Kant and German Philosophy

Abstract

In the introduction, I’ve sketched a landscape of the cultural context in which Bolzano’s work evolved. I argued that different sociological factors such as the anti-intellectual spirit of educational policies in Austria partly explain the lack of attention his work received until recently. Because of its broad liberality and emphasis on autonomous thought, Bolzano’s social and political philosophy — which he presented in part in his edifying speeches — was associated in the mind of the Austrian establishment with Kant’s. This led in Bolzano’s early career to a series of vexations. In Austria, being accused of “Kantianism” was not unusual and often served as a pretext to oust detractors of the State — mostly Jesuits and Free-Masons (see Sauer 1982, 267ff.).¹ These accusations were, in Bolzano’s case, consequential enough to threaten his academic position. The number of those who were dismissed under the same pretext is significant. It included Lazarus Ben-David from Vienna in 1793, Anton Kreil from Pest in 1795, Stephan Tichy from Kaschau in 1795 and Benedikt Feilmoser from Innsbruck in 1820.