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Remarks on the concept of object of psychology is Richard Avenarius last work and it represents his attempt to establish the fledgling scientific, physiological, experimental psychology on rigorous philosophical basis. With this work the founder of the so-called Empiriocriticism participates to the wide debate on the definition of psychology, along with notable personalities of the time, such as Wilhelm Wundt, Ernst Mach, Oswald Külpe, Hermann Ebbinghaus, Hugo Münsterberg and Edward B. Titchener.

psychology --- Richard Avenarius --- philosophy

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Joseph Petzoldt was Ernst Mach’s and Richard Avenarius’ main pupil, as well as the primary source for the habit to reunite these two thinkers under the label of “empiriocriticists”. Petzoldt developed Mach’s and Avenarius’ ideas in a philosophical system aiming at overcoming the dualism and agnosticism of the Kantian approach that was typical of German scientific circles in the late 1800s. Petzoldt’s thought is based on three pillars: his radical empiricism, according to which sensory experience is not appearance but reality; the Eindeutigkeit principle, which states that all that happens is univocally determined and thus necessary; the principle of the tendency to stability, which governs the evolution of the universe, including the living organisms and the brain. On these bases, Petzoldt arrives at his “relativistic positivism”, according to which every individual experiences reality from his point of view, but – since knowledge processes are determined by the functioning of the brain – this does not preclude an objective knowledge of the world. Petzoldt was also one of the leading figures of the debate on the philosophical interpretation of Einstein’s relativity. He believed that relativity was a consequence and a confirmation of E. Mach gnoseological approach and thus of relativistic positivism. Joseph Petzoldt fu il principale allievo di Ernst Mach e Richard Avenarius, nonché la fonte primaria della consuetudine di far convergere questi due pensatori entro l’etichetta di “empiriocriticisti”. Petzoldt sviluppò le idee di Mach e Avenarius in un sistema di pensiero volto a superare il dualismo e l’agnosticismo insiti nel kantismo degli ambienti scientifici tedeschi di fine Ottocento. Il pensiero di Petzoldt si regge su tre pilastri: l’empirismo radicale, secondo cui l’esperienza sensibile non è apparenza ma realtà; il principio di Eindeutigkeit, secondo cui tutto ciò che accade è univocamente determinato, e dunque necessario; e il principio di tendenza alla stabilità, che governa l’evoluzione del cosmo, inclusi gli organismi e il cervello. Petzoldt approda così al suo “positivismo relativistico”, in base al quale ogni individuo esperisce la realtà dal proprio punto di vista, ma poiché i processi conoscitivi sono determinati necessariamente dal funzionamento del cervello, ciò non impedisce una conoscenza oggettiva del mondo. Petzoldt fu inoltre uno dei protagonisti del dibattito sull’interpretazione filosofica della relatività di Einstein, sostenendo che essa fosse una conseguenza e una conferma dell’impostazione gnoseologica di Ernst Mach e, dunque, del positivismo relativistico

Joseph Petzoldt --- Richard Avenarius --- Ernst Mach --- Empiriocriticism --- Relativistic positivism --- Perspectivism

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Joseph Petzoldt was Ernst Mach’s and Richard Avenarius’ main pupil, as well as the primary source for the habit to reunite these two thinkers under the label of “empiriocriticists”. Petzoldt developed Mach’s and Avenarius’ ideas in a philosophical system aiming at overcoming the dualism and agnosticism of the Kantian approach that was typical of German scientific circles in the late 1800s. Petzoldt’s thought is based on three pillars: his radical empiricism, according to which sensory experience is not appearance but reality; the Eindeutigkeit principle, which states that all that happens is univocally determined and thus necessary; the principle of the tendency to stability, which governs the evolution of the universe, including the living organisms and the brain. On these bases, Petzoldt arrives at his “relativistic positivism”, according to which every individual experiences reality from his point of view, but – since knowledge processes are determined by the functioning of the brain – this does not preclude an objective knowledge of the world. Petzoldt was also one of the leading figures of the debate on the philosophical interpretation of Einstein’s relativity. He believed that relativity was a consequence and a confirmation of E. Mach gnoseological approach and thus of relativistic positivism. Joseph Petzoldt fu il principale allievo di Ernst Mach e Richard Avenarius, nonché la fonte primaria della consuetudine di far convergere questi due pensatori entro l’etichetta di “empiriocriticisti”. Petzoldt sviluppò le idee di Mach e Avenarius in un sistema di pensiero volto a superare il dualismo e l’agnosticismo insiti nel kantismo degli ambienti scientifici tedeschi di fine Ottocento. Il pensiero di Petzoldt si regge su tre pilastri: l’empirismo radicale, secondo cui l’esperienza sensibile non è apparenza ma realtà; il principio di Eindeutigkeit, secondo cui tutto ciò che accade è univocamente determinato, e dunque necessario; e il principio di tendenza alla stabilità, che governa l’evoluzione del cosmo, inclusi gli organismi e il cervello. Petzoldt approda così al suo “positivismo relativistico”, in base al quale ogni individuo esperisce la realtà dal proprio punto di vista, ma poiché i processi conoscitivi sono determinati necessariamente dal funzionamento del cervello, ciò non impedisce una conoscenza oggettiva del mondo. Petzoldt fu inoltre uno dei protagonisti del dibattito sull’interpretazione filosofica della relatività di Einstein, sostenendo che essa fosse una conseguenza e una conferma dell’impostazione gnoseologica di Ernst Mach e, dunque, del positivismo relativistico

xxxx --- Joseph Petzoldt --- Richard Avenarius --- Ernst Mach --- Empiriocriticism --- Relativistic positivism --- Perspectivism