D O C . 3 8 5 A P R I L 1 9 2 0 3 2 1 to give you a brief sketch of what life has held in store for me. I was born on 14 Dec. 1852 in Prague, come from an old German family, was habilitated in philos- ophy in 1882 at the University of Leipzig and was appointed here E[xtraordinary] Professor in 1889 in that discipline. Since I drew no salary, however, and had no prospect of obtaining a full professorship, for Wundt[3] was my opponent, and fur- thermore my small inheritance was almost depleted, I had no alternative but enter the Austrian secondary school system in the fall of 1898. I became a teacher at the German preparatory school in Görz [Gorizia].[4] From there I had to flee [to] Italy at the outbreak of war my wife had already left earlier. During the war we lost all our furniture, and I lost my entire private library (about 1000 vols.) as well. In 1918 the defeat came and made me jobless, because Görz fell to Italy.[5] I duly received my salary as a grant-in-aid from the Austro-German government and was regis- tered for reemployment. Nevertheless, I could not find a position and upon renewed petition was dismissed with the explanation that, having exceeded the age limit (which, however, only starts at age 70), I could not be engaged at all anymore. Thus my very livelihood and that of my wife were placed in jeopardy and any further possibility of working academically was destroyed. I am living here in Zwettl, a re- mote country town, with my wife in a small furnished room and an even smaller kitchen in the simplest circumstances, but would be subjected to the direst need if I were not receiving a small pension from the Austrian government, for my entire wealth consists of a sixth part of a building in a remote district of Prague. After thus having been employed for 16 years at the University of Leipzig and 20 years in the Austrian school system, I am being robbed of any possibility of a livelihood and scholarly occupation. That is why I turn to you for advice and help, considering that I had, in a sense, been engaged for 16 years in the civil service in Germany and my intellectual efforts have been acknowledged at least among professional circles, particularly my Grundlagen einer Erkenntnistheorie [Foundations of an Epistemo- logical Theory], Reproduktion, Gefühl und Wille [Reproduction, Emotion and the Will], Das menschliche Glück und die soziale Frage [Human Happiness and the Social Issue], Die menschliche Erziehung [Human Upbringing], and many papers.[6] I have also finished a quite comprehensive work in which I also treat the epistemology of science and argue the relativistic stance. Above all, of course, I would seek a position that allowed me to continue my research and scholarly activ- ities. If you could possibly do something for me or give me some advice, I would be very much obliged to you.[7] With utmost respect, yours sincerely, Schubert-Soldern.
Previous Page Next Page