MACH, ERNST. - German physicist and philosopher, b. at Tufany (Moravia) on 18 Feb. 1838, d. at Haar (Munich) on 19 Feb. 1916. He taught physics at the University of Graz and at Prague, and philosophy at Vienna. Famous for his "empiriocriticism," he is the initiator and principal representative of the modern critique of science.
Principal works: Die Mechanik in ihrer Entwicklung historisch-kritisch dargestellt (Leipzig 1883; Italian trans. by D. Gambioli, Rome 1908); Populärwissenschaftliche Vorlesungen (ibid. 1896; Italian trans. by A. Bongioanni, Turin 1900); Die Analyse der Empfindungen, etc. (Jena 1900; Italian trans. by A. Vaccaro and C. Cessi, Turin 1903); Erkenntnis und Irrtum (Leipzig 1905; French trans. by M. Dufour, Paris 1908).
A pure positivist and empiricist, M. reduces reality to sensation and denies any reality beyond experience. Science has purely practical value, as a means of adaptation in the struggle for life; and the use of concepts and language, the scientific method, the formation of physical laws and hypotheses, are due exclusively to the principle of economy by which every individual seeks to spare himself the greatest possible number of direct experiences with the help of mental representations and symbols. However, the hypotheses that introduce metaphysical or physical entities, e.g. atomic theories and mechanism, must be rejected. Science limits itself to the description of facts and the enunciation of laws; and these hold as simple restrictions that, guided by experience, are prescribed for the expectation of phenomena. Moreover, M. escapes the skeptical consequences of Humian empiricism insofar as he makes sensation itself an absolute and, therefore, science a metaphysics of sensations.
Bibliography5 works
Filippo Selvaggi