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Ernst Much

In thc Zurich circlc everyonc had his own idcas. But outside of thai, one person thoiight for all of us: Ernst Mach. The grear Vienna physicist and natural philosophcr was thc central sun for us. In his name wc had collcctivcly founded a quasi organized society. We had inadc it our task to spread thc teachings of thc master insidc and outsidc ot thc acadcmic professions and in so far as possihle to cmploy their fruitfulness in our own inyestigations."*⁵

The Mach colony was strongly impressed by Mach’s criticisms of “classical mechanics.” The members also took the Michaclson-Morlcy experiments seriously, and were perplexcd by them.

Altmann suggested that a discussion between StoitschelT and Einstein on a winter evening in 1904 was significant for Einstein’s spe-cial theory of rclativity which appeared thc foliowing ycar.⁴⁴ Altmann'$ account, however, is still lacking in confirmation from other sources.

Zurich books favorablc to Mach’s point of view included Rudolf Willy’s The Crisis in Psychology (1899), Fldmund Abbs Critiąue of Kantian Apnorism (1906), and Rudolf Wla$sak’s Ernst Much (1917). Mach in tum provided forewords to books by thc Ziirich authors Rudolf Holzapfcl and Rudolf Laemmcl.⁴⁵

IV

Evcn though Mach acquircd serious philosophical opponents in Berlin such as Carl Stumpf and Max Planck, his influence finally broke through on the cve of World War I. The Mach-oriemcd Society for Positivistic Philosophy was founded in 1912 and their journal Zeit-schrift ftir pusitivistische Philosophie appeared the following year. j The Berlin movcment was carcfully planncd and started with a suc-¹ ccssful public inanifesto (1911) which was signed by Albert Einstein, David Hilbert, Fclix Klein, Georg Heim, Sigmund Freud, and many other prominent people not normally associated with positivism.⁴⁰

Joseph Petzoldt and Hugo Dingler were the prime movcrs behind thc manifestu, thc forrnalion of the posilivistic society, and, along with Hans Kleinpcter, of thc positivistic journal.

Joseph Petzoldt (1862-1929) was bern in Altenburg in northern Germany. His parents were strongly religious, and he rcmained a con-vinccd Luthcran umil shaken by Darwin’s theory of evolution. He read widely and was cspecially attractcd to Kant's Prolegomena. Petzoldt studied physics and inathernatics at the University of Jena. rcad

Mach'$ Mechanics in 1883, and was immcdiatcly impressed by it.^łT Fol Iow i ng up a footnotc refcrcncc in Mach's book, he then turncd to thc morę systematie writings of Richard Avcnarius, whose approach was morc agrccablc to his rigorous and well-disciplincd mind. After the dcath of Avenarius in 1896 Petzoldt remaincd on friendly terms with his family and attempted to popularizc Avcnarius’s philosophy | with his own articles and books.

Petzoldt taught physics and mathematics at the Kant-Gymnasium in Spandau ncar Berlin. He wanted to bccomc a privatdozent and pro-fessor so that he could teach philosophy in a univcrsity. He hoped that his two volumc Introduction into thc Philosophy of Purc Expcricncc (1900-1904) would open thc right doors. Unfortunatcly, his radical \ posidvism aroused powcrful opposition. Petzoldt appealed to Mach for ■ a strong rccommendation. One Berlin professor, howcvcr, replied: "Ycs, but Mach i$ eyen morę of a complctc atheist.”⁴⁸ Noncthclcss,' Mach was a world figurę by this time, at least in physics and philosophy, and his recommendation together with Pctzoldt’s threat of a lawsuit did accomplish the desired purposc. Petzoldt remaincd perma-ncntly grateful to Mach for his assistancc.

Joseph Petzoldt may best be remembered as an organizer and syn-thesizer. He tried to bring thc fóLlowcrs of Avernarius and Mach together under the banner of “positivism” and the advocatcs of philo-sophical and scicntific ^Arclativism” into one group under the slogan of “rclativistic po$itivism.” Nor were his efforts without influence, controvcrsy, and scrious misunderstanding.

Mach succcssfully remaincd on good terms with Petzoldt by not mentioning their many differences. The most important one concerned Einsteins theory of rclativity. A second differencc concerned “positiv-ism” itsclf. Mach wanted to be known as a methodologist of science, not as a philosopher, and least of all as a “posItWistic philosophcr.” ¹ MacK wanted his point of vicw to be persuasive and not tied to a label such as “positwiśm” which had acąuirećl a bad connotation with a great many people. Petzoldt long rcmained in the dark with respect to Mach’s ideas about Einstein and “positivism.” But he should have suspectcd something when Mach went out of his way to compliment thc least “po$itivistic”—and also thc most original—member ot the Berlin group.

This man, Hugo Dinglcr (i88i-n)54), was born in Nlunich. at tended a Gymnaśium in Aschalłenhurg, studied physics and mathe

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