Ernst Laas
1837–1885 · German positivist philosopher and professor of philosophy at Strasbourg
Ernst Laas (1837-1885) was a German philosopher, professor of philosophy at the University of Strasbourg and one of the representatives of positivism in nineteenth-century Germany. He is also remembered for his work on education, his interest in the history of pedagogy and his defence of an ethics grounded in human experience.
Born in Fürstenwalde, in the Kingdom of Prussia, he grew up in modest circumstances. After initially studying theology, he followed the advice of Friedrich Adolf Trendelenburg and turned to philosophy in Berlin, earning his doctorate in 1859 with a thesis on Aristotle's principle of eudaimonia. For years he taught classical languages and German at Berlin gymnasiums before receiving, in 1872, a full chair in philosophy at the newly re-established University of Strasbourg.
His main work, Positivismus und Idealismus, sets Platonism, the source of transcendentalism, against positivism, which he traced back to Protagoras. In Analogien der Erfahrung (1876) he offered a sharp critique of Kant's transcendentalism. Close to David Hume, he sought to ground knowledge in the facts of experience and scientific psychology, and from this he drew an ethics centred on a happiness achievable in this world. His constant aim was to unite metaphysics, ethics and the theory of education.
His influence was felt above all in pedagogy, and his pupil Paul Natorp is among those who carried on his legacy.
Key ideas
- Positivism versus Platonism: Laas set Platonism, the source of transcendentalism, against a positivism resting on the facts of experience.
- Critique of Kant: in Analogien der Erfahrung he rigorously questioned the transcendental foundations of Kant's thought.
- Empirical ethics: he grounded morality in scientific psychology and preferred Aristotle to Kant and to Plato's ethics of ideas.
- Historical-critical method: inherited from Trendelenburg, it means drawing from the history of thought whatever survives critical examination.
Curiosities
A childhood of work
As a boy, he and his younger brother had to gather firewood from the local heath every day after school to help their parents.
An unexpected opportunity
When he seemed destined for a modest trade, the head of his school and General von Massow, who admired his father's loyalty to the crown, made it possible for him to attend the Joachimsthal Gymnasium.
Teachers and influences
Pupils
- Paul Natorp 1854–1924
Original Filopedia text based on Wikipedia (es) and Wikipedia (en) and Wikidata.