his philosophy as an attempt to define and secure the objectivity of knowledge.10 Moreover, by adopting Kant’s critical method, but rejecting his frugal epistemology - which Hägerström incidentally calls solipsism11- Hägerström effects his own Copernican revolution of Kantian philosophy. For by accepting a critical method and a nontranscendental epistemology Hägerström makes the scientific task positive, in contrast to Kant’s negative definition, and empirical without lapsing into realism or nihilism which eventually describes Hägerström’s overriding goal - to save object sciences from formalistic solipsism.12 Alternatively, as Hägerström writes in1908, science must balance between facts and hypotheses, empiricism and “scholasticism”, as facts and empiricism guarantee truth, while hypotheses and “scholasticism” guarantee formal coherency. However, of primary importance is to fixate the concepts.13 In Hägerström’s early career, his philosophy shows a marked idealistic (transcendentalist) influence.14 Given the circumstances, this is a fact that can be attributed to the heavy dominance of idealistic philosophy in Swedish 19th Century academic life, particularly prevalent in Uppsala where Hägerström studied.The philosophy taught in Uppsala when Hägerström was a student at the university was based upon the highly speculative metaphysical idealism of Professor Christopher Jacob Boström (1797-1866).15 According to Ernst Logren (1888-1944), Hägerström was heavily a ca l l f o r s c i e n t i f i c p u r i t y 39 10 Hägerström, Selbstdarstellungen, pp. 1-4. 11 Ibid., p. 2. 12 See, e.g., Hägerström, Das Prinzip derWissenschaft. Eine logisch-erkenntnisteoretische Untersuchung. I. Die Realität, pp. 8-9. 13 Hägerström,“I moralpsykologiska frågor II,” review of Kristian Birch-Reichenwald Aars: Gut und Böse. Zur Psychologie der Moralgefühle (Christiania 1907), Psyke. Tidskrift för psykologisk forskning 3 (1908): pp. 90 and 98-99. 14 Logren, Huvuddragen av Hägerströms filosofi, pp. 6-9.And, e.g.,Hägerström’s early works Hägerström, Om filosofiens betydelse för människan; Kants Ethik imVerhältnis zu seinen erkenntnistheoretischen Grundgedanken; Stat och rätt: en rättsfilosofisk undersökning: 1. 15 Phalén, “Die Wissenschaft der Gegenwart in Selbstdarstellungen: Adolf Phalén,” in Mindre arbeten, p. 311.
RkJQdWJsaXNoZXIy MjYyNDk=