Adolf Stohr.

Background

Stohr., Adolf was born on February 24, 1855 in St Polten, Austria.

Education

Finished school in Vienna 1873. Studied first at the Faculty of Law, and then Classical and Modern Philology, Chemistry and Botany. Attended lectures at the Medical Faculty, and later turned to Philosophy.

Received his PhD, with summa cum Iciude in 1880.

Career

Lecturer in Theoretical Philosophy. 1885-1901; 1901, Associate Professor. 1911, Full Professor of Philosophy for Inductive Sciences, in succession to the Chair of Mach and Boltzmann.

Views

The basis of Stöhr's ‘psychologisierende Logik' is the distinction between the form of thinking and the form of language. When mixing up these two forms, our thinking turns into a ‘glossomorphic’ form. The reason for the glossomorphic use of language is grounded in a shortness of vocabulary which makes the use of metaphor necessary. Stöhr’s language resulted in a distinction between philosophy as sciences and metaphysics, which aims at becoming a science but is doomed to fail. Metaphysics, a field between science and arts, may thus satisfy the need to construct allcomprising pictures of worlds. There exist iworlds' and uncountable ‘Thou-worlds'. Stöhr warns that the psychological T may be confused by a fiction of a mental subject.

Interests

• Philosophy of language. Philosophy of science. Psychology.