Bernard Bolzano. Bibliography on His Practical Philosophy

Drozdek, Adam. 1998. "Infinity and Bolzano’s Eschatology." Axiomathes no. 9:275-286.

"Bernard Bolzano is known today for his work in logic and mathematics.

Paradoxes of the infinite is the only book from a vast body of his writings that was translated into many languages. The rest of his books and articles have only relatively recently being republished in a collected edition of his works. In his time, however, Bolzano was known mainly for his theological works which were widely read and which stirred controversies because of the many unorthodox views they contained. One problem was that Bolzano was a Roman Catholic priest and many of his views flew in the face of orthodox Christianity in general and Catholicism in particular. One of the most interesting works in this respect is his Athanasia, or the grounds for immortality of the soul , which had two editions during Bolzano's life (in 1827 and 1838). The goal of Athanasia is to prove, with the power of reason and "truths that observation of nature offers," that the soul is immortal (A 17)." (p. 275)
George, Rolf, and Rusnock, Paul. 2006. "Bolzano’s Political Philosophy." In The Austrian Contribution to Analytic Philosophy , edited by Textor, Mark, 264-292. New York: Routledge.

"Bolzano’s major work on political philosophy is a book called On the Best State , which was written around 1830.(2) As its title suggests, the work is concerned not with suggestions for reforms of existing institutions, but rather the elaboration of an ideal, namely, an organisation of civil society that maximises the well being of its members. The approach of this work has earned Bolzano the reputation of a utopian in political philosophy, someone unconcerned with the practical, the here and now, devoted instead to the passive contemplation of the unattainable. This impression might easily be confirmed by the knowledge that he never sought to publish his book, and towards the end of his life actually resisted the attempts of others to publish it for him.

But this view of Bolzano the political philosopher is completely mistaken.

Indeed, it would be difficult to find an example of a philosopher who had a greater impact on the political culture of his country. An examination of the exhortations (Erbauungsreden ) Bolzano read weekly to the university students and educated public of Prague shows him to have been one of the most prominent advocates for reform of the time.

(...)

It is worth noting, too, that after a little over 150 years, a great many ideas very like Bolzano’s have been implemented somewhere or other – for better and for worse." (pp. 265-266)

(2) Von dem besten Staate , ed. by A. Kowalewski, Prague 1932. New edition by Jaromir Louzil in the Bernard Bolzano Gesamtausgabe (hereafter BBGA) Series IIA, Vol. 14.
Livingston, Paisley. 2014. "Bolzano on Beauty." British Journal of Aesthetics no. 54:269-284.

Abstract: "This paper sets forth Bolzano’s little-known 1843 account of beauty. Bolzano accepted the thesis that beauty is what rewards contemplation with pleasure. The originality of his proposal lies in his claim that the source of this pleasure is a special kind of cognitive process, namely, the formation of an adequate concept of the object’s attributes through the successful exercise of the observer’s proficiency at obscure and confused cognition.

To appreciate this proposal we must understand how Bolzano explicated a number of concepts (especially clarity, confusion, and intuition) in his Wissenschaftslehre . I argue that Bolzano was ahead of his time and anticipated some of the results of recent empirical psychological research on the relations between beauty, affect, and processing fluency. Bolzano’s remarks on ugliness and on relations between pure and mixed beauty are also of contemporary interest. The upshot is that Bolzano’s account of beauty is neither as derivative nor ‘dark’ as some of his commentators have claimed."
———. 2015. "An Introduction to Bolzano's Essay on Beauty." Estetika: The Central European Journal of Aesthetics no. 52:203-228.

Abstract: "A neglected gem in the history of aesthetics, Bolzano’s essay on beauty is best understood when read alongside his other writings and philosophical sources.(1)

This Introduction is designed to contribute to such a reading. In Part I, I identify and discuss three salient ways in which Bolzano’s account can be misunderstood. As a lack of familiarity with Bolzano’s background assumptions is one source of these misunderstandings, in Part II, I elucidate some of his ideas about the psychological processes involved in the contemplation and enjoyment of beauty. In Part III, I situate Bolzano’s discussion of beauty within the more general framework of his ideas about the nature of philosophy, the relation between philosophy and aesthetics, and the place of the concept of beauty within the latter. Part IV is devoted to Bolzano’s discussion of some of his philosophical antecedents, including Kant. In Part V, I raise some objections to Bolzano’s account and indicate how his advocates might respond to them."

(1) Bernard Bolzano, Abhandlungen zur Ästhetik: Erste Lieferung; Über den Begriff des Schönen. Eine Philosophische Abhandlung (Prague: Borrosch et André, 1843). The first half of the essay (§§ 1–25) is translated as ‘On the Concept of the Beautiful: A Philosophical Essay ’ in this issue of Estetika. In what follows I cite this Borrosch et André edition as B, giving paragraph and then page numbers, followed by those in the Estetika translation. For background information about Bolzano’s life and works, see Edgar Morscher, ‘Bernard Bolzano’, in Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy , ed. Edward N. Zalta, fall 2014 ed. (Stanford University, 1997–).
———. 2016. "Bolzano on Art." British Journal of Aesthetics no. 56:333-345.

Abstract: "In his little-known essay published posthumously in 1849, Über die Eintheilung der schönen Künste (On the Classification of the Beautiful Arts ), Bernard Bolzano proposes an explication of the concept of beautiful art as well as a classification of these arts. Bolzano’s divisions allowed him not only to provide a principled and comprehensive classification of actual, well-established arts, but also to anticipate kinds of beautiful art that would not exist or be widely recognized until decades after his death, such as moving pictures, abstract paintings, and what he called ‘the arts of pure thought’."
———. 2021. "Bernard Bolzano: (1781-1848)." In Aesthetics: The Key Thinkers , edited by Giovannelli, Alessandro, 117-128. New York: Bloomsbury.

Second edition.

"If asked to say which philosophers did significant work in aesthetics in the nineteenth century, very few people-including experts in the field-would be likely to mention Bernard Bolzano, who is best known for his findings in mathematics and logic. This is unfortunate, as Bolzano also made important contributions to aesthetics. In an early sermon (Bolzano 1810), he eloquently defended the traditional thesis that in appreciating the beauty of nature we worship God and His creation.

In the early 1840s, he planned to write a series of five interrelated studies on topics in aesthetics, yet a fatal pulmonary illness prevented him from realizing this ambition (Winter 1949, 46-7). He did manage to complete the first part of his planned series, an essay on beauty (Bolzano 2015) that was published in his native Prague in 1843 as Über den Begriff des Schonen. Eine Philosophische Abhandlung (On the Concept of the Beautiful. A Philosophical Essay ; see also Bolzano 1972 and 2017). Bolzano also finished an essay on the fine arts, which was published posthumously in 1849 as Über die Eintheilung der schonen Kunste. Eine ästhetische Abhandlung ( On the Division of the Beautiful Arts. An Aesthetic Essay ). These two published essays are the primary focus of this entry, although some of Bolzano's other work will be mentioned where relevant." (p. 117)

References

Bolzano, Bernard. 1810. "Uber denn Sinn für die Naturschonheiten." (On the sense for natural beauty ) In Erbauungsreden für Akademike (Exhortations for academics ), 262-285. Prague: Widtmann.

--- 1972. Untersuchungen zur Grundlegung der Asthetik (Investigations into the foundations of aesthetics ). Dietfried Gerhardus (ed.). Frankfurt am Main: Athenäum.

--- 2015. "On the Concept of the Beautiful: A Philosophical Essay." Adam Bresnahan (trans.). Estetika: The Central European ]oumal of Aesthetics , 52: 229-266. A translation of the first half of the essay.

--- 2017. Ecrits ésthetiques. Carole Maigne, Nicolas Rialland, and Jan Sebestik (trans. and eds.). Paris: Vrin.

Winter, Eduard. 1949. Leben und geistige Entwicklung des Sozialethikers und Mathematikers Bernard Bolzano . Halle: Niemeyer.
Löffler, Winfried. 2013. "Bernard Bolzano's Analytic Philosophy of Religion." Philosophy no. 28:53-61.

"In this short paper, I want to give you an overview to the thought of the perhaps most original, yet still widely unknown Austrian philosopher: Bernard Bolzano (1781-1848)." (p. 53)

(...)

"Was he also a pioneer in modern analytic philosophy of religion? There is surely no direct influence to current analytic philosophy of religion, and Bolzano founded no “school” in that field, but we find in his works some really excellent pieces of analytic philosophy of religion, and all that around 1810. I will just mention four of them: Firstly, Bolzano was a pioneer of the “logic of religion”, i.e. the clarification of the structure, meaning and justification of religious belief-systems. 130 years later, Joseph Bochenski in The Logic of Religion of 1965 published a similar approach.

Secondly, Bolzano formulated a logically sophisticated proof for God’s existence. It follows the pattern of proof from the contingency of things to God as their cause, but it is in detail highly original and has no parallel in the literature, as far as I can see. Thirdly, Bolzano brings a probabilistic analysis of our reasoning about the credibility of historical testimony. This was important for Christian theology, since the Christian religion is a revealed religion: It claims to go back to certain extraordinary historical events, and hence its rationality hangs on the historical credibility of the testimonial accounts of these events. Testimony is a huge topic also in current epistemology, but Bolzano presents an early and sophisticated probabilistic treatise on that – just a few years after Laplace. Fourthly, in some of his sermons (“exhortations”) which he had to give each Sunday and holiday for his students, he presents detailed analyses of various speech-acts, e.g. of the exact difference between “lying” and “deceiving”. In these sermons, Bolzano anticipates Austin’s and Searle’s work on speech-act theory by more than 100 years." (pp. 53-54)

(...)

"After explaining Bolzano’s overall project in his textbook in section 2, I will pick out three interesting points in sections 3 to 5: His definition of religion, the question whether he was a total non-cognitivist in religion, and whether he argued for a sort of self-deception or self-persuasion in religious matters." (p. 55)
Lukasiewicz, Dariusz. 2007. "Logical and Metaphysical Assumptions of Bernard Bolzano's Theodicy." Forum Philosophicum: International Journal for Philosophy no. 12:33-56.

Abstract: "Bolzano's theodicy is a very good example of Platonism in the philosophy of religion. Above all, Bolzano believes that there obtains an ideal realm of truths in themselves and mathematical objects, which are independent of God. Therefore, we are allowed to conclude that God is only a contractor; true, more powerful than Plato's demiurge because He created substances (and matter) and sustains them in existence, but God must follow a project which is independent of Him. Since the world is determined, by the program and God follows the program, then in fact the program is a god, or better, there is no God (at least in the sense of the classical Christian tradition).

Bolzano's project is not related to God's essence, since it is external to God, and is not made by God. Thus, Bolzano's theodicy is also the absolute opposite of the Cartesian theodicy. God in the Cartesian theodicy can change all rules, all scientific laws and, in consequence, He can create any world He wants. Bolzano's God cannot change anything and cannot create a different world than the world determined by the project, a world different than the one He has created. The responsibility of Bolzano's God for the evil in the world is limited by the project of the world."
McCormick, Peter. 1981. "Bolzano and the Dark Doctrines: An Essay on Aesthetics." In Structure and Gestalt: Philosophy and Literature in Austria-Hungary and Her Successor States , edited by Smith, Barry. Amsterdam: John Benjamins.

§1. Kant and the subjectivisation of aesthetics; §2. Bolzano and the theory of the beautiful; §3. Appraising Bolzano's aesthetics.

"In this paper however I want to look sympathetically yet critically at the major feature of his most important reflections on aesthetics, his theory of beauty.

In order to situate these reflections in the development of modern aesthetics and to make their expression more understandable, I propose in the first section of the paper to review briefly several of the central difficulties in Kant's aesthetic. In §2 I will then make use of Bolzano's criticisms of Kant as an initial means of presenting Bolzano's own philosophical concerns, before sketching further those themes which are peculiar to Bolzano's work alone. Finally in §3 I will suggest critical questions about Bolzano's theory which call for further attention on the part of his interpreters and also on the part of those interested in a certain strain of post-Kantian aesthetics.

Although my purposes here remain largely critical ones, I have tried to call attention to textual, historical and interpretative points in some of the accompanying notes.

My larger purpose is to suggest in a general way only that Bolzano's aesthetics, specifically his investigations into the concept of the beautiful, represent more than just an important and almost completely overlooked criticism of Kant's well-known views; these investigations provide the basic link between Kantian aesthetics and the work of the later Brentano, Meinong, Husserl, and Ingarden. In short, Bolzano's aesthetics include the initial elements of what might be called the realist tradition in modern aesthetics." (pp. 69-70)
Mezei, Balasz. 2009. "Two Models of Radical Revelation in Austrian Philosophy." European Journal for Philosophy of Religion no. 1:99-120.

Abstract: "In this paper I highlight two opposing models of the notion of divine revelation: the propositional and the radical. The propositional understanding of revelation was central to theology and philosophy until the 19th century. Since then, a number of other models of revelation have emerged. I define as radical the understanding of revelation which emphasizes two features of revelation: 1) God’s existence is *per se* revelatory; 2) God’s revelation is *per se* self-revelation. I propose too an assessment of the notion of propositional revelation as presented by Richard Swinburne. And I offer detailed analyses of two representatives of the early understanding of divine revelation as self-revelation: the views of Bernard Bolzano and Anton Günther. Bolzano, the renowned mathematician, was also a philosopher of religion; and Günther, one of the most ingenious writers in Austrian philosophy, was not only a theologian but also a philosopher comparable to the important figures of 19th century German thought."
Reicher, Maria E. 2006. "Austrian Aesthetics." In The Austrian Contribution to Analytic Philosophy , edited by Textor, Mark, 293-323. New York: Routledge.

"In this chapter, however, the focus is on a number of lesser known Austrian contributions to aesthetics. These contributions concern the following, partly interrelated, central problems of philosophical aesthetics:

I. The problem of the definition of beauty (i.e. What is beauty? What does it mean to say of an object that it is beautiful?)

II. The problem of the ontological status of works of art (i.e. What kinds of objects are works of art?)

III. The problem of the objectivity of aesthetic values (i.e. Do we claim objective validity for aesthetic value judgements and, if so, is this claim justified?)

This chapter will consider the answers of Bolzano, Meinong, Witasek and Ehrenfels to these questions." (p. 294)

(...)

"The task of the essay ‘On the concept of the beautiful’ is to find a definition for the concept of beauty. In the preface to this treatise Bolzano states in a few sentences his views on what philosophical aesthetics should do and how it should be done:

That I have filled so many pages with the analysis of a single concept will necessitate an excuse in the eyes of some. I cannot state anything but that I found this concept to be of particular importance and that analysis of concepts is a business that commonly demands somewhat lengthy investigations, if it shouldn’t be just stated that one thinks of the concept as consisting of these parts, but rather shown to the reader in an at least fairly convincing way, which entails that one has to demonstrate that the previously suggested, other explanations have been more or less erroneous.(3) (CB, 3)

This passage shows clearly that Bolzano does not take philosophical aesthetics to be a discipline that demands less rigour than, say, epistemology and ontology. The task of philosophical aesthetics is, according

to Bolzano, to clarify the basic concepts of aesthetic discourse by means of meticulous analysis. The two perhaps most prominent concepts of aesthetics are the concept of beauty and the concept of art.

Consequently, Bolzano considers the clarification of these concepts to be the most important task of philosophical aesthetics." (p. 295)

(3) All translations in this chapter are mine.

References

Bolzano, B.: ‘Über den Begriff des Schönen. Eine philosophische Abhandlung’, in D. Gerhardus (ed.) Bernard Bolzano. Untersuchungen zur Grundlegung der Ästhetik , Frankfurt/Main: Athenäum, 1972, 1–118. (Originally published 1843.) (CB)
Rosenkoetter, Timothy. 2014. "Kant, Bolzano, and Moore on the Value of Good Willing." In New Anti-Kant , edited by Lapointe, Sandra and Tolley, Clinton, 235-271. London: Palgrave Macmillan.

"Bolzano’s many achievements in mathematics, logic, metaphysics, and epistemology, as well as the monumental scope and ambition of his Theory of Science and Theory of Magnitudes , make it easy to overlook his relatively brief treatments of morality. Yet Bolzano took moral theory quite seriously. (1) This carries over to Bolzano’s engagement with Kant. Though only a small fraction of The New Anti-Kant (192–202) is concerned with moral philosophy, Bolzano thinks that the correction he is able to provide there is every bit as important as his critical engagement with the central topics of the first Critique . Thus, one purpose of this chapter is to place that brief comparison with Kant’s moral theory within the context of Bolzano’s most thorough defence of utilitarianism, which is found in lectures that his students published as Treatise on the Science of Religion .(2)" (p. 235)

(1) For historical background on how Bolzano endeavoured to guide his life as a philosopher and public intellectual by utilitarian principles, see Rusnock’s and George’s Introduction to Bolzano (2007).

(2) This present essay is based on four sources: The New Anti-Kant (“ NAK ”), Theory of Science , Science of Religion (Bolzano 1994/1995, hereafter “ R ”), and “On the Right of the Clergy”. The Rusnock/George translation of relevant sections of the last two are available in Bolzano (2007). I frequently depart from their translation of Science of Religion , using Bolzano (1994/1995) as my basis. See Künne (1996, 325ff.) for a list of inaccuracies in the latter edition.

References

Bolzano, Bernard. (1994/1995). Lehrbuch der Religionswissenschaft , Erster Teil. In Bernard Bolzano-Gesamtausgabe , Series 1, Vol. 6/1 and 6/2. Jaromir Louzil (ed.). Stuttgart-Bad Canstatt: Frommann-Holzboog.

Bolzano, Bernard. (2007). Selected Writings on Ethics and Politics . Paul Rusnock and Rolf George (eds), Amsterdam: Rodopi.

Künne, Wolfgang. (1996). ‘Bolzanos Philosophie der Religion und der Moral’, Archiv für Geschichte der Philosophie , 78, 309-328.
Rusnock, Paul, and Šebestik, Jan. 2019. Bernard Bolzano: His Life and Work . New York: Oxford University Press.

Chapter 2. Ethics 83-104; 3. Political Philosophy 105-138; 4. Philosophy of Religion 139-166; 5. Catholicism and the Catholic Church 167-186; 10. Aesthetics, the Science of Beauty 544-594-
Šebestik, Jan. 1994. "Prague Mosaic. Encounters with Prague Philosophers." Axiomathes no. 2-3:205-223.

"In 1814, a young priest, professor of the "science of religion" at Charles University and author of two mathematical pamphlets, presented another mathematical booklet asking for the admission to the Royal Society. His name was Bernard Bolzano (1781-1848) and I am happy that I have the opportunity to speak about him in the city which bears his name. He was, as I think, the outstanding figure of Prague philosophy." (p. 209)

(...)

"Bolzano can be called the father of Austrian - or Central-European - philosophy. Almost all Austrian philosophers have acquired something of his method, of his way of thinking and of his fundamental ideas. Austrian philosophy in the broad sense, or rather Central-European philosophy, has always tried not to separate philosophy and science (a large number of Austrian philosophers are at the same time scientists or scientifically trained), to identify scientific and philosophical method, to concentrate on logical analysis, to avoid the tcmptation of idcalism, to be attentive to language, and, last but not least, to consider the public activity of a philosopher as a social rclbrmcr to bc an integral part of his task. In this respect, Masaryk and the Vienna Circle arc the true heirs of Bolzano." (p. 212)
Sirůček, Pavel, and Jaroslav, Šetekm. 2019. "Bernard Bolzano." Acta Oeconomica Pragensia no. 27:95-104.

Abstract: "Bernard Bolzano was not merely a mathematician of the European format. He was also a critical social thinker whose work has distinct economic dimensions. This is why he rightly appears in the overviews of the beginnings of Czech economic thought. He began writing his work “About the Best State” 210 years ago, which made him the most famous Czech utopian. The half-forgotten Bolzano legacy, which is still alive and ahead of its time in many respects, recalls this text."
Stern, J. P. 1989. "Language Consciousness and Nationalism in the Age of Bernard Bolzano." Journal of European Studies no. 19:169-189.

"From the end of the eighteenth century an especially close, complex and ultimately disastrous interrelationship develops in Central Europe between language consciousness and nationality. In this region, national and natural borders do not often coincide for very long; and in this age, greater value is ascribed to political notions of "natural" or "organic" han to politics based on tradition and agreement bureaucratically enforced. Here linguistic borders are endowed with the pathos of national borders, national consciousness is identified with language consciousness." (p. 169)

(...)

"The intensity of the Romantic apotheosis of das Volk together with its new system of values is bound to escape Bolzano - this is the pathos that will dominate the next hundred years of Czech and Central European history. This omission is all the more surprising since Bolzano (in contrast to Frege,47 and to the young Wittgenstein) has a very clear understanding of the social function of language; but since he fails to provide a theoretical foundation for them, his insights do not go beyond the practical concerns of daily life. He seeks to solve the problem of the two languages in social and economic terms leading to moral and spiritual improvement. But the subsequent history of Bohemia as well of most other parts of Central Europe has taught us that the appeal to a threatened language consciousness can be politically effective even when it entails social and economic deprivations; that nationalism is stronger than Marxism. Languages - the two languages of Bohemia - are indeed what Wittgenstein calls them: "forms of life". The common humanity to which Bolzano appealed lies behind this insight, buried beneath the antagonisms of two nations once united by their common roots in one soil." (p. 187)

(47) See Dummett [Ursprunge der analytischen Philosophie , translated from the English by Joachim Schulte (Frankfurt/M, I988)], 22.
Świętorzecka, Kordula. 2014. "An Argument for the Existence of God by Bolzano. A Formalization with a DFistinction between Menge and Inbregriff ." Bulletin of the Section of Logic no. 43:155-172.

Abstract: "Bernard Bolzano is the author of a text considered by him as an argument for the existence of God, originally published in the "Lehrbuch der Religionwissenschaft" (1834). His disquisition was formalized by H. Ganthaler and P. Simons in 1987 who based their approach on the well-known set theoretical interpretation of Bolzano's idea of multiplicity. The authors formulated a theory expressed in set theoretical language extended by some specific terms and constructed a proof as a formalization of the reasoning given by Bolzano. A problematic aspect of the proposal of Ganthaler and Simons is that it passes over the distinction of two different types of multiplicities which enable to point some interesting formal and material details of Bolzano's revised argumentation. In the frame of the presented proposal we invent two special meanings of Bolzano's notion of multiplicity: distributive and collective. In connection with this distinction we reconstruct the argument analyzed by Ganthaler and Simons and discuss the formal and philosophical power of the obtained formalization. The inspiration for our approach comes from the fact that Bolzano used in his text two terms Menge and Inbegriff in probably different meanings. However the main aim of this proposal is to take a new look at Bolzano's argument, rather than to provide historical investigations."

References

H. Ganthaler, P. Simons, Bernard Bolzanos kosmo-logischer Gottesbeweis , Philosophia Naturalis 24 (1987), pp. 469-475.
Synytsia, Andrii. 2021. "Bernard Bolzano’s Philosophical Conception of Education from a Modern Standpoint." Journal of Education Culture and Society no. 12:32-44.

Abstract: "Aim. The aim of the article is to analyse Bernard Bolzano's philosophico-educational approach, given the importance of his pedagogical legacy for further progress in the held of education and training.

Methods. The research uses methods of historico-philosophical reconstruction (to determine the foundations and features of Bolzano's pedagogico-philosophical work), interpretation (to characterise the still relevant ideas of the thinker in the held of education) and critical analysis (to assess the significance of Bolzano's legacy from the standpoint of modern educational theory and to point out what remained out of the researchers' attention).

Results. The study showed that Bolzano's pedagogical ideas were not only in demand in the context of European culture of the early XIX century, but also proved relevant today, especially given the need for harmonious personal development, finding sources of intrinsic motivation in students and improving their logical thinking skills, the importance of the spiritual qualities of the teacher and - in general - the assistance of the state in the direction of the progress of education as the most effective means of qualitative change in society.

Conclusion. Bernardo Bolzano's philosophical conception of education was strongly influenced by religion, the ideas of the late Enlightenment and the late Josefinist. This conception was an integral part of his socio-political theory. Bolzano attached great importance to the study of philosophy and the acquisition of logical skills in education. He considered writing textbooks to be one of the cornerstones of the educational process. This made it possible to intensify communication between teachers and students, to gradually involve everyone in education, and thus to promote social progress in general."
Tapp, Christian. 2019. "Bolzano’s Concept of Divine Infinity." In The Infinity of God: New Perspectives in Theology and Philosophy , edited by Göcke, Benedikt Paul and Tapp, Christian, 150-166. Notre Dame: University of Notre Dame Press.

"Infinity is central to each of the three areas in which Bernard Bolzano (1781–1848) had expertise: mathematics, philosophy, and theology. The Bohemian priest dealt with all the respective concepts in these disciplines: quantitative infinity in mathematics, qualitative infinity in philosophy and theology, and some of their mutual interrelationships.

I focus on “infinite” used as a divine predicate. Since this use of “infinite” is related to a quantitative use in several ways, we will also dwell on these." (p. 150)

(...)

"Divine infinity is an integral part of Bolzano’s concept of God. It is a test case for his broader claim that the concept of quantitative infinity is more basic than all other concepts of infinity; that all meaningful discourse about infinity presupposes quantitative infinity. This thesis from §11 of the Paradoxes of the Infinite must not be understood as reductivist, as though Bolzano would only accept quantitative infinity. He claims only that in each case in which we are entitled to use qualitative concepts of infinity, which are vaguer and more opaque, we must also be able to find aspects of the subject matter that exhibit the more precise quantitative infinity.

Ascribing to Bolzano a formal background conception of infinity as limitlessness or unrestrictedness, as suggested by his treatment of omnipotence, helps us to interpret his doctrine of God in a coherent way.

However, what exactly it means to be unlimited, to suffer from no limitations in a certain respect, remains a topic for further philosophical analysis. Does every conception of “limits” require a metric or at least a

total linear ordering? How can one align such a concept with the mathematical way of speaking, according to which there are unlimited finite magnitudes and also limited infinite magnitudes? Finally, what “respects” are to be considered, in the case of divine infinity, as unrestricted in certain, if not all, respects?" (p. 166)

Studien in Deutsch

Blaukopf, Kurt. 1996. Die Ästhetik Bernard Bolzanos. Begriffskritik, Objektivismus, “echte” Spekulation und Ansätze zum Empirismus . Sankt Augustin: Academia Verlag.

Beiträge zur Bolzano-Forschung: Band 8.

Inhaltsverzeichnis: Vorbemerkung; 1. Bolzanos Verhältnis zu den Künsten; 2. Herbartianer und Bolzanisten; 3. Schwierigkeiten der Bolzano-Rezeption; 4. Echte und unechte Spekulation; 5. Das Schönheitsurteil; 6. Verhältnis zu Herbarts Ästhetik; 7. Begriffliche und empirische Wahrheiten; 8. Kriterien der Einteilung; 9. Pfade zu empirischer Kunstforschung; 10. Künste fürs Ohr; 11. Verbindung von Ton- und Gedankenkunst;

12. Künste fürs Auge; 13. Augen- und Gedankenkunst; 14. Ohren- und Augenkunst vereinigt; 15. Alle drei Hauptgattungen vereinigt; 16. Blick in die Zukunft; Bibliographie; Namensindex.
Ganthaler, Heinrich, and Neumaier, Otto, eds. 1997. Bolzano und die österreichische Geistesgeschichte . Sankt Augustin: Academia Verlag.

Beiträge zur Bolzano-Forschung: Band 6.

Inhaltverzeichnis: Vorwort 7; Wolfgang Künne: "Die Ernte wird erscheinen ... " Die Geschichte der Bolzano-Rezeption (1849-1939) 9; Peter Stachel: Die Bedeutung von Bolzanos "Wissenschaftslehre" ftir die österreichische Philosophiegeschichte. Ein Baustein zu einer Geschichte der pluralistischen Tradition österreichischer Philosophie 83; Edgar Morscher: Robert Zimmermann - der Vermittler von Bolzanos Gedankengut? Zerstörung einer Legende 145; Kurt Blaukopf: Im Geiste Bolzanos und Herbarts. Ansätzeempiristischer Musikforschung in Wien und Prag 237; Kurt F. Strasser: Bewegung und Verwandlung. Arnold Schönberg 265-276.
Ganthaler, Heinrich von, and Simons, Peter. 1987. "Bolzanos kosmologischer Gottesbeweis." Philosophia Naturalis no. 24:469-475.

"In seinem Lehrbuch der Religionswissenschaft kritisiert Bolzano die „Fehlerhaftigkeit eines sehr gewöhnlichen Schlusses für das Daseyn Gottes”, welcher u.a. von der Voraussetzung ausgehe, “daß eine Reihe von Gründen (oder auch von Bedingungen) nie in 's Unendliche fortgehen könne "(1) Wie Bolzano anhand eines Beispiels zeigt, ist diese Voraussetzung jedoch unhaltbar. So liegen auf einer gegebenen, durch die Endpunkte A und B begrenzten Geraden unendlich viele Punkte, die ein Körper, der sich von A nach B bewegt, durchlaufen muß. Sofern das Durchlaufen der einzelnen Punkte zwischen A und B eine notwendige Bedingung dafür ist, daß der Körper in B eintreffen kann, gibt es für das Eintreffen des Körpers in B sehr wohl “eine Reihe von Bedingungen, die in’s Unendliche fortgehen"(2), ungeachtet dessen, daß die Bewegung des Körpers einen Anfang hat.

Bolzano nimmt damit einen der Hauptkritikpunkte an den aristo-telisch-thomasischen Gottesbeweisen vorweg, soweit diese (wie etwa der Bewegungs- oder der Kausalitätsbeweis) auf der erwähnten Voraussetzung der Unmöglichkeit eines unendlichen Regresses beruhen.

Er selbst gibt in seinem Lehrbuch eine durchaus originelle Version des kosmologischen Gottesbeweises, die, wie er eigens hervorhebt(3), von der genannten Voraussetzung unabhängig ist." (S. 469)

(1) Bolzano, Lehrbuch der Religionswissenschaft , I, § 68, p. 179f.

(2) A.a.O., § 68, p0. 181.

(3) A.a.O., § 68, p0. 181.
Künne, Wolfgang. 1996. "Bolzanos Philosophie der Religion und der Moral." Archiv für Geschichte der Philosophie no. 78:309-328.

"Bolzanos Philosophie der Religion hat ihr systematisches Fundament in der Moralphilosophie.

Diese Tatsache wird durch den Aufbau des Lehrbuchs eher verschleiert: Etwa in der Mitte befindet sich ein „Kurzer Abriß der natürlichen Religion"; er besteht aus den Abschnitten „Natürliche Dogmatik" und „Natürliche Moral". Eine theonome Begründung der Moral lehnt Bolzano mit Entschiedenheit ab (247 f.). Religiöse Überzeugungen sind in seinen Augen entweder moralische Überzeugungen, oder sie müssen sich dadurch ausweisen, daß sie der Stabilisierung moralischer Überzeugungen dienen und ihre Motivationskraft verstärken. In dieser Hinsicht konvergiert seine religionsphilosophische Position - auch nach seinem Selbstverständnis - mit der Neologie, die in der zweiten Hälfte des 18. Jahrhunderts die protestantische Theologie weitgehend beherrschte und deren Hauptwerke er schon in seiner Jugendeifrig studiert hatte. Für Neologen wie J. J. Spalding und J. A. Eberhard war von der christlichen Überlieferung nur das verbindlich, was vor dem „moralischen Bewußtsein" Bestand hat und der „geistlichen Aufbesserung" dient; sie erklärten die unter diesem Gesichtspunkt irritierenden Züge des Neuen Testaments als „Akkomodation", als pädagogisch gemeinte Anpassung Jesu und der Apostel an damals verbreitete Vorstellungen, die sie selber gar nicht teilten." (S. 311)
———. 1997. ""Die Ernte wird erscheinen ..." Die Geschichte der Bolzano-Rezeption (1848-1939)." In Bolzano und die österreichische Geistesgeschichte , edited by Ganthaler, Heinrich von and Neumaier, Otto, 9-82. Sank Augustin: Academia Verlag.

Nachdruck: W. Künne, Versuche über Bolzano / Essays on Bolzano , Sankt Augustin: Academia Verlag, 2008, S. 305-404.
———. 2000. "Die Geschichte der philosophischen Bolzano-Rezeption bis 1939." In Bernard Bolzano und die Politik. Staat, Nation und Religion als Herausforderung für die Philosophie im Kontext von Spätaufklärung, Frühnationalismus und Restauration , edited by Rumpler, Helmut, 311-352. Wien: Böhlau.

Beiträge des Bolzano-Symposions der Österreichischen Forschungsgemeinschaft und der Internationalen Bolzano-Gesellschaft 17./18. Dezember 1999, Wien.
———. 2012. "Goethe und Bolzano." In Studien zu Geschichte, Theologie und Wissenschaftsgeschichte , edited by Göttingen, Akademie der Wissenschaften zu, 77-126. Berlin: Walter de Gryter.

Inhalt: Erster Teil: „Ein kleines Werkchen von sehr vorzüglichem Werthe und Geist.“ 79; Zweiter Teil: Böhmische Bewunderer und Kritiker Goethes 89; Schluss: Sinnreiche Sprüche 116; Anhang 1: Faksimile der Titelseite des Erstdrucks 119; Anhang 2: Johann Friedrich Reichardt, ‘Meeresstille’ (1796) 120; Anhang 3: Franz Schubert, ‘Meeres Stille’ (21. Juni 1815) 121; Anhang 4: Aus: Carl Friedrich Zelter, ‘Johanna Sebus von Goethe’ (1810) 122; Bibliographie 123-126.
Künne, Wolfgang, and Piša, Peter. 2018. "Weil ich den kirchlichen sowohl als weltlichen Behörden mißfiel": Bernard Bolzano auf dem Index . Sankt Augustin: Academia Verlag.

Beiträge zur Bolzano-Forschung: Band 28.
Landerer, Christoph. 1993. "Bernard Bolzano, Eduard Hanslick und die Geschichte des Musikasthetischen Objektivismus. Zu einem Kapiterl (Alt)Österreichischer Geistesgeschichte." Kriterion no. 5:16-38.

"Vorbemerkungen

Der allgemeine Trend zur Objektivierung der philosophischen Kunstbetrachtung, der in der ersten Hälfte des 19. Jahrhunderts einsetzt und schließlich zur Ausbildung spezieller phänomenologischer und strukturalistischer Methoden (auf deren grundsätzliche Ähnlichkeit(1). Hroch in einem in dieser Nummervon Kriterion abgedruckten Artikel hinweist) führt, markiert sicherlich einen der geistesgeschichtlich bedeutendsten Einschnitte in der Entwicklung der neuzeitlichen Ästhetik.

Als Gegenbewegung zur subjektivistisch-psychologischen Kunstbetrachtung, die in Gestalt der Affektenlehre das Feld der musikästhetischen Auseinandersetzung noch im 18. und frühen 19. Jahrhundert vollständig dominierte, sind sich sowohl Phänomenologie als auch Strukturalismus darin einig, daß philosophisch-ästhetische und psychologische Betrachtungsweise streng voneinander geschieden werden müssen. Wenn Jan Mukarovsky, das Haupt der tschechischen Strukturalistenschule, betont, daß "das Kunstwerk ... sich weder mit dem Seelenzustand seines Schöpfers noch mit irgendeinem der Seelenzustände identifizieren [läßt], die es bei den Subjekten hervorruft, die es wahrnehmen, wie die psychologische Ästhetik dies wollte" I, so spricht er damit eine Überzeugung aus, der sich auch die Vertreter einer phänomenologisch orientierten Ästhetik verpflichtet fühlen.

Daß die tschechische Variante des Strukturalismus vor allem auch in der Tradition der "Prager ästhetischen Fonnschule" steht, die maßgeblich an Herbart anschließt, wird von Hroch besonders hervorgehoben. Ich möchte hier versuchen zu zeigen, daß die formal-objektive Betrachtungsweise, die in der Ästhetik meist mit dem Namen Herbarts verbunden wird und sich in Österreich durch die offizielle Förderung der Herbartsehen Philosophie auf besondere Weise entfalten konnte, daneben aber auch eine bedeutende und meines Wissens völlig übergangene spezifisch österreichische, ja sogar Prager Wurzel hat, die sich über Vermittlung der sicherlich einflußreichsten musikästhetischen Schrift des 19. Jahrhunderts, Eduard Hanslieks Vom Musikalisch-Schönen, auf den Objekivismus Bemard Bolzanos zurückfuhren läßt und damit die formalästhetische Betrachtung direkt mit der Tradition phänomenologischer Forschung verbindet." (S. 16)

(1) J. Mukarosky, Die Kunst als semiologischesFaktum . In: Kapitel aus der Asthetik . Frankfurt/M. 1970. s. 138.
———. 2004. Eduard Hanslick und Bernard Bolzano. Ästhetisches Denken in Österreich in der Mitte des 19. Jahrhunderts . Sankt Augustin: Academia Verlag.

Beiträge zur Bolzano-Forschung: Band 17.

Inhaltsverzeichnis: Vorwort; 1. Einführung in die Problemstellung; 2. Zur Forschungsgeschichte der Problemstellung: Hanslick, Bolzano und Prag; 3. Biographische Berührungspunkte: Hanslicks bolzanistisches Umfeld; 4. „Vom Musikalisch-Schönen“: Eduard Hanslicks Ästhetik im Überblick; 5. Begriff und Klassifikation des Schönen: Bernard Bolzanos Ästhetik im Überblick; 6. Hanslick und Bolzano: Der gemeinsame theoretische Boden; 7. VMS und die logisierende Tradition in der österreichischen Philosophie: Einige abschließende Bemerkungen; Literaturverzeichnis; Personenregister.
Löffler, Winfried. 1999. "Bolzanos kosmologischer Gottesbeweis im historischen und systematischen Vergleich." In Bernard Bolzanos geistiges Erbe für da 21. Jahrhundert , edited by Morscher, Edgar, 295-316. Sankt Augustin: Academia Verlag.

"Allgemeines zu Bolzanos Gottesbeweis(en)

An zumindest vier Stellen finden sich bei Bolzano Varianten eines kosmologischen Gottesbeweises(1), die sich im Grundgedanken zwar ähneln, in den Prämissen, der Weise der Ableitungen und der Stärke der Konklusion aber unterschiedlich ausfallen:

- in Teil I, § 67 des Lehrbuchs der Religionswissenschaft (RW ) von 1834,

- auf S.101r und den folgenden in der 1818 der Studienhofkommission zur Prüfung vorgelegten Abschrift der RW ,

- in Anmerkung 73 auf S. 321-326 der 2. Auflage der Athanasia (Bolzano(9a)) von 1838,

- und (wenngleich nur in der Verwendung als Beispiel) in § 330 der Wissenschaftslehre (WL) von 1837.

Daneben läßt Bolzano in RW I, § 83 auch eine Form des physikotheologischen Arguments gelten, ordnet ihm allerdings nur sekundäre Bedeutung zu: Es "bestätigt" das Dasein und die Eigenschaften Gottes aus der Erfahrung, die vorher "durch eine Reihe apriorischer Schlüsse" aufgewiesen wurden.

(...)

Die folgenden Überlegungen widmen sich zunächst den denkgeschichtlichen Hintergründen von Bolzanos kosmologischem Gottesbeweis, insbesondere seinem Verhältnis zu ähnlichen Argumentationsweisen

innerhalb der scholastischen Tradition (Kapitel 2 und 3). Eine bis zur Halbformalisierung gehende Analyse einer der erhaltenen Versionen des Beweises und der ihm vorausgeschickten Hilfssätze (Kapitel 4 und 5) läßt zwei systematisch-philosophisch interessante Punkte an Bolzanos Beweis deutlicher hervortreten, nämlich die Rolle, die ein "Inbegriff" (nämlich der der Welt) in dem Beweis spielt, und Bolzanos (erst aus der Zusammennahme verschiedener Texte erhebbare) Begründung der Einzigkeit Gottes (Kapitel 6)." (Ss. 295-296)

(1) Ich verwende das Wort Gottes-"Beweis" hier in dem allgemeinen Sinne der Entfaltung von mittelbaren Erkenntnisgründen für Gottes Existenz.

Nicht beansprucht wird damit, daß die Prämissen der jeweiligen "Beweise" allgemein akzeptiert seien, und auch nicht, daß die logische Gültigkeit der erwähnten "Beweise" fraglos gegeben sei. Aus logischer Sicht handelt es sich also eher um "Ableitungen" bzw. überhaupt nur um "Argumente für die Existenz Gottes"; aus Gründen der Kürze verwende ich jedoch öfters das Wort "Gottesbeweis(e)".

Literatur

Bolzano, Bernard.

(9) Athanasia oder Gründe für die Unsterblichkeit der Seele (Sulzbach: Seidel, 1827).

(9a) 2. verbesserte Ausgabe (Sulzbach: Seidel, 1838).

(16) Lehrbuch der Religionswissenschaft , 4 Bde. (Sulzbach: Seidel, 1834). [Zitiert als 'RW ' mit römischer Bandzahl und Angabe der Paragraphen nach der Originalausgabe von 1834.]

(16d) Kritische Neuausgabe , Erster Te il, §§ 1-85, hg. von Jaromfr Loufü (Stuttgart-Bad Cannstatt: Frommann-Holzboog, 1994). [In: GA , Reihe I, Bd. 6, 1. Teil.]

(19) Wissenschaftslehre , 4 Bde. (Sulzbach: Seidel, 1837). [Zitiert als 'WL' mit römischer Bandzahl und Angabe der Paragraphen.]
———. 1999. "Bolzanos Lehrbuch der Religionswissenschaft und die Schultheologien seiner Zeit." In Bernard Bolzanos geistiges Erbe für da 21. Jahrhundert , edited by Morscher, Edgar, 317-344. Sankt Augustin: Academia Verlag.

"Das Hauptdokument für Bolzanos religionsphilosophische und theologische Auffassungen, sein Lehrbuch der Religionswissenschaft (im folgenden: RW ) von 1834 enthält keine "Religionswissenschaft" im heutigen Sinne einer vorwiegend deskriptiv-empirischen Darstellung verschiedener Religionen sowie ihrer Unterschiede und gemeinsamen Züge, sondern eine Wissenschaftstheorie der Theologie, eine Religionsphilosophie und - im Großteil des Werkes - systematische Theologie: Fundamentaltheologie, Dogmatik und Moraltheologie, wie man im Sinne der heute gängigen Klassifikation sagen würde. Wenngleich manche Passagen in dem mehrbändigen Werk aus heutiger Sicht eher ermüdend wirken, dürfte in der RW doch einiges von theologie-, und hier vor allem rezeptionsgeschichtlichem Interesse verborgen sein, vor allem aber enthält das Buch etliche Stücke origineller analytischer Religionsphilosophie auf höchstem Niveau, die auch für heutige Fragestellungen ein gewisses Interesse haben könnten.

In den nachfolgenden Kapiteln widme ich mich zunächst werkgeschichtlichen (Kapitel 1) und systematischen Fragen (Kapitel 2 und 3) zu Bolzanos Religionsphilosophie; abschließend verfolge ich einige denkgeschichtliche Spuren zurück zu einem bisher eher wenig beachteten Quellenbereich, nämlich der Studienliteratur, die Bolzano wahrscheinlich verwendet hat, d.h. zu einigen theologischen Lehrbüchern aus dem theresianisch-josephinischen Österreich (Kapitel 4 )." (S. 317)
———, ed. 2002. Bernard Bolzanos Religionsphilosophie und Theologie . Sankt Augustin: Academia Verlag.

Beiträge zur Bolzano-Forschung: Band 12.

Inhaltverzeichnis: Eberhard Herrmann: Die Kognitivität des Glaubens in Bolzanos Religionsphilosophie bezogen auf die Realismusdebatte in der neueren analytischen Religionsphilosophie; Edgar Morscher: Bolzanos Logik der Religion; Carsten Gieske: Grundlagen und religionsphilosophische Aspekte der Hermeneutik Bernard Bolzanos; Peter Walter: Bolzanos Konzeption vom Aufbau der Theologie im historischen Vergleich; Wolfgang Künne: Die theologischen Gutachten in den Verfahren gegen den Professor und den Priester Bolzano; Henning Graf Reventlow: Ein orthodoxer Liberaler: Bolzano und die Bibel: Peter M. Schenkel: Theologische und religionsphilosophische Literatur in Bolzanos Privatbibliothek; Winfried Löffler: Neues zu Bolzanos Gottesbeweisen; Andrej Krause: Was bleibt von der menschlichen Seele nach dem Tod? Bolzanos Antwort in der Athanasia ; Gottfried Hornig: Zur Dogmatik und Perfektibilitätstheorie Bolzanos; Roman A. Siebenrock: Bolzano und die Unfehlbarkeit der Kirche. Zur Struktur einer theologischen Position vor 1870; Kurt Strasser: Wohlthätige Gährung im Schooße der Kirche. Zur Dynamik der Ansichten des Katecheten Bernard Bolzano.
Morscher, Edgar, and Neumaier, Otto, eds. 1996. Bolzanos Kampf gegen Nationalismus und Rassismus . Sankt Augustin: Academia Verlag.

Beiträge zur Bolzano-Forschung: Band 4.

Inhaltverzeichnis: Vorwort; Bernard Bolzano: Erbauungsreden gegen Nationalismus und Rassismus; 1. Über das Verhältniß der beiden Volksstämme in Böhmen; 2. Von dem Betragen gegen die jüdische Nation; 3. Über die Vaterlandsliebe; Eduard Winter: Bernard Bolzano und die nationale Frage; Wolfgang Künne: Bernard Bolzano über Nationalismus und Rassismus in Böhmen.
Neumaier, Otto. 2011. "Bolzanos schönere Welt, oder: Die Geburt der Utopie aus dem systematischen Denken." In Bernard Bolzanos bessere Welt. Akten der Internationalen Tagung Salzburg 27. und 28. Mai 2010 , edited by Strasser, Kurt F., 135-172. Prague: L. Marek.

"Wer mit Bolzanos Philosophie vertraut ist, erwartet bei der Rede von einer Utopie wohl am ehesten, dass sein »Büchlein vom besten Staate« Gegenstand der Diskussion ist.(1) Tatsächlich können wir in diesem Werk utopisches Denken im Sinne des Entwurfs einer idealen Gesellschaft finden, die de facto in keinem Land der Welt existiert, aber unter bestimmten Bedingungen vielleicht verwirklicht werden könnte. Allerdings müssen wir einerseits bedenken, dass der Utopie »Vom besten Staate« eine moralische Haltung zugrunde liegt, die mit anders ausgerichteten utopischen Überlegungen in Konflikt geraten kann, andererseits aber, dass das Utopische für Bolzanos Denken auch in anderem Sinne von Bedeutung ist, nämlich dem des theoretischen Bemühens um die Feststellung oder Bestimmung eines idealen Begriffs von etwas, das uns nicht nur ein besseres Verständnis davon erlaubt, sondern auch die Möglichkeit eröffnet, praktisch im Sinne der Suche nach einer »besseren Welt« zu wirken." (s. 135)

(1) Bolzano schrieb am Büchlein vom besten Staate, oder Gedanken eines Menschenfreundes über die zweckmäßigste Einrichtung der bürgerlichen Gesellschaft über etliche Jahre: Eine erste Fassung lag 1831 vor, die endgültige Fassung entstand zwischen 1840 und 1846, wurde aber erst 1932 als Band 3 der Schriften Bolzanos veröffentlicht; die maßgebliche Ausgabe von Jaromír Loužil erschien in: Bernard Bolzano, Sozialphilosophische Schriften , hg. von Jan Berg und Jaromír Loužil (BGA, Reihe II A, Bd. 14), Stuttgart‐Bad Cannstatt: Frommann–Holzboog, 1975, 7–144.
Rumpler, Helmut, ed. 2000. Bernard Bolzano und die Politik. Staat, Nation und Religion als Herausforderung für die Philosophie im Kontext von Spätaufklärung, Frühnationalismus und Restauration . Wien: Böhlau.

Inhalt: Elemente der politischen Philosophie Bolzanos; Rudolf Haller: Bolzano und die Entwicklung der österreichischen Philosophie; Margret Friedric:h, Bolzanos Projekt der Aufklärung. "Was zur Herbeiführung einer besseren Zeit schon durch uns selbst geleistet werden könne"; Kurt Strasser: Cabale und Liebe. Der politische Gehalt der "Erbauungsreden" Bolzanos Konflikt mit der österreichischen Restaurationspolitik; Günther Kronenbitter: "Freiheit" und "Ordnung" bei Friedrich von Gentz; Rolf Decot, Klemens Maria Hofbauer - Konservativer Erneuerer der Kirche in Österreich; Jane Regenfelder: Der sogenannte "Bolzano-Prozeß" Bolzano und die nationalliberale Bewegung im österreichischen Vormärz; Jaromir Louzil: Bernard Bolzano, Josef Jungmann und die Anfänge der tschechischen Nationalbewegung; Manfried Welan: Bolzanos Lehre vom Staat Internationale Wirkungen Bolzanos; Katrin Keller: Zur politischen Relevanz des Bolzanismus in Sachsen: Das Beispiel des Hofpredigers Emil Heine (1808-1873); Wolfgang Künne: Bolzano im Kontext der politischen Philosophie des 19. Jahrhunderts.

Bernard Bolzano. Annotated Bibliography on His Practical Philosophy

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