Selected writings on ethics and politics / Bernard Bolzano ; translated by Paul Rusnock & Rolf George.

Format:

Book

Author/Creator:

Bolzano, Bernard, 1781-1848.

Series:

Studien zur osterreichischen Philosophie ; Bd. 40.

Studien zur osterreichischen Philosophie ; Bd. 40

Language:

English

Subjects (All):

Political ethics.

Philosophy, Austrian.

Physical Description:

1 online resource (380 p.)

Place of Publication:

Amsterdam ; New York, NY : Rodopi, 2007.

Language Note:

English

Summary:

Celebrated today for his groundbreaking work in logic and the foundations of mathematics, Bernard Bolzano (1781-1848) was best known in his own time as a leader of the reform movement in his homeland (Bohemia, then part of the Austrian Empire). As professor of religious science at the Charles University in Prague from 1805 to 1819, Bolzano was a highly visible public intellectual, a courageous and determined critic of abuses in Church and State. Based in large part on a carefully argued utilitarian practical philosophy, he developed a non-violent program for the reform of the authoritarian institutions of the Empire, which he himself set in motion through his teaching and other activities. Rarely has a philosopher had such a great impact on the political culture of his homeland. This volume contains a substantial collection of Bolzano's writings on ethics and politics, translated into English for the first time. It includes a complete translation of the treatise On the Best State , his principal writings on ethics, an essay on the contemporary situation in Ireland, and a selection of his Exhortations, dealing with such topics as enlightenment, civil disobedience, the status of women, anti-Semitism and Czech-German relations in Bohemia. It will be of particular interest to students of central European philosophy and history, and more generally to philosophers and historians of ideas.

Contents:

Preliminary Material

Introduction

Want of Enlightenment (Ignorance and Error) Must be Seen as the True Cause of the Evils that Beset our Fatherland: Read on the second Sunday after Easter, 1817 [April 20]

Several Very Important Consequences and Duties that Follow from the Conviction that Want of Enlightenment (Ignorance and Error) is the Cause of the Evils that Beset our Fatherland: Read on the third Sunday after Easter, 1817 [April 27]

On Ways and Means of Already Bringing about a Better Shape of Things at the Present Time: Read on the last Sunday after Pentecost in the year 1816 [November 3]

On Correct Conduct towards Enemies of Enlightenment: Read on the Feast of the Epiphany, 1816 [January 6]

On Correct Conduct towards Enemies of Enlightenment (conclusion): Read on the first Sunday after Epiphany, 1816 [January 7]

On Duties towards Unjust Authorities: Read on Palm Sunday in 1812 [March 22]

On the Relations between the two Peoples of Bohemia

On the Relations between the two Peoples of Bohemia (continuation): Read on the eighth Sunday after Pentecost, 1816 [July 28]

On the Relations between the two Peoples of Bohemia (conclusion): Read on the ninth Sunday after Pentecost, 1816 [August 4]

On Conduct towards the Jewish Nation: Read on the Feast of the Presentation of our Lady at the Temple, 1809 [Nov. 21]

On the Mission and Dignity of Womanhood: Read on the Feast of the Ascension of Mary, 1810 [August 15]

On the Right of the Clergy to obtain their Livelihood from Persons not of their Faith (selections)

Selections from the Treatise of the Science of Religion: On the Concept of Religion, on Different Kinds of Religion and our Obligations with Respect to Religion

There are Truths

There are several, and indeed infinitely many truths

We humans are in a position to know truths, and actually do know some

We do, indeed, sometimes err in our judgments; but under certain conditions we can be more or less assured that we do not err

Human beings are capable of being virtuous and happy

Many of the concepts and opinions people hold have an influence on their virtue as well as on their happiness

We sometimes wish that we had certain beliefs

The concept of a moral proposition

Concept of the word religion

Concept of the most perfect religion

A person’s highest duty with respect to his religion

A more detailed exposition of the particular duties contained in this highest duty

Natural Morality: Contents of this part

Concept and existence of a highest moral law

Derivation of this highest moral law

Objections against this highest moral law

Brief assessment of the most common differing opinions on the highest moral law

Uncertainty of all human virtue

What leads us to be untrue to our virtuous principles?

There are means of promoting virtue.

Several rules that may be applied in determining the relative worth of various cultivators of virtue.

Foreword

On the citizens, the extent and the divisions of the state

On legislation

On government

On means of coercion

On freedom

On equa.

Notes:

Description based upon print version of record.

Includes bibliographical references and index.

ISBN:

94-012-0400-4

1-4294-8144-7

OCLC:

714568402

Publisher Number:

10.1163/9789401204002 DOI