Ethics in Masaryk’s classification of the sciences
-
Jan Svoboda
Abstract
Masaryk’s philosophical approach to reality is largely characterised by its orientation towards the positivism of Auguste Comte, which Masaryk sought to offset with the psychologism of J. S. Mill. The combination of these positivist approaches became the positive starting point for Masaryk’s ethics. But that was not the only influence on his ethics. Masaryk’s German translation of Hume’s book, titled Eine Untersuchung über die Prinzipien der Moral von David Hume (1883), reveals that the main stimuli that shaped Masaryk’s ideas about ethics came from David Hume. Although the need for scientific evidence became a fundamental principle of Masaryk’s thought, the need to objectively anchor ethics in rational theism necessitated in this area a departure from his positivist outlook. Masaryk’s lectures on practical philosophy attest to this fact. The reason for his departure from a positivist stance was due to the metaphysical nature of his concept of psychology.
Acknowledgement
This article is the outcome of work carried out under the research programme ‘Global Conflicts and Local Contexts’, Strategy AV21.
References
Funda, O. A. (2017). K filosofii náboženství [On the philosophy of religion]. Prague: Karolinum.Suche in Google Scholar
Grim Feinberg, J. (2019): Emancipation between the nation and humanity: T. G. Masaryk and the legacy of Czech-Austrian Philosophy. Interview with Jan Svoboda, by Joseph Grim Feinberg. Contradictions. A Journal for Critical Thought, 2, 154–163. Online: https://kramerius.lib.cas.cz/periodical/uuid:dbe7fa7f-e521-4d6a-8bfb-b9f5c6e84ce2.Suche in Google Scholar
Hrubec, M. (2012). Authoritarian versus critical theory, International Critical Thought, 2, 431–444.10.1080/21598282.2012.730369Suche in Google Scholar
Hrubec, M. (2021). Kritické humanitní a sociální vědy. Od lokální interní kritiky k transnacionální strukturální změně [Critical humanities and social sciences. From local internal critique to transnational structural change]. In: M. Hrubec & M. Kopecký (Eds.), Nová vědecká éra? Od byrokratické komerce ke kreativitě ve vědeckém zájmu [A new scientific era? From bureaucratic commerce to creativity in the scientific interest] (pp. 96-110). Prague: Epocha.Suche in Google Scholar
Hume, D. (1883). Eine Untersuchung über die Prinzipien der Moral [ An Enquiry Concerning the Principles of Morals]. Deutsch herausgegeben und mit einem Namen- und Sachregister versehen von Prof. Dr. Thomas Garrigue Masaryk. Wien: Verlag von Carl Konegen.Suche in Google Scholar
Hume, D. (1912). An enquiry concerning the principles of morals. Chicago: The Open Court Publishing Co.Suche in Google Scholar
Masaryk, T. G. (1900). Rukověť sociologie. Podstata a metoda sociologie [Handbook of sociology. The foundations and methods of sociology]. Naše doba, 8, 1–12.Suche in Google Scholar
Masaryk, T. G. (1902). Ke klasifikaci věd (Ethika – filosofie – theologie) [On the classification of sciences (ethics – philosophy – theology]. Česká mysl, 6, 1–2.Suche in Google Scholar
Masaryk, T.G. (1970). Suicide and the meaning of civilization. Translated by William B. Weist and Robert G. Batson. With an Introduction by Anthony Giddens. Chicago–London: University of Chicago Press.Suche in Google Scholar
Masaryk, T. G. (1972). Masaryk on Marx. An abridged Edition of T. G. Masaryk, The social question: Philosophical and sociological foundation of Marxisms. Edited and Translated by Erazim V. Kohák. Lewisburg (Pa.): Bucknell University Press.Suche in Google Scholar
Masaryk, T. G. (1993). Juvenilie. Studie a stati 1876–1881[Juvenilia and texts, 1876–1881]. In S. Polák (Ed.), Spisy T. G. Masaryka [Collected works of T.G. Masaryk], vol. XVI (pp. 7–170). Prague: Ústav T. G. Masaryka.Suche in Google Scholar
Masaryk, T. G. (2001a). Základové konkretné logiky [Foundations of a concrete logic]. In J. Olšovský & J. Srovnal (Eds.), Spisy T. G. Masaryka [Collected works of T.G. Masaryk], vol. II (pp. 9–205). Prague: Masarykův ústav AV ČR and Ústav T. G. Masaryka.Suche in Google Scholar
Masaryk, T. G. (2004). Z počátků Athenaea. Texty z let 1883–1885 [From the origins of Athenaeum. Texts from the years 1883-1885]. In J. Franěk (Ed.), Spisy T. G. Masaryka [Collected works of T.G. Masaryk], vol. XVIII (pp. 11–384). Prague: Ústav T. G. Masaryka.Suche in Google Scholar
Masaryk, T. G. (2012). Univerzitní přednášky I. Praktická filozofie [University lectures I. Practical philosophy]. In J. Gabriel & kol (Eds.), Spisy T. G. Masaryka [Collected works of T.G. Masaryk], vol. IV (pp. 11-471). Prague: Ústav T. G. Masaryka and Masarykův ústav.Suche in Google Scholar
Svoboda, J. (2017). Masarykův realismus a filosofie pozitivismu [Masaryk’s realism and philosophy of positivism]. Prague: Filosofia.Suche in Google Scholar
Svoboda, J. (2018). Moderna a transcendence ve světle Masarykova realismu [Modernity and transcendence in the light of Masaryk’s realism]. Filosofický časopis, 66, 679–697.Suche in Google Scholar
Svoboda, J. (2021). Místo a úloha etiky v Masarykově systému věd [The place and role of ethics in Masaryk’s system of sciences]. In V. Gluchman (Ed.), Etické myslenie minulosti a súčasnosti (ETPP 2021/23): etika v 19. a 20. storočí 2. [Ethical thought past and present (ETPP 2021/23): ethics in the 19th and 20th centuries 2.] (pp. 25-45). Prešov: Prešovská univerzita v Prešove.Suche in Google Scholar
Višňovský, E. (2021). Akademická produkcia poznania a jej hodnotenie [Academic knowledge production and its evaluation]. In M. Hrubec & M. Kopecký (Eds.): Nová vědecká éra? Od byrokratické komerce ke kreativitě ve vědeckém zájmu [A new scientific era? From bureaucratic commerce to creativity in the scientific interest] (pp. 14-25). Prague: Epocha.Suche in Google Scholar
© 2022 Institute for Research in Social Communication, Slovak Academy of Sciences
Artikel in diesem Heft
- Original paper
- A Conversation on philosophy of mind and consciousness – illusionism vs critical psychology: An extended dialogue between Keith Frankish and Paul Stenner
- Illusionism and its place in contemporary philosophy of mind
- ‘Trust me, i´m an illusionist.’ a critical response to Keith Frankish’s illusionism and its place in contemporary philosophy of mind
- Illusionism is no trick
- Four clarifications on the soft problem of ‘Qualia as illusions’
- Go south! – The establishment of Hungarian–Ethiopian diplomatic relations in 1959-1960
- Ethics in Masaryk’s classification of the sciences
- The Frankfurt institute at 100: The perspective of a trichotomic critical theory
Artikel in diesem Heft
- Original paper
- A Conversation on philosophy of mind and consciousness – illusionism vs critical psychology: An extended dialogue between Keith Frankish and Paul Stenner
- Illusionism and its place in contemporary philosophy of mind
- ‘Trust me, i´m an illusionist.’ a critical response to Keith Frankish’s illusionism and its place in contemporary philosophy of mind
- Illusionism is no trick
- Four clarifications on the soft problem of ‘Qualia as illusions’
- Go south! – The establishment of Hungarian–Ethiopian diplomatic relations in 1959-1960
- Ethics in Masaryk’s classification of the sciences
- The Frankfurt institute at 100: The perspective of a trichotomic critical theory
