Josef Isensee - "Textverständnis und Textinterpretation in Rechtswissenschaft, Theologie und Literaturwissenschaft"

Josef Isensee studied law and philosophy in Freiburg, Vienna and Munich. He obtained his doctorate degree in 1967 at Walter Leisner’s chair at the University Erlangen-Nuremberg on the topic of “Subsidiaritätsprinzip und Verfassungsrecht” (“Principle of Subsidiarity and Constitutional Law”). Following his habilitation and the award of the venia legendi in the subjects of Constitutional and Administrative Law in 1970, he became professor at Saarland Univeristy. In 1975, he became professor at the Rhenish Friedrich-Wilhelm-University of Bonn (chair for Public Law), where he taught until his retirement and attainment of emeritus status in 2002. He subsequently took on several guest professorships at the Friedrich-Schiller-University of Jena, the Freie Universität Berlin, as well as the Catholic University Eichstätt-Ingolstadt.

Josef Isensee is a regular member of the North Rhine Westphalian Academy of Sciences since 1986. He was further awarded an honorary doctorate (doctor honoris causa scientarium iuris) by the Academy for Catholic Theology Warsaw. Since 1987, Isensee is co-editor of the ten volume “Handbuch des Staatsrechts der Bundesrepublik Deutschland”, along with Paul Kirchhof.

Josef Isensee’s research interests include law of the organization of states, basic rights, governance and constitutional theory. He has published several seminal works on constitutional law. Selected publications: “Recht als Grenze – Grenze des Rechts”(2009), “Salus publica – suprema lex? Das Problem des Gemeinwohls in der freiheitlichen Demokratie” (2006) and “Die bedrohte Menschenwürde. Betrachtungen zur höchsten Norm des Grundgesetzes” (2005).