IMG96

Ernst Mach

ciatc thc govcrnor's kindness, and in an ovcrall sense, his fairncss a„d

^S Fran7^d W. Empcror of Austria and King of Hungary, on May 5, ,_8n- _sien<.d a dornment making Ernst Mach a professor ofphilosophy at thc Univcrsity of Vicnna, The following month thc govcrnmcm sf Princc Alfred Windischgratz was ovcrthrown. This was thc last Ilabs-burg govcrnmcnt in which thc Austrian Libcrals eacrciscd a dccisivc influence. Mach believcd that only the fcar of arousing another “Uren-tano Affair" inclincd thc Education Mmistry to ovcrlook his religious

^Mowprople in Vicnna secm to have thought that Mach intended to follow in thc footsteps of Brentano and fight for thc establishment of a psychology laboratory. Mach had other idcas, howcvcr; in his own way hc intended to rcalizc thc fuli implications of his ncw position. According to his ncw titlc hc was appointed an ordinarius professor of philosophy “especially for thc history and theory of thc inductivc scicnccs.” ⁸⁹

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Machs return to Vicnna bccamc a prodigal triumph. From an obscurc namc hc flashed ovcrnight into prominence as Vicnna’s leading phi-iosopher. 'i hc years from 1895 to 1898 must be considcrcd the most intellcctuallylucccssful and śatisfying of the burdened thfnkcr’s entire Jifc. His leetures, ncw publications, and prcviously little-known repub-lications mesmerized thc Danube metropolis. Mach truły bccamc thc toast of thc Ring city. Thcrc wcrc ominous portents of futurc struggles such as Boltzmann’s defeat of Ostwald in thc Liibcck debatc in 1895 and Carl Stumpfs oblique ridicule of Machs philosophy in thc International Psychology Congress in 1896, but such distant rumbling could not mar the majesty of thc present. His tribulations had not becn in vain. Mach had found a large and apprcciativc audiencc. Could a philosopher cvcr rcasonably expect morę? According to a Vicnncse journalist of the time:

fPrior to Machs return] who knew anything of him? In any casc we in Austria did not. The namc Mach was only familiar to his collcagucs in physics. Otherwise one scarccly knew morę of him than that in thc National conflicts ovcr the Praguc Univcrsity hc had bcen in thc forefront of thc Cścrman professors. The first wcak glimmer for the population as

wholc of thc significancc of this man was a lccturc which hc gave at ihc start of thc 1890S hcforc thc Confcrcncc of German Nam rai Sciemisu and Medical Doctors.⁴⁰

Hermann Bahr, a leading Vicnncsc critic and dramatist of the I period, attributed thc sudden popularity of Mach’s philosophy to his !lcnial of thc “sdf” or “ego."

Mach's ctfcct, cspccially on thc youth, was vcry great at that timc, and indeed, it was actually hascd only on a single scntcncc. Mach had as-^cd that Dos Ich ist unrettbar [litcrally, “thc 1 is unsavablc,” i.c., “un-_rcai"]. With that cvcn thc ego was ovcrthrown and thc last of thc idols scemed to be sinashcd, thc last refugc fallcn, thc highest freedom won, thc work of annihilation complctcd. Thcrc rcally remained nothing clsc lcft.⁴¹

Bahrs account was confirmcd by the cxamplc of W. Fred, a Vicnna * gymnasium student, who cvcn skipped dasses in order to hear Mach’s horizon-opening” leetures. Fred, who was later a literary figurę in his I own right, remained impressed—unlike Bahr—with Mach’s “egolcss” philosophy. “Mach uttered and provcd thc magnificent and pregnant saying Das Ich ist unrettbar, which has understandably becomc a popular catchphrase." ⁴²

Besides his cvancscent and uncxpcctcd influence on thc generał pop-ulation Mach also had a permanent influence on thc thinking of many intellcctually promising Vicnncse students and privatdozents.

Mach’s inaugural leeture, “The Part Played By Accidcnt in Invcn-tion and Discovery,” was givcn on October 21, 1895, in the largest leeture hall in the University of Vienna beforc a hugc audicncc.^ Mach rcminded his listeners that hc was still a scientist and not a phi-losopher and that he would huild no spcculadvc systems for them. Mc stressed the frequency of accidcntal discoveries in science and thc fact that only alert, well-traincd observers adept at sccing relationships werc likcly to take proper notice and advantage of them.

Leeture hall #38 which at that time was the largest in thc Univ«sity could hardly hołd thc number of listeners, and one had thc impression of an cxtraordinary occurrence. ... My [Lieutenant Yiktor NiesiolowskiV| reaction was uncommonly favorable . . . natural speech, frcc from all emotionalism . . . thoughts presented with thc greatest clarity, espressed in an unforeed, skillful way. Every listener had 10 fccl what hcights of knowlcdgc had arisen herc through long, fundamcntal. bclovcd imestiga lion.⁴⁴

Viktor Niesiołowski, thc futurę Austrian generał and longtime lec turer at thc Austrian Imperial Wat College, was so captivated hy

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