Wovon man nicht sprechen kann

Ernst Mach war eine Leitfigur der Wiener Moderne, sein Empiriokritizismus und „sensualistisch“ fundiertes Prinzip der Relativität wurden zu einem symbolischen Modell für die Generation Einsteins und Freuds. Der vorliegende Beitrag thematisiert drei unterschiedliche, gleichwohl verbundene Ansätze in der Tradition Machs und im Konnex des Zerfalls der multinationalen Habsburgermonarchie: Otto Bauers in der sibirischen Kriegsgefangenschaft verfassten Entwurf einer revolutionären politischen Perspektive, Ludwig Wittgensteins im Tractatus unternommenen Versuch einer endgültigen Lösung zentraler philosophischer Problemstellungen, und Robert Musils Porträt der letzten Jahre der Habsburgermonarchie aus der Perspektive ihres unvermeidbar gewordenen Untergangs.Ernst Mach était une figure de proue du modernisme viennois ; sa critique empirique et le principe « sensualiste » de la relativité sont devenus un modèle symbolique pour la génération d’Einstein et Freud. La présente contribution aborde trois approches différentes, mais liées entre elles, dans la tradition de Mach et dans le contexte de la désintégration de la monarchie multinationale des Habsbourg : le projet d’Otto Bauer d’une perspective politique révolutionnaire conçue en captivité sibérienne, le Tractatus de Ludwig Wittgenstein visant à trouver une solution définitive aux problèmes philosophiques centraux et le portrait de Robert Musil des dernières années de la monarchie des Habsbourg dans la perspective de son inévitable chute.Ernst Mach was a key figure of Modern Vienna. His empirical criticism and his “sensualistically” based relativism was to become a symbolic model of the generation of Freud and Einstein. The article at hand outlines three different yet interconnected Machean perspectives in the context of the disintegration of the multinational Habsburg Empire: Otto Bauer conceiving of a revolutionary political outlook in his Siberian captivity, Ludwig Wittgenstein endeavoring to finally solve central philosophical problematics in his Tractatus, and Robert Musil portraying the last years of the Monarchy from the perspective of its unavoidable downfal

lndustrial conflict and strategies of conflict resolution in developed societies

At the beginning of the 1890ies the industrialized countries of Western and Central Europe were hit by extensive strike waves. Spontaneous, eruptive and unpredictable as they were they took on the form of veritable rebellions against the new industrial order. This is best illustrated by violent outbreaks in the Bohemian, Moravian and Silesian collieries where a labor force mostly of rural origin protested against accumulated humiliation as weil as they defended their traditional notions of „honour“ and „self-respect“. Here, the process of industrialization is assessed first and foremost as a regional phenomenon, decisivly effecting constitution, differentiation, structure and capacity for conflict of the respective employers and employees. The formation of organisational structures and the institutionalization of industrial conflict constituted decisive changes in industrial societies. Extended lock-outs and „national strikes“ adopted mass-character and gained concrete political dimensions threatening the maintainance of the social production as a whole.At the beginning of the 1890ies the industrialized countries of Western and Central Europe were hit by extensive strike waves. Spontaneous, eruptive and unpredictable as they were they took on the form of veritable rebellions against the new industrial order. This is best illustrated by violent outbreaks in the Bohemian, Moravian and Silesian collieries where a labor force mostly of rural origin protested against accumulated humiliation as weil as they defended their traditional notions of „honour“ and „self-respect“. Here, the process of industrialization is assessed first and foremost as a regional phenomenon, decisivly effecting constitution, differentiation, structure and capacity for conflict of the respective employers and employees. The formation of organisational structures and the institutionalization of industrial conflict constituted decisive changes in industrial societies. Extended lock-outs and „national strikes“ adopted mass-character and gained concrete political dimensions threatening the maintainance of the social production as a whole

Utopian Perspectives and Political Restraint: The Austrian Revolution in the Context of Central European Conflicts

It seems like an irony that the Republic of German-Austria (Deutsch-Österreich) was born precisely on the day of the seventieth anniversary of field marshal Prince Windischgraetz’s victory over the Viennese revolution of 1848. By the end of October 1918 the Habsburg Empire, a first-rate European power for more than four centuries, had ceased. The events unfolding against the backdrop of its demise — until 12 November 1918 — are known by the name of “Austrian Revolution.” Primarily of a politi..

Empire, Nationalism and the Jewish Question: Victor Adler and Otto Bauer

This paper uses the life and thought of two important figures in the history of Austrian socialism—Victor Adler and Otto Bauer—as a prism through which to examine the complex relationship between German nationalism, the Jewish Question and pro-Habsburgism among the early leadership of the Austrian Social Democratic Party

Utopian Perspectives and Political Restraint: The Austrian Revolution in the Context of Central European Conflicts

It seems like an irony that the Republic of German-Austria (Deutsch-Österreich) was born precisely on the day of the seventieth anniversary of field marshal Prince Windischgraetz’s victory over the Viennese revolution of 1848. By the end of October 1918 the Habsburg Empire, a first-rate European power for more than four centuries, had ceased. The events unfolding against the backdrop of its demise — until 12 November 1918 — are known by the name of “Austrian Revolution.” Primarily of a politi..