Alois Höfler
Austrian philosopher and psychologist
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Alois Höfler (German: [ˈhøːflɐ]; April 6, 1853 – February 26, 1922) was an Austrian philosopher and university professor of education. He was seen by the logical positivist Otto Neurath as an important link between Bernard Bolzano's work and the Vienna Circle.
Biography
Alois Höfler was born in Kirchdorf in Upper Austria. His father and mother died while he was in his early and middle teens. He and his two younger sisters were then raised by a second mother, Amalie Boheim.[1] He had four sons with his wife Auguste Dornhöffer,[2] including Otto Höfler.[3]
In the fall of 1871, Höfler entered the University of Vienna where he studied mathematics and physics with Ludwig Boltzmann and Josef Stefan.[4] After his teaching examination in 1876 at the age of 23, he taught in the Josefstädter-gymnasium and other gymnasiums (advanced secondary schools) in Vienna.[1][5] He received his doctoral degree at Vienna in 1885,[2][6] under Alexius Meinong's remote supervision,[7][8] with a thesis titled Some Laws of Incompatibility between Judgments (Einige Gesetze der Unverträglichkeiten zwischen Urteilen).[2][6] He received his habilitation at Vienna in 1894[7] with a thesis titled Psychic Work (Psychische Arbeit).[9][6]
During the 1870s and 1880s Höfler also attended evening classes taught by Franz Brentano and Meinong. His philosophical view was strongly influenced by Meinong. From 1881 to 1903 he taught mathematics, physics and philosophical propaedeutics at the grammar school of the Theresian Academy in Vienna.[6] He became professor of philosophy and pedagogy at the German University of Prague in 1903 (as successor to Otto Willmann) and at the University of Vienna in 1907 (as successor to Theodor Vogt).[10][11]
His increasing interest in philosophy and in making it more scientific led him to study and write increasingly on logic and psychology as well. In the opinion of the ardent logical positivist Otto Neurath, through his involvement in the School of Brentano, Höfler was an important connection between the work on logic of Bernard Bolzano and the Vienna Circle.[12][13] In 1914, he reprinted the 77 years old Bolzano's Theory of Science, which was said to be almost impossible to find at the time.[14] He also loved music, poetry, and the arts. He strongly opposed attempting to reduce their role in schools.[2]
Höfler died in Vienna.