Franz Brentano and the 19th Century Idea of Philosophy as a Science: Upon the Sesquicentennial of Franz Brentano’s ›Psychology From an Empirical Standpoint‹

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Franz Brentano and the 19th Century Idea of Philosophy as a Science

Upon the Sesquicentennial of Franz Brentano’s ›Psychology From an Empirical Standpoint‹

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Language: English

Published/Copyright: 2026

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The idea of philosophy as science expands throughout 19th century philosophy; first instantiated by German Idealism’s systems in the shape of absolute science which start from pure subjectivity to further gather deductively the entire world under its categories. This idea is later found within the works of Franz Brentano in the form of philosophy as inductive science that has to work according to the method of natural sciences. However, despite this methodological commitment, Brentano did not give up the metaphysical dimension of philosophical research and accepted natural theology as philosophical science. In this way, his inductive-scientific philosophy is fundamentally different from Comte’s and Mill’s positive philosophy, which purposely bracketed metaphysical problems in order to focus upon the constant relations of phenomena. Within this framework, the volume starts from Brentano’s conception of philosophy as science and aims to analyze the source of this idea in Mill and Comte, its criticism and further development by Marty, Stumpf, Meinong,Twardowski, and Husserl, and also the alternative competing views on the topic of Reinhold, Hegel, Schelling, Nietzsche, Kierkegaard, Paulsen, and Dilthey.

Author / Editor information

Susan Krantz Gabriel, St. Anselm College, Manchester, USA; Ion Tănăsescu, Institute of Phil. and Psych. of Romanian Academy, Bucharest.

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Frontmatter
I

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Dedication
5

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Acknowledgment
7

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Contents
IX

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Abbreviations

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Introduction
1
Susan Krantz Gabriel and Ion Tănăsescu

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Who Needs Modern Philosophy?
11
Nicolas Capaldi

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Auguste Comte and Philosophy as Science
29
Michel Bourdeau

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Could Philosophy be an Empirical Science? On Brentano’s Fourth Habilitation Thesis
45
Susan Krantz Gabriel

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Brentano and the Idea of Philosophy as Science in German Idealism
57
Christian Thein

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From Kantian Philosophy as Wissenschaft to Nietzschean Philosophy as Gaya Scienza
79
Claudiu Baciu

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Representation, Consciousness, and the Foundation of a Philosophy in General: On the Reappearance of Conceptual Themes from the Kantian Systematic Philosophy of Karl Leonhard Reinhold in the Psychology of Franz Brentano
97
Martin Bondeli

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The Twofold Meaning of Brentano’s “Pure Theoretical Interest” and His Metaphysics and Psychology
137
Ion Tănăsescu

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Phenomenology and Transcendental Philosophy in Brentano’s Metaphysics Lectures (during His Vienna Years)
197
Robin D. Rollinger

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Natural Theology and Its Discontents: Brentano and Kierkegaard
217
Cyril McDonnell and Susan Krantz Gabriel

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Beyond Brentano: Stumpf and the Scientific Method of Philosophy
247
Riccardo Martinelli

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Meinong’s Empirical Philosophy from Below
269
Johann Christian Marek and Johann Christian Marek

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On Twardowski’s Early Idea of Philosophy as Science: Sources and Context
293
Witold Płotka

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Is Science in a Reistic World Possible at All? Marty’s Critique of Brentano in Raum und Zeit
313
Laurent Cesalli

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“Was gilt?” On Husserl’s and Brentano’s Standpoints on Ideal Objects and Evidence
333
Alexandru Bejinariu

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Philosophy as Science as Core Feature of the School of Brentano: Comparing Brentano and Paulsen
355
Carlo Ierna

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Dilthey’s Philosophy of Philosophy: Science, Worldview, and Critical Self-Reflection
381
Eric S. Nelson

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Appendix: Franz Brentano on Induction and on Metaphysics as Wisdom
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The Problem of Induction (1903)
405

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What is Metaphysics? (1901)
423

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The Blessings for which Wisdom has been Praised Throughout the Ages (1913)
425

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Wisdom: Its Scientific Character; Its Object; and Its Specific Tasks (1916)
429

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Index of Names

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Index of Subjects

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Publishing information

Pages and Images/Illustrations in book

eBook published on:

November 7, 2025

eBook ISBN:

9783111041612

Hardcover published on:

November 7, 2025

Hardcover ISBN:

9783111041520

Pages and Images/Illustrations in book

Front matter:

18

Main content:

453

Illustrations:

1

https://doi.org/10.1515/9783111041612

eBook ISBN: 9783111041612

Hardcover ISBN: 9783111041520

Keywords for this book

philosophy as science; empirical science; idealism; psychology_x000D_

Audience(s) for this book

Philosophers, historians, institutes, libraries

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Walter de Gruyter GmbH
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Franz Brentano and the 19th Century Idea of Philosophy as a Science

About this book

Author / Editor information

Topics

Frontmatter

Dedication

Acknowledgment

Contents

Abbreviations

Introduction

Who Needs Modern Philosophy?

Auguste Comte and Philosophy as Science

Could Philosophy be an Empirical Science? On Brentano’s Fourth Habilitation Thesis

Brentano and the Idea of Philosophy as Science in German Idealism

From Kantian Philosophy as Wissenschaft to Nietzschean Philosophy as Gaya Scienza

Representation, Consciousness, and the Foundation of a Philosophy in General: On the Reappearance of Conceptual Themes from the Kantian Systematic Philosophy of Karl Leonhard Reinhold in the Psychology of Franz Brentano

The Twofold Meaning of Brentano’s “Pure Theoretical Interest” and His Metaphysics and Psychology

Phenomenology and Transcendental Philosophy in Brentano’s Metaphysics Lectures (during His Vienna Years)

Natural Theology and Its Discontents: Brentano and Kierkegaard

Beyond Brentano: Stumpf and the Scientific Method of Philosophy

Meinong’s Empirical Philosophy from Below

On Twardowski’s Early Idea of Philosophy as Science: Sources and Context

Is Science in a Reistic World Possible at All? Marty’s Critique of Brentano in Raum und Zeit

“Was gilt?” On Husserl’s and Brentano’s Standpoints on Ideal Objects and Evidence

Philosophy as Science as Core Feature of the School of Brentano: Comparing Brentano and Paulsen

Dilthey’s Philosophy of Philosophy: Science, Worldview, and Critical Self-Reflection

The Problem of Induction (1903)

What is Metaphysics? (1901)

The Blessings for which Wisdom has been Praised Throughout the Ages (1913)

Wisdom: Its Scientific Character; Its Object; and Its Specific Tasks (1916)

Index of Names

Index of Subjects

Franz Brentano and the 19th Century Idea of Philosophy as a Science

Overview

About this book

Author / Editor information

Topics

Table of contents

Frontmatter

Dedication

Acknowledgment

Contents

Abbreviations

Introduction

Who Needs Modern Philosophy?

Auguste Comte and Philosophy as Science

Could Philosophy be an Empirical Science? On Brentano’s Fourth Habilitation Thesis

Brentano and the Idea of Philosophy as Science in German Idealism

From Kantian Philosophy as Wissenschaft to Nietzschean Philosophy as Gaya Scienza

Representation, Consciousness, and the Foundation of a Philosophy in General: On the Reappearance of Conceptual Themes from the Kantian Systematic Philosophy of Karl Leonhard Reinhold in the Psychology of Franz Brentano

The Twofold Meaning of Brentano’s “Pure Theoretical Interest” and His Metaphysics and Psychology

Phenomenology and Transcendental Philosophy in Brentano’s Metaphysics Lectures (during His Vienna Years)

Natural Theology and Its Discontents: Brentano and Kierkegaard

Beyond Brentano: Stumpf and the Scientific Method of Philosophy

Meinong’s Empirical Philosophy from Below

On Twardowski’s Early Idea of Philosophy as Science: Sources and Context

Is Science in a Reistic World Possible at All? Marty’s Critique of Brentano in Raum und Zeit

“Was gilt?” On Husserl’s and Brentano’s Standpoints on Ideal Objects and Evidence

Philosophy as Science as Core Feature of the School of Brentano: Comparing Brentano and Paulsen

Dilthey’s Philosophy of Philosophy: Science, Worldview, and Critical Self-Reflection

The Problem of Induction (1903)

What is Metaphysics? (1901)

The Blessings for which Wisdom has been Praised Throughout the Ages (1913)

Wisdom: Its Scientific Character; Its Object; and Its Specific Tasks (1916)

Index of Names

Index of Subjects

Bibliographic data