A building for diversity, openness and freedom

"We must learn to doubt. The modern world cannot function without doubt."

- Ágnes Heller

Ágnes Heller (1929-2019) was one of the most important philosophers of her time. She was born in Budapest to Jewish parents and survived the National Socialist terror in Hungary, while many of her closest relatives were murdered. She studied philosophy under Georg Lukács and was one of the most important representatives of the "Budapest School", which criticised Soviet communism.

Due to her role in the 1956 revolution and her critical attitude towards the communist regime in Hungary, she lost her professorship and more than once the opportunity to publish and travel. Finally, she and her husband Ferenc Fehér decided to emigrate to Australia. Heller held a professorship in sociology at La Trobe University in Melbourne from 1978 until she was appointed to the New School for Social Research in New York in 1986.

Heller was a proponent of critical theory and humanist philosophy. Among other things, she focussed on the relationship between life and freedom and the role of art and morality in modern society.

She criticised totalitarianism, nationalism, fundamentalism and neoliberalism. She argued in favour of an open, democratic and pluralistic society in which people are free to shape their individual and collective identities.

She received numerous awards and honours, including an honorary doctorate in philosophy from the University of Innsbruck in 2015, and wrote around 40 monographs and numerous articles.

Ágnes Heller died in July 2019 at the age of 90 in a tragic swimming accident at Lake Balaton in Hungary. She travelled restlessly around the world as a visiting professor and lecturer until the end, leaving behind a rich and diverse philosophical legacy that continues to inspire and challenge many people.

In 2023, the University of Innsbruck named its new building on the Innrain after her in memory of the great philosopher. "May Ágnes Heller's critical spirit, her creative curiosity, her constructive doubt, her empathy and her courage inspire all those who come and go in this building," wished philosopher Josef Mitterer (Text) on the occasion of the opening of this building.