"Han, a German philosopher of South Korean descent, the thinker who sells books on contemporary malaise like hotcakes, the man they call the rock star of philosophy, was awarded this year with Spain's Princess of Asturias Award for Communication and Humanities. He says he feels honored to follow in the footsteps of other Germans who have received the same recognition: Gunter Grass, Hans Magnus Enzensberger and Jurgen Habermas."
"Last Friday, the morning before the ceremony, EL PAIS went to Oviedo's Reconquista Hotel, where award-winners, officials and journalists awaited on stately carpets to listen to Han and catch of glimpse of his hands. He has delicate hands. Han receives us in his hotel room. He does not allow his voice to be recorded, notes may only be taken by hand."
Han owns two pianos, a Steinway and a Fazioli, and tends a beloved garden. He links happiness and thought to manual labor, arguing that thinking and good poetry require hands-on work. Han, a German philosopher of South Korean descent, critiques self-exploitation, hyperconnectivity, acceleration, and the existential emptiness produced by neoliberalism. He received Spain's Princess of Asturias Award for Communication and Humanities and positions himself in an intellectual lineage that includes Foucault, Debord, and Bauman. He prefers to speak in German, restricts recordings, and requires notes to be taken by hand, noting the decline of handwriting.
Read at english.elpais.com
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