Adolf Reinach
Encyclopedia
Adolf Bernhard Philipp Reinach (23 December 1883, Mainz
, Germany
– 16 November 1917, Diksmuide, Belgium
), German
philosopher
, phenomenologist (from the Munich phenomenology
perspective) and law theorist.
and philosophy
under Theodor Lipps
. In the circle of Lipps' students he came in contact with Moritz Geiger
, Otto Selz
, Aloys Fischer and above all Johannes Daubert. From onward 1903/4 he was increasingly busy with the works of Edmund Husserl
, especially his Logische Untersuchungen (Logical Investigations).
In 1904 Reinach obtained his doctorate in philosophy under Lipps with his work Über den Ursachenbegriff im geltenden Strafrecht (On the concept of cause in penal law). By 1905 he still intended to continue his studies in Munich (where in the meanwhile he had also befriended Alexander Pfänder
), to obtain a degree in law, but then decided to go to study with Husserl in Göttingen
. In that period more students of Lipps (captained by Daubert) had decided to abandon Munich and to head for Göttingen, inspired by Husserl's works (which is referred to as the Munich invasion of Göttingen).
Later in 1905 Reinach returned to Munich to complete his studies in law and then continued in 1906-1907 in Tübingen
. He attended several lectures and seminars on penal law by the legal theorist Ernst Beling, by which he was quite impressed and to which he owes a great deal of inspiration of his later works. In the summer of 1907 he took the First State Examination in Law, but also went later to Göttingen to attend discussion circles with Husserl.
With the support of Husserl, Reinach was able to obtain habilitation for university teaching at Göttingen in 1909. From his lectures and research, we can see that at the time he was influenced also by Anton Marty
and Johannes Daubert, besides obviously and greatly by Husserl. On his turn Reinach appears to have inspired several young phenomenologists (like Wilhelm Schapp, Dietrich von Hildebrand
, Alexandre Koyré
and Edith Stein
) with his lectures. Besides giving an introduction to phenomenology, he lectured i.a. on Plato
and Immanuel Kant
.
In this period, Husserl embarked on a thorough revision of his main work, the Logical Investigations, and asked Reinach’s assistance in this endeavour. Moreover, in 1912 Reinach, together with Moritz Geiger
and Alexander Pfänder
founded the famous Jahrbuch für Philosophie und phänomenologische Forschung, with Husserl
as main editor.
Besides his work in the area of phenomenology and philosophy in general, Reinach is credited for the development of a forerunner to the theory of speech act
s by Austin
and Searle
: Die apriorischen Grundlagen des bürgerlichen Rechtes (The A Priori Foundations of Civil Law) is a systematic treatment of social acts as performative utterances and a priori foundations of civil law. Reinach's work was based mostly on Husserl's analysis of meaning in the Logical Investigations, but also on Daubert's criticism of it. Alexander Pfänder
(1870–1941) had also been doing research on commands, promises and the like in the same period.
After Husserl's publication of the Ideen (Ideas) in 1913, many phenomenologists took a critical stance towards his new theories and the current of Munich phenomenology
came effectively into being, as Reinach, Daubert and others chose to remain closer to Husserl's earlier work, the Logical investigations. Instead of following Husserl into idealism and transcendental phenomenology, the Munich group remained a realist current.
At the outbreak of World War I
Reinach volunteered to join the army. After many battles and having received the Iron Cross
, Reinach fell outside Diksmuide in Flanders on 16 November 1917.
His collected works: Sämtliche Werke. Kritische Ausgabe mit Kommentar (in two volumes) München: Philosophia Verlag 1989. Eds. K. Schuhmann & B. Smith.
Some on-line texts and translations of works by Reinach are available here.
Mainz
Mainz under the Holy Roman Empire, and previously was a Roman fort city which commanded the west bank of the Rhine and formed part of the northernmost frontier of the Roman Empire...
, Germany
Germany
Germany , officially the Federal Republic of Germany , is a federal parliamentary republic in Europe. The country consists of 16 states while the capital and largest city is Berlin. Germany covers an area of 357,021 km2 and has a largely temperate seasonal climate...
– 16 November 1917, Diksmuide, Belgium
Belgium
Belgium , officially the Kingdom of Belgium, is a federal state in Western Europe. It is a founding member of the European Union and hosts the EU's headquarters, and those of several other major international organisations such as NATO.Belgium is also a member of, or affiliated to, many...
), German
Germany
Germany , officially the Federal Republic of Germany , is a federal parliamentary republic in Europe. The country consists of 16 states while the capital and largest city is Berlin. Germany covers an area of 357,021 km2 and has a largely temperate seasonal climate...
philosopher
Philosophy
Philosophy is the study of general and fundamental problems, such as those connected with existence, knowledge, values, reason, mind, and language. Philosophy is distinguished from other ways of addressing such problems by its critical, generally systematic approach and its reliance on rational...
, phenomenologist (from the Munich phenomenology
Munich phenomenology
Munich Phenomenology, refers to the group of philosophers, psychologists and phenomenologists that studied and worked in Munich at the beginning of the twentieth century, when Edmund Husserl published his masterwork, the Logical Investigations and began the phenomenological movement...
perspective) and law theorist.
Life and Works
Adolf Reinach studied at the Ostergymnasium in Mainz (where he became at first interested in Plato) and later entered the University of Munich in 1901 where he studied mainly psychologyPsychology
Psychology is the study of the mind and behavior. Its immediate goal is to understand individuals and groups by both establishing general principles and researching specific cases. For many, the ultimate goal of psychology is to benefit society...
and philosophy
Philosophy
Philosophy is the study of general and fundamental problems, such as those connected with existence, knowledge, values, reason, mind, and language. Philosophy is distinguished from other ways of addressing such problems by its critical, generally systematic approach and its reliance on rational...
under Theodor Lipps
Theodor Lipps
Theodor Lipps was a German philosopher. Lipps was one of the most influential German university professors of his time, attracting many students from other countries. Lipps was very concerned with conceptions of art and the aesthetic, focusing much of his philosophy around such issues...
. In the circle of Lipps' students he came in contact with Moritz Geiger
Moritz Geiger
Moritz Geiger was a German philosopher and a disciple of Edmund Husserl. Beside phenomenology, he dedicated himself to psychology, epistemology and aesthetics.- Life :...
, Otto Selz
Otto Selz
Otto Selz was a German psychologist from Munich, Bavaria, who formulated the first nonassociationist theory of thinking, in 1913. Selz used the method of introspection, but unlike his predecessors, his theory developed without the use of images and associations...
, Aloys Fischer and above all Johannes Daubert. From onward 1903/4 he was increasingly busy with the works of Edmund Husserl
Edmund Husserl
Edmund Gustav Albrecht Husserl was a philosopher and mathematician and the founder of the 20th century philosophical school of phenomenology. He broke with the positivist orientation of the science and philosophy of his day, yet he elaborated critiques of historicism and of psychologism in logic...
, especially his Logische Untersuchungen (Logical Investigations).
In 1904 Reinach obtained his doctorate in philosophy under Lipps with his work Über den Ursachenbegriff im geltenden Strafrecht (On the concept of cause in penal law). By 1905 he still intended to continue his studies in Munich (where in the meanwhile he had also befriended Alexander Pfänder
Alexander Pfänder
Alexander Pfänder was a German philosopher and phenomenologist. He was born in Iserlohn and spent his entire academic career in Munich, where he was a student of Theodor Lipps and one of the founding members of the Munich circle of phenomenologists...
), to obtain a degree in law, but then decided to go to study with Husserl in Göttingen
Göttingen
Göttingen is a university town in Lower Saxony, Germany. It is the capital of the district of Göttingen. The Leine river runs through the town. In 2006 the population was 129,686.-General information:...
. In that period more students of Lipps (captained by Daubert) had decided to abandon Munich and to head for Göttingen, inspired by Husserl's works (which is referred to as the Munich invasion of Göttingen).
Later in 1905 Reinach returned to Munich to complete his studies in law and then continued in 1906-1907 in Tübingen
Tübingen
Tübingen is a traditional university town in central Baden-Württemberg, Germany. It is situated south of the state capital, Stuttgart, on a ridge between the Neckar and Ammer rivers.-Geography:...
. He attended several lectures and seminars on penal law by the legal theorist Ernst Beling, by which he was quite impressed and to which he owes a great deal of inspiration of his later works. In the summer of 1907 he took the First State Examination in Law, but also went later to Göttingen to attend discussion circles with Husserl.
With the support of Husserl, Reinach was able to obtain habilitation for university teaching at Göttingen in 1909. From his lectures and research, we can see that at the time he was influenced also by Anton Marty
Anton Marty
Anton Marty was a Swiss philosopher. He specialized in philosophy of language, psychology and ontology. The linguists in Prague School were influenced by his works.-Sources:...
and Johannes Daubert, besides obviously and greatly by Husserl. On his turn Reinach appears to have inspired several young phenomenologists (like Wilhelm Schapp, Dietrich von Hildebrand
Dietrich von Hildebrand
Dietrich von Hildebrand was a German Catholic philosopher and theologian who was called by Pope Pius XII "the 20th Century Doctor of the Church."...
, Alexandre Koyré
Alexandre Koyré
Alexandre Koyré , sometimes anglicised as Alexander Koiré, was a French philosopher of Russian origin who wrote on the history and philosophy of science.-Life:...
and Edith Stein
Edith Stein
Saint Teresia Benedicta of the Cross, sometimes also known as Saint Edith Stein , was a German Roman Catholic philosopher and nun, regarded as a martyr and saint of the Roman Catholic Church...
) with his lectures. Besides giving an introduction to phenomenology, he lectured i.a. on Plato
Plato
Plato , was a Classical Greek philosopher, mathematician, student of Socrates, writer of philosophical dialogues, and founder of the Academy in Athens, the first institution of higher learning in the Western world. Along with his mentor, Socrates, and his student, Aristotle, Plato helped to lay the...
and Immanuel Kant
Immanuel Kant
Immanuel Kant was a German philosopher from Königsberg , researching, lecturing and writing on philosophy and anthropology at the end of the 18th Century Enlightenment....
.
In this period, Husserl embarked on a thorough revision of his main work, the Logical Investigations, and asked Reinach’s assistance in this endeavour. Moreover, in 1912 Reinach, together with Moritz Geiger
Moritz Geiger
Moritz Geiger was a German philosopher and a disciple of Edmund Husserl. Beside phenomenology, he dedicated himself to psychology, epistemology and aesthetics.- Life :...
and Alexander Pfänder
Alexander Pfänder
Alexander Pfänder was a German philosopher and phenomenologist. He was born in Iserlohn and spent his entire academic career in Munich, where he was a student of Theodor Lipps and one of the founding members of the Munich circle of phenomenologists...
founded the famous Jahrbuch für Philosophie und phänomenologische Forschung, with Husserl
Edmund Husserl
Edmund Gustav Albrecht Husserl was a philosopher and mathematician and the founder of the 20th century philosophical school of phenomenology. He broke with the positivist orientation of the science and philosophy of his day, yet he elaborated critiques of historicism and of psychologism in logic...
as main editor.
Besides his work in the area of phenomenology and philosophy in general, Reinach is credited for the development of a forerunner to the theory of speech act
Speech act
Speech Act is a technical term in linguistics and the philosophy of language. The contemporary use of the term goes back to John L. Austin's doctrine of locutionary, illocutionary, and perlocutionary acts...
s by Austin
J. L. Austin
John Langshaw Austin was a British philosopher of language, born in Lancaster and educated at Shrewsbury School and Balliol College, Oxford University. Austin is widely associated with the concept of the speech act and the idea that speech is itself a form of action...
and Searle
John Searle
John Rogers Searle is an American philosopher and currently the Slusser Professor of Philosophy at the University of California, Berkeley.-Biography:...
: Die apriorischen Grundlagen des bürgerlichen Rechtes (The A Priori Foundations of Civil Law) is a systematic treatment of social acts as performative utterances and a priori foundations of civil law. Reinach's work was based mostly on Husserl's analysis of meaning in the Logical Investigations, but also on Daubert's criticism of it. Alexander Pfänder
Alexander Pfänder
Alexander Pfänder was a German philosopher and phenomenologist. He was born in Iserlohn and spent his entire academic career in Munich, where he was a student of Theodor Lipps and one of the founding members of the Munich circle of phenomenologists...
(1870–1941) had also been doing research on commands, promises and the like in the same period.
After Husserl's publication of the Ideen (Ideas) in 1913, many phenomenologists took a critical stance towards his new theories and the current of Munich phenomenology
Munich phenomenology
Munich Phenomenology, refers to the group of philosophers, psychologists and phenomenologists that studied and worked in Munich at the beginning of the twentieth century, when Edmund Husserl published his masterwork, the Logical Investigations and began the phenomenological movement...
came effectively into being, as Reinach, Daubert and others chose to remain closer to Husserl's earlier work, the Logical investigations. Instead of following Husserl into idealism and transcendental phenomenology, the Munich group remained a realist current.
At the outbreak of World War I
World War I
World War I , which was predominantly called the World War or the Great War from its occurrence until 1939, and the First World War or World War I thereafter, was a major war centred in Europe that began on 28 July 1914 and lasted until 11 November 1918...
Reinach volunteered to join the army. After many battles and having received the Iron Cross
Iron Cross
The Iron Cross is a cross symbol typically in black with a white or silver outline that originated after 1219 when the Kingdom of Jerusalem granted the Teutonic Order the right to combine the Teutonic Black Cross placed above a silver Cross of Jerusalem....
, Reinach fell outside Diksmuide in Flanders on 16 November 1917.
List of main works
- Über den Ursachenbegriff im geltenden Strafrecht Leipzig: J. A. Barth 1905.
- "William James und der Pragmatismus," in Welt und Wissen. Hannoversche Blätter für Kunst, Literatur und Leben (198): 45-65 1910.
- "Kants Auffassung des Humeschen Problems" in Zeitschrift für Philosophie und philosophische Kritik 141: 176-209 1911.
- "Die obersten Regeln der Vernunftschlüsse bei Kant" in Kant Studien 16: 214-233 1911.
- Zur Theorie des negativen Urteils. in Münchener Philosophische Abhandlungen. Festschrift für Theodor Lipps. Ed. A. Pfänder. Leipzig: J. A. Barth 1911. pp. 196–254
- "Die Überlegung: ihre ethische und rechtliche Bedeutung I" in Zeitschrift für Philosophie und philosophische Kritik 148: 181-196 1912.
- "Die Überlegung: ihre ethische und rechtliche Bedeutung II" in Zeitschrift für Philosophie und philosophische Kritik 149: 30-58 1913.
- "Die apriorischen Grundlagen des bürgerlichen Rechtes" in Jahrbuch für Philosophie und phänomenologische Forschung 1: 685-847 1913.
- Also as a special edition (Sonderdruck), Verlag von Max Niemeyer, Halle a. d. S.Halle, Saxony-AnhaltHalle is the largest city in the German state of Saxony-Anhalt. It is also called Halle an der Saale in order to distinguish it from the town of Halle in North Rhine-Westphalia...
(pp. 1–163), 1913. - Re-edited as: "Zur Phänomenologie des Rechts. Die apriorischen Grundlagen des bürgerlichen Rechts" (with a preface by Anna Reinach) MunichMunichMunich The city's motto is "" . Before 2006, it was "Weltstadt mit Herz" . Its native name, , is derived from the Old High German Munichen, meaning "by the monks' place". The city's name derives from the monks of the Benedictine order who founded the city; hence the monk depicted on the city's coat...
, Kösel, 1953.
- Also as a special edition (Sonderdruck), Verlag von Max Niemeyer, Halle a. d. S.
- "Paul Natorps 'Allgemeine Psychologie nach kritischer Methode'" in Göttingische gelehrte Anzeigen 4: 193-214 1914.
His collected works: Sämtliche Werke. Kritische Ausgabe mit Kommentar (in two volumes) München: Philosophia Verlag 1989. Eds. K. Schuhmann & B. Smith.
Some on-line texts and translations of works by Reinach are available here.
External links
- Reinach, Concerning Phenomenology.
- Smith, Barry (2008), Adolf Reinach, in Stanford Encyclopedia of PhilosophyStanford Encyclopedia of PhilosophyThe Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy is a freely-accessible online encyclopedia of philosophy maintained by Stanford University. Each entry is written and maintained by an expert in the field, including professors from over 65 academic institutions worldwide...
. - Adolf Reinach on State of Affairs and the Theory of Negative Judgement