Josef Hlade / Rudolf Meer (2023): "Kritischer Realismus und Ideologiekritik. Zur Aktualität von Alois Riehls (1844–1924) wissenschaftlicher Philosophie als trans- und interdisziplinärer Vermittlungsversuch". In: Barbara Ratzenböck/Katharina Scherke/Annette Sprung/Werner Suppanz (Hrsg.): Sozialer Zusammenhalt in der Krise. Interdisziplinäre Perspektiven auf Heterogenität und Kohäsion moderner Gesellschaften. Bielefeld: Transkript, 231–254.
Ausgehend von einer Analyse von Alois Riehls Metaphysik- und Ideologiekritik sowie der Netzwerke ideologiekritischer Philosophieum 1900 entwickeln wir Kriterien, um Wissen-schaften und wissenschaftliche Philosophie von (Verschwörungs-)Ideologien zu differen-zieren. Diese werden dann anhand aktueller Problemstellungen im Rahmen der Corona-Pandemie konkretisiert und geprüft. Ziel ist eine Annäherung daran, was wissenschaftliche Philosophie ist und wie sie heute – in Zeiten der Krise – im universitären Rahmenvermittelnd agieren und damit sozialen Zusammenhalt stiften kann.
Josef Hlade / Rudolf Meer: (2022): "Einheit und Vielheit der österreichischen Philosophie. Eine Fallstudie zu den philosophischen Netzwerken um 1900 – Alois Riehl und Friedrich Jodl". In: Hermann Hunger (Hrsg.): Forschung und Gesellschaft 23 (Österreichische Akademie der Wissenschaften), 147–157.
Rudolf Haller hat in der sogenannten Neurath-Haller These dargelegt, dass die Ablehnung von Kants kopernikanischer Wende das zentrale Charakteristikum einer eigenständigen österreichischen Philosophie ist. Dieser Traditionszusammenhang ist nach Haller gegenstandstheoretisch, sprachkritisch und wissenschaftsanalytisch orientiert und zeichnet sich unter anderem durch Realismus, Objektivismus und Anti-Idealismus aus. Ausgehend von der durch diese These charakterisierten Einheit der österreichischen Philosophie, die vor allem im Kontrast zur deutschen Philosophietradition an Konturen gewinnt, möchten wir die daran geübte Kritik um einen Aspekt erweitern. Wir argumentieren dafür, dass eine spezifische Spielart des (Neu-)Kantianismus – der realistische Kritizismus – ebenfalls immanenter Teil der österreichischen Tradition war. Dabei soll der in Hallers These formulierte Gedanke der Einheit bestehen bleiben, aber exemplarisch anhand der Überschneidungen des akademischen Werdegangs von Alois Riehl und Friedrich Jodl für eine Vielfalt ihrer Schulen und Kontexte argumentiert werden.
Josef Hlade / Rudolf Meer (2022): "Zwischen Universitätsreformen und katholischer Renaissance. Alois Riehl und die Nachfolge Ernst Machs". Grazer Philosophische Studien 99.2, 293–328.
Abstract With the first edition of the Philosophical Criticism, published in the 1870s and 1880s, Alois Riehl became the founder and most important representative of Realistic Criticism, and emerged as one of the leading figures in German-speaking philosophy at the turn of the century. In 1901, he applied for a chair at the Faculty of Philosophy at the University of Vienna. In the appointment procedure for the succession to Ernst Mach, he was chosen by the committee with the recommendation unico loco, and also confirmed by the faculty. Nevertheless, the Minister of Education, Wilhelm von Hartel, rejected the recommendation for political and ideological reasons. Using previously unpublished archival sources, the present study reconstructs Riehl’s academic career, the conditions of the appointment procedure, the internal decision-making processes, and the reasons that ultimately led to his rejection. The aim of the article is to develop a case study that, first, makes educational policy in Austria visible and, second, critically evaluates the term Austrian Philosophy that dates back to this time.
Rudolf Meer (2022): "Die Raum- und Zeitlehre Alois Riehls im Kontext realistischer Interpretationen von Kants transzendentalem Idealismus". Kant-Studien 113.3, 459–486.
Abstract In The Philosophical Criticism, Alois Riehl developed a realistic interpretation of Kant’s transcendental idealism based on his theory of space and time. In doing so, more than 100 years ago, he formulated an interpretation of the relation between the thing in itself and appearances that is discussed in current research as the metaphysical „dual aspect“ interpretation, although it is rarely attributed to Riehl. To reconstruct Riehl’s position, the research results of comparative studies on Moritz Schlick are systematically extended and applied to the current debate on Kant’s transcendental idealism.
Rudolf Meer (2021): "Cogito, ergo est cogitabile. Cogitabile est, ergo cogito. Alois Riehls uneigentlicher Nonkonzeptualismus". Transcendental Philosophy 2.2, 1–24.
Abstract Over the last two decades, the controversy between conceptualists and nonconceptualists has provided important insights into Kant’s critical project and especially the transcendental deduction. At the same time, the differentiation of the various positions has led to a seemingly unsolvable paradox in interpretation. However, if the intensifications of the debate are withdrawn and the current positions are placed in the context of historical interpretations, it becomes apparent that a nonconceptualism can indeed be developed without coming into (irresolvable) conflict with Kant’s conceptualism. In this sense, Alois Riehl proposes in his Philosophical Criticism (vol. 1) a so-called state nonconceptualism. Even if he does not have the terminology in use today, he can defend this on par with the current debate especially with regard to A 89–90 / B 122–123. In doing so, Riehl’s realistic interpretation of Kant’s transcendental idealism offers strategies that again question a hasty skepticism towards nonconceptualist interpretations.
Josef Hlade / Rudolf Meer (2021): "Alois Riehl and the History of Psychology: The 1913 Declaration of the Philosophers". European Yearbook of the History of Psychology, 11–39.
Abstract Alois Riehl was one of the six initiators of the “Declaration Against the Occupation of Philosophical Chairs with Representatives of Experimental Psychology”. Based on Riehl’s philosophical position in “The Principles of the Critical Philosophy” and further archive materials, I reconstruct the emergence of the declaration and the reasons why Riehl signed and defended it against critics. His motivation in support of the declaration was based on a clear conception of the distinction between empirical and experimental psychology and the restriction of philosophy to epistemology and philosophy of science. This case study allows me to study in greater detail the heterogeneous relationship between neo-Kantianism and psychology.
Josef Hlade / Rudolf Meer (2021) "Alois Riehl. Leben, Werk und Wirkung". In: Rudolf Meer/Giuseppe Motta (Hrsg.): Kant in Österreich. Alois Riehl und der Weg zum kritischen Realismus. Berlin, Boston: De Gruyter (Meinong-Studien) 2021, 3–54.
Abstract Based on previously unpublished archival sources, such as Riehl’s correspondence with Heinrich Rickert, Friedrich Jodl, Bartholomäus von Carneri, Hugo Münsterberg, Wilhelm Wundt, Eduard Spranger, Ernst Mach and Hans Vaihinger as well as the files of the universities of Graz, Vienna, Freiburg, Halle, Kiel and Berlin, the present study reconstructs Riehl’s life, work, and impact. This reveals two things: Firstly, with the first edition of the Philosophical Criticism, published in the 1870s and 1880s, Alois Riehl became the founder and most important representative of realistic criticism, and rose to one of the leading figures in German-speaking philosophy at the turn of the century. Secondly, Riehl proves to be a thinker who was deeply influenced by humanistic ideals and an enlightened spirit, even if they took on an ambivalent form during the years of the First World War.
Rudolf Meer / Giuseppe Motta (ed., 2021): Kant in Österreich. Alois Riehl und der Weg zum kritischen Realismus. Berlin, Boston: De Gruyter (Meinong-Studies).
Abstract Despite various differences, the research on Neo-Kantianism usually distinguishes between two main schools: the Marburg School (centered around Hermann Cohen, Paul Natorp and Ernst Cassirer) and the Southwest German School (centered around Wilhelm Windelband, Heinrich Rickert and Emil Lask). If this customary use of geographical classifications is extended here, it becomes clear that Riehl is part of a specifically “Austrian” approach to Kant’s transcendental philosophy. Alois Riehl conceived and wrote his three-volume magnum opus in Graz. Volume 2.2 was the only volume that did not appear until his Freiburg phase. By centering his philosophy around the concept of sensation, Riehl was also part of a philosophical tradition influenced by Johann Friedrich Herbart, which began with Franz Serafin Exner (1802–1853), Carl Sigmund Barach (1834–1885), Franz Karl Lott (1807–1874) and Robert Zimmermann (1824–1898) and also included Robert Reininger (1869–1955), Richard Hönigswald (1875–1947) and Moritz Schlick (1882–1936).