Professor of Philosophy and Cultural Theory
Robert Pfaller, born in 1962, studied philosophy in Vienna and Berlin and, after visiting professorships in Chicago, Berlin, Zurich and Strasbourg, is Professor of Philosophy at the University of Art in Linz. From 2009 to 2014 he was professor of philosophy at the University of Applied Arts Vienna. Fischer Publishers has published by him “Das schmutzige Heilige und die reine Vernunft. Symptoms of Contemporary Culture” (2008), the widely acclaimed study “Wofof es sich zu leben lohnt. Elements of Materialist Philosophy” (2011), “Second Worlds. Und andere Lebenselixiere” (2012), and in Fischer Taschenbuch “Kurze Sätze über gutes Leben” (2015). With Beate Hofstadtler, he has also published the volume “After you get what you want, you don’t want it. Wish Fulfillment, Desire, and Enjoyment” (2016). After “Adult Language. On its Disappearance from Politics and Culture” (2017), “The Flashing Weapons. On the Power of Form.” Two Revelations about Shame (2022)In 2020 he was awarded the Paul Watzlawick Ring of Honor.
Professional Experience
- 2014 – now Professor of Philosophy and Cultural Theory at the University of Art and Industrial Design in Linz
- 2009-2014 Professor of Philosophy, University of Applied Arts, Vienna
- 2012 and 2011 Visiting Professor at École supérieure des beaux-arts de Toulouse, France (member of diploma jury)
- 2004-2013 Visiting Professor at Oslo National Academy of the Arts, Norway
- 2001-2013 Lecturer at Technical University of Vienna, Department of Art and Design (module visual culture), Vienna, Austria
- 2011 and 2010 (summer term) Visiting professor of Cultural Analysis at University of Zurich, Switzerland, Department of English Studies (Chair: Prof. Elisabeth Bronfen)
- 2011 Visiting professor at Piet Zwart Institute, Rotterdam, The Netherlands
- 2006 Visiting professor at Rietveld Academy, Amsterdam, The Netherlands
- 2005 and 2004 Visiting professor at Ecole des beaux-arts de Strasbourg, France
- 2004 Visiting professor at Zurich Academy of the Arts, Switzerland
- 1993-2009 Assistant professor of Cultural Theory at University of Art and Industrial Design, Linz, Austria, Department of Experimental Design
- 1999 Associate Professor at University of Illinois at Chicago, School of Art and Design
- 1998 Visiting Professor at Kunsthochschule Berlin-Weissensee, Berlin, Germany
Awards and Research Fellowships
- 2009-2011 Research fellowship by Vienna’s fund for science, research and technology (WWTF), awarded to “stuzzicadenti” research group of psychoanalysis for the project “Transferences: Psychoanalysis – Art – Society”.
- 2007 „The Missing Link“ award for connecting psychoanalysis with other scientific disciplines, for the first time awarded in 2007 by Psychoanalytic Seminar of Zurich, Switzerland
- 2000-2001 Fellowship, Institute of Cultural Theory, Essen, Germany,member of Slavoj Zizek’s research group “Antinomies of Postmodern Reason”.
