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Ernst Mach

did Freud evcr acknowlcdgc any dcbt to him, but thc fact that both men were dccply interested in thc signiticancc oł childhood cxpericnce and drcams, that Mach’s wriuen account prcccdcd Freud’s by scvcral ycars, and that Freud had ample opportunity to soak up Mach’s idcas in a varicty of dircct and indirect ways, has strongly hinted that at least in these respects Mach did intluencc hreud.

Mach’s Tw o Rcctorates

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Ernst Mach’s first public recognition camc neithcr from his work as scicntist nor from his plulosophical idcas but from his position and behavior as hcad of thc Univcrsity of Praguc. Mach did not cnjoy thc „otoricty, howevcr, and his last siatom ycars in thc Bohemian city wcrc incrcasingly troublcd and unhappy with only occasional bright spots such as major publications, thc visit of William James, and thc discovcry of a philosophical ally in Richard Avenarius.

Ernst Mach was elcctcd Rcdor Magnificus of thc Uniycrsity of Praguc in thc same ycar (1879) that Count Eduard von Taaffc (,8,*-,895) camc to power in Vicnna with his program of reconciling Slasl-minoritics to thc Habsburg statc. The Czcchs immcdiatćk dcmanded fuli language parity in thc Uniycrsity of Praguc.¹ TaafTe supported this rcquest, which placcd Farnst Mach squarely on thc spot.

The new Rcctor's response was to consult with thc four uniycrsity dcans (Decembcr 1879) and openly proposc that the Czcchs establish a separate uniycrsity.² As thc Czcchs wcrc unwilling to abandon thc old ‘•historie" buildings, however, hc then madę a secret recommendation that the fivc hundred-ycar-old Charlcs-Fcrdinand Uniycrsity bc spin, and each “historie” structurc bc partitioncd literally into two hakes with separate German and Czech cntrances.⁵ Unfortunatcly. whilc Taaflfe cyentually acccpted and gradually implcmented this so-c.dlcd solution, neithcr language group was satisfied with it. An incidcnt late in "Solomon" Mach's first rectorate completed the cmotional discord and politicai polarization.

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