The Genesis of Values
Year of Publication: 1997
Hans JoasYear of Publication: 1997

The Genesis of Values

»Public and intellectual debates have long struggled with the concept of values and the difficulties of defining them. With The Genesis of Values, renowned theorist Hans Joas...

Rights sold to:

English world rights (University of Chicago Press), Russia (Aletheia), France (Calmann-Lévy), Italy (Quodlibet), Poland (Oficyna Naukowa)

The Creativity of Action
Year of Publication: 1992
Hans JoasYear of Publication: 1992

The Creativity of Action

»Hans Joas is one of the foremost social theorists in Germany today. In this outstanding book he outlines the fundamentals of a new theory of action, drawing on philosophical pragmatism. The...

Rights sold to:

English world rights (Polity), Russia (Aletheia)

Previously published in the respective language / territory; rights available again: Spanish world rights (CIS), France (Cerf), Korea (Hanul)

 

G. H. Mead
Year of Publication: 1980
Hans JoasYear of Publication: 1980

G. H. Mead

»This major study reassesses the work of the American pragmatist George Herbert Mead (1863-1931), which had a significant impact in fields ranging from metaphysics and ethics to...

Rights sold to:

Previously published in the respective language / territory; rights available again: English world rights (MIT Press), France (Economica)

 

DISCOVER

News
17.11.2023

Hans Joas Turns 75 on 27 November 2023

Suhrkamp congratulates Hans Joas on his 75th birthday
News
01.12.2013

Our Award-Winning Authors 2013 - A Selection

We congratulate our authors!