Leonard Nelson (; ; 11 July 1882 – 29 October 1927), sometimes spelt Leonhard, was a German

mathematician A mathematician is someone who uses an extensive knowledge of mathematics in their work, typically to solve mathematical problems. Mathematicians are concerned with numbers, data, quantity, mathematical structure, structure, space, Mathematica ...

, critical philosopher, and

socialist Socialism is an economic ideology, economic and political philosophy encompassing diverse Economic system, economic and social systems characterised by social ownership of the means of production, as opposed to private ownership. It describes ...

. He was part of the

neo-Friesian school In late modern philosophy, neo-Kantianism () was a revival of the 18th-century philosophy of Immanuel Kant. The neo-Kantians sought to develop and clarify Kant's theories, particularly his concept of the thing-in-itself and his ethics, moral phil ...

(named after post-Kantian philosopher

Jakob Friedrich Fries Jakob Friedrich Fries (; ; 23 August 1773 – 10 August 1843) was a German post-Kantian Terry Pinkard, ''German Philosophy 1760-1860: The Legacy of Idealism'', Cambridge University Press, 2002, pp. 199–212. philosopher and mathematician. Bio ...

) of

neo-Kantianism In late modern philosophy, neo-Kantianism () was a revival of the 18th-century philosophy of Immanuel Kant. The neo-Kantians sought to develop and clarify Kant's theories, particularly his concept of the thing-in-itself and his moral philosophy ...

and a friend of the mathematician

David Hilbert David Hilbert (; ; 23 January 1862 – 14 February 1943) was a German mathematician and philosopher of mathematics and one of the most influential mathematicians of his time. Hilbert discovered and developed a broad range of fundamental idea ...

. He devised the Grelling–Nelson paradox in 1908 and the related idea of autological words with Kurt Grelling. Nelson subsequently became influential in both philosophy and mathematics, as his close contacts with scientists and mathematicians influenced their ideas. Despite dying earlier than many of his friends and assistants, his ISK organization lived on after his death, even after being banned by the

Nazi Regime Nazi Germany, officially known as the German Reich and later the Greater German Reich, was the German state between 1933 and 1945, when Adolf Hitler and the Nazi Party controlled the country, transforming it into a totalitarian dictat ...

in 1933. It is even claimed that

Albert Einstein Albert Einstein (14 March 187918 April 1955) was a German-born theoretical physicist who is best known for developing the theory of relativity. Einstein also made important contributions to quantum mechanics. His mass–energy equivalence f ...

supported it. He's also credited with popularizing the

Socratic method The Socratic method (also known as the method of Elenchus or Socratic debate) is a form of argumentative dialogue between individuals based on asking and answering questions. Socratic dialogues feature in many of the works of the ancient Greek ...

in his book ''Die sokratische Methode'' (''The Socratic Method'').

Life

Early life and education

Leonard Nelson was the son of

lawyer A lawyer is a person who is qualified to offer advice about the law, draft legal documents, or represent individuals in legal matters. The exact nature of a lawyer's work varies depending on the legal jurisdiction and the legal system, as w ...

Heinrich Nelson (1854–1929) and

artist An artist is a person engaged in an activity related to creating art, practicing the arts, or demonstrating the work of art. The most common usage (in both everyday speech and academic discourse) refers to a practitioner in the visual arts o ...

Elisabeth Lejeune Dirichlet (1860–1920). His mother was the granddaughter of mathematician

Peter Gustav Lejeune Dirichlet Johann Peter Gustav Lejeune Dirichlet (; ; 13 February 1805 – 5 May 1859) was a German mathematician. In number theory, he proved special cases of Fermat's last theorem and created analytic number theory. In analysis, he advanced the theory o ...

and descendant of

Jewish Jews (, , ), or the Jewish people, are an ethnoreligious group and nation, originating from the Israelites of History of ancient Israel and Judah, ancient Israel and Judah. They also traditionally adhere to Judaism. Jewish ethnicity, rel ...

philosopher

Moses Mendelssohn Moses Mendelssohn (6 September 1729 – 4 January 1786) was a German-Jewish philosopher and theologian. His writings and ideas on Jews and the Jewish religion and identity were a central element in the development of the ''Haskalah'', or 'J ...

. Nelson was baptised as a

Protestant Protestantism is a branch of Christianity that emphasizes Justification (theology), justification of sinners Sola fide, through faith alone, the teaching that Salvation in Christianity, salvation comes by unmerited Grace in Christianity, divin ...

at the age of five on 13 June 1887. Nelson studied at Französisches Gymnasium Berlin, where mathematics and science were not a focus of the curriculum. He was therefore privately tutored by mathematician Gerhard Hessenberg (1874–1925), and began reading the works of philosophers

Immanuel Kant Immanuel Kant (born Emanuel Kant; 22 April 1724 – 12 February 1804) was a German Philosophy, philosopher and one of the central Age of Enlightenment, Enlightenment thinkers. Born in Königsberg, Kant's comprehensive and systematic works ...

, and Ernst Friedrich Apelts, which began to spark his interest in philosophy. In 1901, Nelson studied mathematics and philosophy at

Heidelberg University Heidelberg University, officially the Ruprecht Karl University of Heidelberg (; ), is a public research university in Heidelberg, Baden-Württemberg, Germany. Founded in 1386 on instruction of Pope Urban VI, Heidelberg is Germany's oldest unive ...

for a short period of time before going to Friedrich Wilhelm University (today: Humboldt-Universität) in Berlin, from March 1901 to 1903. From 1903 to 1904, he worked with mathematicians and philosophers at the

University of Göttingen The University of Göttingen, officially the Georg August University of Göttingen (, commonly referred to as Georgia Augusta), is a Public university, public research university in the city of Göttingen, Lower Saxony, Germany. Founded in 1734 ...

, such as his

doctoral advisor A doctoral advisor (also dissertation director, dissertation advisor; or doctoral supervisor) is a member of a university faculty whose role is to guide graduate students who are candidates for a doctorate, helping them select coursework, as well ...

Julius Baumann,

Felix Klein Felix Christian Klein (; ; 25 April 1849 – 22 June 1925) was a German mathematician and Mathematics education, mathematics educator, known for his work in group theory, complex analysis, non-Euclidean geometry, and the associations betwe ...

, Carl Runge, and his later rival

Edmund Husserl Edmund Gustav Albrecht Husserl (; 8 April 1859 – 27 April 1938) was an Austrian-German philosopher and mathematician who established the school of Phenomenology (philosophy), phenomenology. In his early work, he elaborated critiques of histori ...

. Nelson's work as a philosopher was most concerned with

critical philosophy Critical philosophy () is a movement inaugurated by Immanuel Kant (1724–1804). It is dedicated to the self-examination of reason with the aim of exposing its inherent limitations, that is, to defining the possibilities of knowledge as a prere ...

, attributed to Kant. It sets out to find a "critique" on science and

metaphysics Metaphysics is the branch of philosophy that examines the basic structure of reality. It is traditionally seen as the study of mind-independent features of the world, but some theorists view it as an inquiry into the conceptual framework of ...

, similar to

empiricism In philosophy, empiricism is an epistemological view which holds that true knowledge or justification comes only or primarily from sensory experience and empirical evidence. It is one of several competing views within epistemology, along ...

, as things can only be true based on the perceptions and limitations on human minds. Kant's 1781 book ''

Critique of Pure Reason The ''Critique of Pure Reason'' (; 1781; second edition 1787) is a book by the German philosopher Immanuel Kant, in which the author seeks to determine the limits and scope of metaphysics. Also referred to as Kant's "First Critique", it was foll ...

(Kritik der reinen Vernunft)'' inspired Nelson to go down the path of critical philosophy, and later followed the works of post-Kantian philosopher

Fries French fries, or simply fries, also known as chips, and finger chips (Indian English), are ''List of culinary knife cuts#Batonnet, batonnet'' or ''Julienning, julienne''-cut deep frying, deep-fried potatoes of disputed origin. They are prepa ...

who had also followed Kant's work. His first dissertation was ''Die kritische Methode und das Verhältnis der Psychologie zur Philosophie'' (''The Critical Method and the Relationship of Psychology to Philosophy''), which failed. His 1904 dissertation '' Jakob Fries and his Latest Critics'' (''Jakob Friedrich Fries und seine jüngsten Kritiker'') was successful. Nelson continued defending Fries' philosophy and ideas by publishing a ''neue Folge'' (new series) of ''Abhandlungen der Fries'schen Schule'' (1904) with Gerhard Hessenberg and mathematician Karl Kaiser. It was here that Nelson and these same friends created the ''Jakob-Friedrich-Fries-Gesellschaft'' (Jakob Friedrich Fries Society) to promote critical philosophy.

Career

Ready to form new ideas, Nelson founded the

Neo-Friesian School In late modern philosophy, neo-Kantianism () was a revival of the 18th-century philosophy of Immanuel Kant. The neo-Kantians sought to develop and clarify Kant's theories, particularly his concept of the thing-in-itself and his ethics, moral phil ...

in 1903, with some well-known members, such as

Rudolf Otto Rudolf Otto (25 September 1869 – 7 March 1937) was a German Lutheran theologian, philosopher, and comparative religionist. He is regarded as one of the most influential scholars of religion in the early twentieth century and is best known fo ...

, philosopher (1869–1937), Gerhard Hessenberg, mathematician (1874–1925) and Otto Meyerhof.

biochemist Biochemists are scientists who are trained in biochemistry. They study chemical processes and chemical transformations in living organisms. Biochemists study DNA, proteins and Cell (biology), cell parts. The word "biochemist" is a portmanteau of ...

(1884–1951). Other notable people, such as philosopher Kurt Grelling and mathematician

Richard Courant Richard Courant (January 8, 1888 – January 27, 1972) was a German-American mathematician. He is best known by the general public for the book '' What is Mathematics?'', co-written with Herbert Robbins. His research focused on the areas of real ...

(student of Hilbert), joined after its foundation. A larger list of ISK members and similar can be seen in the list of Germans who resisted Nazism. In 1909 he habilitated at the

and became ''

Privatdozent ''Privatdozent'' (for men) or ''Privatdozentin'' (for women), abbreviated PD, P.D. or Priv.-Doz., is an academic title conferred at some European universities, especially in German-speaking countries, to someone who holds certain formal qualifi ...

''. From June 1919 until his death on 29 October 1927 he was a professor in Göttingen. In 1922, Nelson founded the ''Philosophisch-Politische Akademie'' (Philosophical-Political Academy or PPA) as a "

Platonic Academy The Academy (), variously known as Plato's Academy, or the Platonic Academy, was founded in Classical Athens, Athens by Plato ''wikt:circa, circa'' 387 BC. The academy is regarded as the first institution of higher education in the west, where ...

" and non-profit association, which was abandoned soon after the Nazis banned it, but re-established in 1949. It still stands today for political discussions between philosophers and politicians, and was supported financially by the ''Gesellschaft der Freunde der Philosophisch-Politischen Akademie'' (Society of Friends of the Philosophical-Political Academy or GFA). They started working with an education center called '' Landerziehungsheim Walkemühle'', founded in 1921 by a support of Nelson, progressive teacher Ludwig Wunder (1878–1949). Although Wunder left it shortly after in 1924, educator and co-worker of Nelson, Minna Specht, took over, with the help of journalist and author Mary Saran.

Internationaler Sozialistischer Kampfbund (ISK)

In 1917 Nelson and Minna Specht founded the Internationaler Jugendbund (International Youth Federation or IJB). In 1918, Nelson briefly became a member of the Independent Social Democratic Party (USPD), and from 1923 to 1925 he was a member of the Social Democratic Party (SPD), until he was ultimately excluded. As a result, in 1925, he and Minna Specht founded the Internationaler Sozialistischer Kampfbund ('SK; "International Socialist Militant League") merging it with the IJB by taking over its publishing label, Öffentliches Leben. Among Leonard Nelson's students and political companions in the International Socialist Kampfbund were also

Prime Minister A prime minister or chief of cabinet is the head of the cabinet and the leader of the ministers in the executive branch of government, often in a parliamentary or semi-presidential system. A prime minister is not the head of state, but r ...

Alfred Kubel (1909–1999) and journalist Fritz Eberhard (1896–1982), later member of the Parlamentarischer Rat.

Personal life

Nelson married Elisabeth Schemmann (1884–1954), in 1907, but divorced in 1912 after she baptised their son Gerhard David Wilhelm Nelson (1909–1944) in the

Lutheran Church Lutheranism is a major branch of Protestantism that emerged under the work of Martin Luther, the 16th-century German friar and reformer whose efforts to reform the theology and practices of the Catholic Church launched the Reformation in 15 ...

. Nelson's refusal to baptise his son and divorce was a big change based on his Jewish ancestry. He even resigned from the Evangelical Church in 1919. His wife married Paul Hensel in 1917. Nelson was an early advocate of

animal rights Animal rights is the philosophy according to which many or all Animal consciousness, sentient animals have Moral patienthood, moral worth independent of their Utilitarianism, utility to humans, and that their most basic interests—such as ...

and a

vegetarian Vegetarianism is the practice of abstaining from the Eating, consumption of meat (red meat, poultry, seafood, insects as food, insects, and the flesh of any other animal). It may also include abstaining from eating all by-products of animal slau ...

. His lecture "Duties to Animals" was published posthumously in Germany in 1932 and included in his book ''A System of Ethics'' (translated in 1956) and reprinted in the 1972 book '' Animals, Men and Morals''. Nelson was an

insomnia Insomnia, also known as sleeplessness, is a sleep disorder where people have difficulty sleeping. They may have difficulty falling asleep, or staying asleep for as long as desired. Insomnia is typically followed by daytime sleepiness, low ene ...

c and died at a young age from

pneumonia Pneumonia is an Inflammation, inflammatory condition of the lung primarily affecting the small air sacs known as Pulmonary alveolus, alveoli. Symptoms typically include some combination of Cough#Classification, productive or dry cough, ches ...

, and was buried at a Jewish cemetery in Melsungen alongside his father Heinrich.

Posthumous legacy

In the summer of 1997 his granddaughter, Maria Nelson, and Maria's daughter, Rachel Urban, both visited his grave . Nelson's ideas continued to have an impact upon German socialism and communism in

Nazi Germany Nazi Germany, officially known as the German Reich and later the Greater German Reich, was the German Reich, German state between 1933 and 1945, when Adolf Hitler and the Nazi Party controlled the country, transforming it into a Totalit ...

as the ISK's members became active in the left-wing resistance to Nazism.

Bibliography

Nelson published numerous books and papers, often with the help of other philosophers and mathematicians. He was later critical of

Georg Wilhelm Friedrich Hegel Georg Wilhelm Friedrich Hegel (27 August 1770 – 14 November 1831) was a 19th-century German idealist. His influence extends across a wide range of topics from metaphysical issues in epistemology and ontology, to political philosophy and t ...

in his work ''Progress and Regress in Philosophy'' (''Fortschritte und Rückschritte der Philosophie''). He is also known for defending the idea of animal rights in his work ''System of Philosophical Ethics and Pedagogy'' (''System der philosophischen Ethik und Pädagogik'') published in 1932, with the help of his assistant

Grete Hermann Grete Hermann (2 March 1901 – 15 April 1984) was a German mathematician and philosopher noted for her work in mathematics, physics, philosophy and education. She is noted for her early philosophical work on the foundations of quantum mechanics ...

(also part of the ISK) and Minna Specht. Some of his works are already mentioned above, but some others, available in the

Internet Archive The Internet Archive is an American 501(c)(3) organization, non-profit organization founded in 1996 by Brewster Kahle that runs a digital library website, archive.org. It provides free access to collections of digitized media including web ...

(and other websites, if not available there), include:

Published works

*1908 – ''Ist metaphysikfreie Naturwissenschaft möglich?'' Sonderdruck aus den ''Abhandlungen der Fries’schen Schule'', II. Bd., 3. Heft. Vandenhoeck & Ruprecht, Göttingen 1908

*1908 – ''Über das sogenannte Erkenntnisproblem''. Vandenhoeck & Ruprecht, Göttingen 190
Internet Archive
*1908 – ''Über wissenschaftliche und ästhetische Naturbetrachtung''. Vandenhoeck & Ruprecht, Göttingen 1908

* ''Ethische Methodenlehre.'' by Veit & Comp., Leipzig 1915

*1917 – ''Die Rechtswissenschaft ohne Recht: kritische Betrachtungen über die Grundlagen des Staats- und Völkerrechts insbesondere über die Lehre von der Souveränität''. Veit & Comp, Leipzig 191
Internet Archive
*1917 – ''Vorlesungen über die Grundlagen der Ethik''. Veit & Comp., Leipzig ** Bd. 1: ''Kritik der praktischen Vernunft''. 1917

* ''Die sokratische Methode.'' Vortrag, gehalten am 11. Dezember 1922 in der Pädagogischen Gesellschaft in Göttingen. In: ''Abhandlungen der Fries’schen Schule. Neue Folge.''Hrsg. v. Otto Meyerhof, Franz Oppenheimer, Minna Specht. 5. Band, H. 1. Öffentliches Leben, Göttingen 1929, S. 21–78. *1919 – ''Demokratie und Führerschaft'', Public life, Berlin 1932
Internet Archive
*1920 – ''System der philosophischen Rechtslehre''. Verlag der Neue Geist / Reinhold, Leipzig 192
Internet Archive
*1922 – ''Die Reformation der Gesinnung: durch Erziehung zum Selbstvertrauen''. The New Publishes, Leipzig 1922

*1922 – ''Die sokratische Methode'', Lecture, held on December 11, 1922 in the Pedagogical Society in Göttingen. In: ''Treatises of the Friesian school. New episode.'' edited by Otto Meyerhof, Franz Oppenheimer, Minna Specht. 5th volume, Göttingen 1929, pp. 21–78.

* ''Ausgewählte Schriften. Studienausgabe.'' Hrsg. und eingeleitet von Heinz-Joachim Heydorn. Europäische Verlagsanstalt, Frankfurt 1974. * ''Vom Selbstvertrauen der Vernunft: Schriften zur krit. Philosophie und ihrer Ethik.'' Hrsg. von Grete Henry-Hermann (''Philosophische Bibliothek''. Band 288). Meiner, Hamburg 1975. *2011 – , a series of lectures, delivered from April to July 1921 that was omitted from his collected works. English translation

''Gesammelte Schriften in neun Bänden''

English translation: "Collected Writings in Nine Volumes". It was published by

Paul Bernays Paul Isaac Bernays ( ; ; 17 October 1888 – 18 September 1977) was a Swiss mathematician who made significant contributions to mathematical logic, axiomatic set theory, and the philosophy of mathematics. He was an assistant and close collaborator ...

and ''Felix Meiner Verlag'' (a German scientific

publishing house Publishing is the activities of making information, literature, music, software, and other content, physical or digital, available to the public for sale or free of charge. Traditionally, the term publishing refers to the creation and distribu ...

in philosophy), in

Hamburg Hamburg (, ; ), officially the Free and Hanseatic City of Hamburg,. is the List of cities in Germany by population, second-largest city in Germany after Berlin and List of cities in the European Union by population within city limits, 7th-lar ...

1970-1977; * Volume I: ''Die Schule der kritischen Philosophie und ihre Methode'' * Volume II: ''Geschichte und Kritik der Erkenntnistheorie'' * Volume III: ''Die kritische Methode in ihrer Bedeutung für die Wissenschaft'' * Volume IV: ''Kritik der praktischen Vernunft'' * Volume V: ''System der philosophischen Ethik und Pädagogik'' * Volume VI: ''System der philosophischen Rechtslehre und Politik'' * Volume VII: ''Fortschritte und Rückschritte der Philosophie von Hume und Kant bis Hegel und Fries'' * Volume VIII: ''Sittlichkeit und Bildung'' * Volume IX: ''Recht und Staat''

References

External links

Biography from the SFCP site
*
A Theory of Philosophical Fallacies
' by Andrew Aberdein (in-depth review)
worldcat.org
Nelson, Leonard (1882-1927) *
Der Funke
' newspaper, 12 July 1932 – Leonard Nelson's 50th anniversary (in German)
Newspaper
by Judith Féaux de Lacroix, Melsunger edition of the '' Hessisch-Niedersächsische Allgemeine'' (28 November 2017) (in German)
"Minna Specht, Leonard Nelson, IJB und ISK"
''www.allerart.de'' (in German) * {{DEFAULTSORT:Nelson, Leonard 1882 births 1927 deaths 19th-century German Jews 20th-century German mathematicians German animal rights scholars German socialists Jewish philosophers Jewish socialists Kantian philosophers University of Göttingen alumni Writers from Berlin Deaths from pneumonia in Germany Französisches Gymnasium Berlin alumni 20th-century German philosophers Humboldt University of Berlin alumni