Abstract
Early works of Igor Hrušovský present the best example of influence of the Vienna Circle on the Czechoslovak philosophy. Especially his first three books and early articles published before 1945 show a keen interest and a detailed knowledge of the Circle. We briefly introduce his general philosophy of science that is heavily influenced by positivism and then concentrate on a single line within his thought. His scientism and a keen interest in biology lead Hrušovský to an adoption of a vitalistic theory, inspired by experiments of Hans Driesch. He believes in entelechy and holistic approaches to living organisms. We show how Hrušovský transfers this holism onto the social domain. Holism, together with an acknowledgment of the role of historicity in the domain of social sciences, eventually make him an adherent of socialism. We demonstrate how his adoption of socialist tendencies after the WWII arises from his interwar scientism. We also comment on some remarks on Hrušovský by other Slovak philosophers and assess his legacy both within the positivist movement, but also within larger Slovak intellectual life.
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Notes
- 1.
For examples see J.W. Bruegel, Czechoslovakia before Munich. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press 1973, or Leff C. Skalnik, National Conflict in Czechoslovakia. Princeton: Princeton University Press 1988.
- 2.
Igor Hrušovský, Invencia a vývoj [Invention and Development]. Bratislava: Otto 1935.
- 3.
Igor Hrušovský, Teória vedy [Theory of Science]. Trnava: Urbánek 1941. Igor Hrušovský, Vývin vedeckého myslenia [Development of Scientific Thinking]. Trnava: Urbánek 1942.
- 4.
Let me briefly comment upon these rather unusual dates of publications. Both books were published during the existence of the Slovak war state. The wartime Slovakia, which came into existence under the Hitler’s pressure in 1939, certainly possesses all the marks of the totalitarian state, including its extremely tragic role in the Holocaust. Yet it is still remarkable that during the very same time books of Hrušovský, a self-proclaimed Marxist sympathizer and a left-leaning intellectual are printed and sold without any restrictions.
- 5.
The journal appears under the title Philosophica Slovaca in 1946 and continues under this name only until 1948. Under the communist regime it is forced to alter its name and content several times, but survives all changes and eventually from 1968 exists under its present-day title Filozofia.
- 6.
See especially the edited volume Vladimír Bakoš et al., Filosofické iniciatívy Igora Hrušovského [Philosophical Initiatives of Igor Hrušovský]. Bratislava: Filosofický ústav SAV 2009. In this volume eight authors comment on a variety of aspects of Hrušovský’s work.
- 7.
Emanuel Rádl, Hans Driesch : přehled jeho vědecké činnosti [Hans Driesh: An Overview of his Scientific Activities], Praha: Rádl 1906.
- 8.
Hrušovský, Vývin vedeckého myslenia, op. cit. p. 66. See also Hrušovský, Teória vedy, op. cit., part VIII.
- 9.
Hrušovský, Invencia a vývoj, op. cit., p. 35.
- 10.
Hrušovský, Vývin vedeckého myslenia, op. cit., p. 67.
- 11.
It has to be pointed out that the defense of vitalism goes strongly against the Vienna Circle manifesto. The notorious Scientific Conception of the World lists vitalism as a movement contrary to unifying tendencies within all sciences. While this shows Hrušovský’s departure from The Circle orthodoxy, as we will demonstrate later on, he insists that his adoption of vitalism has scientific basis.
- 12.
Ibid., p. 80.
- 13.
Hrušovský, Invencia a vývoj, op. cit., p. 57.
- 14.
Ibid., p. 25.
- 15.
Mostly because of the linguistic constraints as all of the material is written in Slovak.
- 16.
Jozef Viceník, “Teória vedy” [Theory of Science], in: Vladimír Bakoš et al., Filozofické iniciatívy Igora Hrušovského, op. cit., p. 48.
- 17.
Milan Zigo, “Hrušovského výklad vývinu vedeckého myslenia” [Hrušovský’s Explanation of Scientific Thought], in: Filozofia 53, 1998, pp. 559–566. The quote is on the page 562.
- 18.
Igor Hrušovský, “Otto Neurath a vedecká syntéza“, in: Prúdy 22, 6, 1938, pp. 383–388.
- 19.
Hrušovský, Vývin vedeckého myslenia, op. cit., citation is on the page 48.
- 20.
Jozef Viceník, “Poznámky k názorom na rozvoj logiky a metodológie vied na Slovensku v rokoch 1918–1948” [Notes on opinions on development of logic and methodology of sciences in Slovakia in 1918–1948], in: Jozef Viceník and Pavel Cmorej, K dejinám logiky a metodológie vied na Slovensku a v Čechách [Toward a history of logic and methodology of science in Slovakia and the Czech lands]. Bratislava: Iris 2002, pp. 35–39.
- 21.
Pavel Cmorej, “Od teorie vedy k Problémom noetiky“, in: Bakoš et al. Filozofické inicitívy Igora Hrušovského, op. cit. pp. 110–132, esp. section I.
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Hvorecký, J. (2020). Igor Hrušovský on Social Sciences. In: Schuster, R. (eds) The Vienna Circle in Czechoslovakia. Vienna Circle Institute Yearbook, vol 23. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-36383-3_8
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