Basic research on the history of philosophy and science in the 19th and 20th centuries: Hans Vaihinger

• Applicant: Professor Dr. Gerald Hartung
• Subject Area: History of Philosophy ; History of Science
• Term: since 2021
• Project identifier: Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft (DFG) - Project number 456291384

The object of the study is Hans Vaihinger's (1852-1933) scientific work and his academic career, which will be comprehensively examined for the first time - in all scientific theoretical, political and organizational contexts - on the basis of documents on his life and work, publications and letters. Vaihinger's work and activities reveal the internal and external circumstances of academic philosophy around 1900. He promoted the institutionalization of philosophy and its development as a specialized science by 1. carrying out philosophical-historical and systematic research (e.g., on epistemology); 2. working on the relationship between philosophy and the sciences, on epistemological implications of the progress of the sciences, and on methodological questions of philosophy, in particular by developing an independent version of pragmatism; 3. working on the question of classicism and on the theory and practice of commenting on philosophical texts (e.g., on the theory and practice of commenting on philosophical texts). 4. founded new institutions and journals: the journals Kant-Studien (since 1897) and Annalen der Philosophie mit besonderer Rücksicht auf die Probleme der Als-ob-Betrachtung (since 1919) were founded on his initiative; also the foundation of the Kant Society (1904) and 5. works on the development of a national and international network of scholars and is very influential in institutional contexts, e.g. by providing expert opinions on peers.The research project is to be integrated into the work of the Institute for Basic Research in the History of Philosophy (IGP), which is currently being established. The research results are to be processed and made available to the academic public for further research purposes in a database (the University Library at the Bergische Universität Wuppertal) and thus also via the subject information service Philosophy (FID). A selection of the research results will be made visible in book form.The aim of the research project is to create a basis for subsequent research on the history of philosophy in the 19th and 20th centuries and to open up new perspectives for research in the history of philosophy and the history of science.

• DFG Programme: Research Grants