Extension of Science to New Audiences

1
Extension of Science to New Audiences

• The German situation Compared to the British and
  French

2
Popular science and general culture in
Britain, France, Germany

• Will concentrate on German developments with just
  a few references to what you read about Britain
  a few comments on France
• Science promoted among political leadership in
  France but most non-elite persons interested in
  science more interested in applications to
  society. Literature and lectures on scientific
  topics heavily shaped by elite.
• In Britain, except for small working class
  movementsscience intended for middle and lower
  classes was closely tied to traditional religion
  and politics. Major role for natural theology.

3
German politics and philosophy in the early 19th
century

• First decade, Romantic nationalism dominates
  universities student movements push is for
  unification
• Rise of patriotic societies --i.e.,Tugenbund
  (1808), Deutsche Bund, (1810) gymnastics
  societies (Turngeselschaften (first in 1811),
  singing societies, college fraternities
  (Burschenschaften)

4
German politics -2

• But after defeat of Napoleon c 1813 local
  nobility reasserts itself 1815 Congress of
  Vienna, religiously and politically conservative
  princedoms (39 of largest most powerful)
  confederate under Prince Klemens von Metternich
• Traditional nobility confirmed in feudal rights
  over peasantry, courts, etc.
• No political unification
• Church nationalized, clergy made civil servants
  paid by state discuss Lutheran history

5
German politics philosophy -3-

• Student led opposition
• 1817 festival near Jena
• Metternichs response Karlsbad Conference 1819
• Outlaws fraternities, gymnastics societies
• Establishes police surveillance in universities
• Forbids political speech by faculty leads to
  dismissal of some including Oken
• 1832 Hambach festival - 25,000 people
• Confederation outlaws public assemblies not
  authorized by established authorities
• Rescinds rights of local princes to extend
  citizen rights
• Regulates speech of both students and faculty
  more severely

6
German politics philosophy -4-

• Many faculty dismissed some band together to
  establish newspapers to push limits of liberal
  expression 1 of these, Die Rheinische Zeitung
  für Politik, Handel, und Gewerbe (Politics Trade
  and Industry), hires young philosophy grad , Karl
  Marx, as editor.
• Because Idealist philosophy, traditional
  religion, and political conservatism and
  Naturphilosophie generally went together, student
  rebellion generally became materialist, heterodox
  or atheistic, liberal to radical in politics

7
German economy

• Early in century ag productivity soars, but
  little urban industrial work available ( as late
  as 1847, only .2 of population working in
  factories).
• Unemployed move to towns where they drive income
  of traditionally comfortable well educated
  artisan class down drastically.
• Symbol of problems Silesian Weaverss Uprising
  in 1844 wages down from barely livable 10
  groshen/day to 1.5 malnutrition, etc. leads to
  Luddite type revoltPrussian response 11 dead, 24
  wounded, over 100 imprisoned increased
  radicalization of students.

8
Feuerbach Strauss -1-

• The politically liberal, anti-idealist,
  anti-traditional religionist sentiments of
  students are focused by the writings of David
  Stauss and Ludwig Feuerbach, both theology
  students who turned to materialist philosophy and
  away from traditional religion.
• Strauss turns to science to undermine traditional
  Genesis story of creation in 6 days (ms 5.12)

9
Feuerbach

• B. 1804, father a distinguished judge in Bavaria
• Studies theology at Heidelberg, but becomes
  interested in Hegalian Idealist philosophy goes
  to Berlin
• Radicalized when brother and he (probably
  wrongly) accused of being members of a secret
  student society. Ludwig denied admission to
  university for several months, brother
  imprisoned, attempts suicide- becomes fascinated
  with radical French materialist philosopher
  Claude Helvetius --finished studies becomes
  Privatdozent at Erlangen

10
Feuerbach -2-

• 1830 published Thoughts on Death and Immortality
  contains germ of all later work
• Heaven and notion of immortality a
  representation or symbol of our search for
  perfection in life.
• If taken literally, they distract from the
  reality of mortality (which is well established
  by empirical studies of organisms.)
• Only by recognizing non-literal meaning can
  humanity concentrate on itself, its world, and
  its present with all of its heart and soul.

11
Feuerbach -3-

• For Feuerbach reason for religion is to help
  people cope with their lives here and now the
  established church interferes, rather than helps
• (use ms 5.20-5.21)
• Leads him to opposition to idealism into what
  he called sensual materialism
• (use passage from The Essence of Christianity
  (1843) 5.17-5.18)

12
Popular science scientific materialism

• 3 men, Carl Vogt, Jacob Moleschott, and Ludwig
  Büchner, collectively write 63 popular science
  books and over 1000 articles in popular journals
  such as Die Natur (Nature a journal for
  disseminating scientific knowledge to readers of
  all classes), founded, 1852, and Jarhundert
  Zeitschrift für Politik und Literatur, founded,
  1856.
• All 3 major popularizers of science in mid 19th
  century Germany start from Feuerbachs secular
  humanist materialist philosophy but claim (and
  probably believe) it is the natural outgrowth of
  their scientific investigations.

13
Popular science -2-

• 2 have physician/academic fathers and family
  members persecuted for liberal views. All do work
  in physiology
• Vogts father taught at Giessen, lost job in 1834
  because of associating with wrong people ended
  up teaching in Zurich Hochshule. Vogt himself
  exiled to Paris for helping a student escape
  police. Exists by writing science articles for
  Allgemeine Zeitung, science texts, and popular
  science books.
• Büchners brother Alexander, charged with treason
  for meeting with suspected radicals in London
  could never return to Germany.
• Moleschott actually studies with Feuerbach in
  Heidelberg

14
Kraft und Stoff

• Most successful of all 19th century popular
  science works before 1890s, Ludwig Büchnerss
  Force and matter --19 German editions before
  1900 translated into 17 languages I have
  used 12th American edition ( )
• Characteristics openly not incidentally anti
  idealist and anti religious perspective often
  called scientific naturalism

15
Kraft und Stoff -2

• the view of nature resting on empirical
  philosophy must result in banning every form of
  supernaturalism or idealism from what may be
  called the hermeneutics of natural facts, and in
  looking upon these facts as wholly independent
  of the influence of any external power
  dissociated from matter. There seems to us no
  doubt about the ultimate victory of this
  realistic philosophy over its antagonists.

16
Kraft und Stoff -3-

• Tremendous optimism regarding the human capacity
  to know and regarding the social benefits of that
  knowledge (5.29)
• Law of Conservation of Energy taken to imply
  that, The universe, or matter, with its
  properties, conditions, or movements, which we
  name forces, must have existed from eternity, or,
  - in other words the universe cannot have been
  created. --doesnt consider the possibility
  that conservation laws might have come into
  existence with the universe thus could not
  serve as constraint on an act of creation.

17
Kraft Stoff -4-

• Spirit, or soul, or psyche taken to be an
  emergent property of matter following Cabanis
  via Vogt.
• not only physical, but psychical energies inhere
  in matter the latter always become manifest
  whenever matter is arranged in a certain manner
  and moved in a certain way in the brain or
  nervous system. --anti dualist --
• This position taken up by Haeckel and Ostwald
  made the foundation of the Monist religion.

18
Kraft und Stoff -5-

• Asked how mental phenomena are caused by
  physical processes he appeals to a Positivist
  principle derived from Newton
• How and why the atoms, nerve cells, or, so to
  speak generally, matter, began to produce and
  bring forth sensation and consciousness, is quite
  unimportant for the purpose of our
  investigations It is sufficient to know that
  such is the case.

19
Kraft und Stoff -6-

• Anti teleological before Darwin sets stage
  for German relative enthusiasm for natural
  selection.
• Begins from Helmholtzs analyses of the
  imperfections of the human optical system
• It becomes perfectly obvious that Nature does
  not act from conscious design or plan, but obeys
  blind necessity she necessarily calls into life
  and being a number of things which must appear to
  us if we judge only by the standard of fitness
  as utterly perverse, useless, absurd, and
  imperfect.

20
Kraft und Stoff -7-

• Against the purposivelessness of the universe
  Büchner sets the views of Feuerbach, the
  philosopher, par excellance of emancipated and
  self-contained humanity, who finds purpose in the
  human attempt to realize its own ideal self.

21
Other Materialisms

• Worth noting when Vogt, Moleschott and Büchner
  began writing I know of no major German scientist
  who accepted all of their views. But they did
  spread through young recruits to science i.e.
  Haeckel
• Most common form of materialism I would call
  tactical materialism, others call organic
  physics example Herman von Helmholtz use
  knowledge of physics to explain what one can but
  admit that one does not know if it will be able
  to explain everything.
• Other important form emerges after mid-century
  dialectical materialism of Marx and Engels.

22
German popular science --summary

• Probably true that very few German practicing
  scientists were either full fledged materialists
  or full fledged Idealists in mid- 19th century.
• But because overwhelming emphasis in popular
  science linked science with materialism and
  opposition to traditional religion this was the
  general message that the German public and those
  who read translations of popular works received.
• Very different from dominant British emphasis.