Page - 81 - in Universities in Imperial Austria, 1848–1918 - A Social History of a Multilingual Space

Chapter 2 ♦  81 by Thun, in particular Robert Zimmermann, shaped the development of this discipline in the Habsburg Empire well into the fin de siècle. The first appointments, before Thun-Hohenstein’s inauguration as minister, supported the philosophy of Johann Friedrich Herbart.167 Thun- Hohenstein initially maintained this direction, especially since most Herbartians were also students of his own teacher, Bolzano. Most notably, Zimmermann, Bolzano’s Herzensjunge (favorite pupil), had an astonishing career, starting in Olomouc but moving swiftly to Prague and then, in one of Thun-Hohenstein’s final decisions, to Vienna.168 A productive author of compulsory textbooks, Zimmermann was the most important advocate of Herbart and Bolzano in those initial years but in particular supported Thun- Hohenstein’s campaign against Hegelianism and Kantianism.169 In 1850, however, and in particular after Exner’s death, this direction grew less pop- ular, and the proponents of a pronouncedly Catholic philosophy, supported by Thun-Hohenstein’s confidants, replaced it.170 As a counterbalance to Herbartianism, Thun-Hohenstein appointed followers of Krause’s panenthe- ism, who propagated an idea of God as an all-encompassing essence, visible in the material and nonmaterial worlds.171 The most influential Catholic phi- losophy of the time was, however, the philosophical theology of a supporter of Bolzano, Anton Günther, at the time a private scholar in Vienna. Günther’s philosophy strove to overcome the division between knowl- edge and faith, creating an anthropocentric and philosophical theology, balancing theological dogmas and scholarship. In 1857, however, this balancing act failed, and the Catholic Church declared Güntherism to be heresy and put his work on the List of Forbidden Books (Index Librorum Prohibitorum). Before this papal intervention, Günther’s ideas had flour- ished, even if Günther himself had not been nominated for a professorship. The archbishop Friedrich Schwarzenberg, a student and friend of Günther, helped introduce this philosophical direction at both the theological and philosophical faculties in Prague.172 In Vienna the most noteworthy nom- inee was Georg Schenach, who worked on a system of Catholic-based metaphysics that incorporated materialistic systems. His “philosophical walk on eggshells”173 merged Günther’s speculative theology with another Habsburg tradition, Friedrich Jacobi’s sensualism. Significantly, Schenach, who died several months after his nomination, was also Thun-Hohenstein’s personal philosopher (Leibphilosopher) in Vienna. Since followers of Günther fought bitterly against Exner’s interpretation of Herbart and fiercely