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'{{Short description|German philosopher (1837–1885)}} [[File:Laas (Ernst) Philosoph btv1b102261811.jpg|thumb|Laas during his time in Strasbourg]] Ernst Laas (born June 16, 1837 in [[Fürstenwalde]]/Spree; died July 25, 1885 in [[Strasbourg]]) was a high school teacher, philosopher of [[positivism]] and [[Philosophy of education|education]], and chair of philosophy and pedagogy at the [[University of Strasbourg]]. The insights he found in the history of philosophy and philosophies based on [[sensualism]] are key aspects of his scholarly work. ==Biography== Laas grew up as the son of the master tailor Johann Peter Laas (1807–57) and his wife Berta Ida Flora (1818–52), née Beil, in economically limited circumstances in [[Fürstenwalde]], [[Province of Brandenburg|Brandenburg]], [[Kingdom of Prussia|Prussia]]. The support of General von Massow enabled him to attend the Joachimsthal Gymnasium. From 1854 to 1856, he worked as a private tutor. He then enrolled at the [[Humboldt University of Berlin|University of Berlin]] and studied [[theology]] and philosophy under [[Friedrich Adolf Trendelenburg]]. Trendelenburg was known for his knowledge of the history of philosophy and taught in his lectures that a philosopher could learn much for his own thinking and about the thinking of others from the history of philosophy.[1] Laas received his doctorate in philosophy in 1859 with a dissertation on ''The Moral Principle of Aristotle'' (Das Moral-Prinzip des Aristoteles). In 1860, he became a teacher of [[German language|German]], [[Greek language|Greek]], [[Latin]], and [[Hebrew language|Hebrew]] at the renowned [[Friedrichsgymnasium Kassel|Friedrichs-Gymnasium]] in [[Berlin]] and, in 1868, at the Berlin [[Wilhelm-Gymnasium]]. In 1861, he married Martha (1839–1919), née Vogeler and had five sons. In 1872, he received a professorship in philosophy at the newly re-established [[University of Strasbourg|Kaiser Wilhelm University of Strasbourg]], a position he held until his death. In his lectures, he initially dealt with literary and cultural-historical topics (including [[Martin Luther|Luther]], [[Lessing]], [[Johann Gottfried Herder|Herder]], and [[Johann Wolfgang von Goethe|Goethe]]) and educational themes. He lectured on [[pedagogy]] during the time of [[Humanism]] and the [[Reformation]], on educational theories in ancient and modern times, as well as on education and teaching. His lectures always included philosophical elements. From 1878 onwards, he lectured exclusively on philosophy and further educated himself in [[mathematics]] and the [[Natural science|natural sciences]].[2] One of his students – the Viennese philosopher Benno Kerry (1858–1889) – published his literary remains after his death. According to Kerry, Laas published knowledgeable and detailed studies on the theoretical philosophy of his time, especially on [[Immanuel Kant|Kant]]. Nonetheless, he was namely known for his three-volume chief work ''Idealism and Positivism'' in which he advocated for supremacy of positivism over idealist thinking. For Laas, the facts (''Tatsachen'') of his positivism were the representations that people develop about the world through “precieving” (''warnehmen'', Laas’s idiosyncratic spelling, which he consistently used instead of ''wahrnehmen'') or “feeling” (''empfinden''). He considered this sensualistic or positivistic approach to be philosophically superior and more productive than the idealistic approach of most of his contemporaries; Laas always stressed that any fact he asserted could be verified, addressed, and developed further by anyone who wished to do so.[3] Laas’s positivist philosophy found much resonance in Strasbourg during his lifetime. However, it also became the source for controversial discussions on [[epistemology]] and [[Ethics|moral philosophy]]. Laas, for example, asserted—similar to [[David Hume|Hume]] and [[John Stuart Mill|Mill]], and in contrast to proponents of [[Neo-Kantianism|Kantian]] philosophy—that human reason is not capable of producing ideas and concepts that guarantee the objectivity of our knowledge and moral actions. People are always dependent on what they “perceive” and “feel.” In 1882, the Neo-Kantian [[Wilhelm Windelband|Windelband]] was appointed to Strasbourg. On his view, Laas’s positivist philosophy was a [[Relativism|radical relativism]] or anti-philosophical [[Sophist|sophistry]] that questioned philosophical values, such as objective knowledge and morality. And so, Windelband saw it—according to Klaus Köhnke’s interpretation—as his “missionary task” to reassert traditional German, particularly Kantian and idealistic, philosophy in Strasbourg against Laas. According to Köhnk, this was expressly supported by the ministry for political reasons.[4] Laas died in 1885 in Strasbourg. His grave is located in the [[Montmartre Cemetery|Cimetière Saint-Gall]] in Strasbourg-Koenigshoffen (Section 5A-2-8). ----[1] Cf. Friedrich Adolf Trendelenburg: ''Historische Beiträge zur Philosophie''. Berlin 1846, p. vii. [2] Cf. Benno Kerry Einleitung zu: Ernst Laas: Literarischer Nachlass. Vienna 1887, reprint of the 1902 edition by Nabu public Domain Reprints 2012, pp. 5-6. [3] Cf. Benno Kerry Einleitung zu: Ernst Laas: Literarischer Nachlass. Vienna 1887, reprint of the 1902 edition by Nabu public Domain Reprints 2012, pp. 7-8. [4] Klaus Christian Köhnke: Neukantianism zwischen Positivismus und Idealismus? In: Hübinger/Bruch/Graf (eds.): Kultur und Kulturwissenschaften um 1900: Idealismus und Positivismus. Stuttgart 1997, pp. 41-52. ==Works== His chief educational works were ''Der deutsche Aufsatz in den ersten Gymnasialklassen'' (1868), and ''Der deutsche Unterricht auf höhern Lehranstalten'' (1872; 2nd ed. 1886). He contributed largely to the ''Vierteljahrsschrift für wissenschaftliche Philosophie'' (1880–82); the ''Literarischer Nachlass'', a posthumous collection, was published at Vienna (1887).{{sfn|Chisholm|1911|p=2}} ==Notes== {{reflist}} ==References== *{{EB1911|wstitle=Laas, Ernst|volume=16|pages=1–2}} This work in turn cites: ** Hanisch, ''Der Positivismus von Ernst Laas'' (1902) ** Gjurits, ''Die Erkenntnistheorie des Ernst Laas'' (1903) ** Falckenberg, ''Hist. of Mod. Philos.'' (Eng. trans., 1895) {{Positivism}} {{Authority control}} {{DEFAULTSORT:Laas, Ernst}} [[Category:1837 births]] [[Category:1885 deaths]] [[Category:People from Fürstenwalde]] [[Category:People from the Province of Brandenburg]] [[Category:19th-century German philosophers]] [[Category:German male writers]] [[Category:Humboldt University of Berlin alumni]] [[Category:Academic staff of the University of Strasbourg]]'