Dissertation and Examiner’s Report by Moritz Schlick

Schächter completed his dissertation Kritische Darstellung von N. Hartmanns „Grundzüge einer Metaphysik der Erkenntnis“ in 1931. Schächter’s grandson remembers (see Chap. 13 of Vol. 2) that this dissertation topic was proposed to Schächter by his supervisor Moritz Schlick. Nicolai Hartmann’s book was a very obvious subject for a critical investigation in the spirit of the Vienna Circle. Not only was metaphysics one of the main targets of the Vienna Circle, Hartmann was also one of the leading exponents of this discipline. In an introductory book to Hartmann’s philosophy, one reads: „Das Erscheinen der Metaphysik der Erkenntnis (1921) machte Hartmann mit einem Schlag berühmt. Er genoß großes Ansehen bei seinen Fachkollegen und hatte, wie die zahlreichen Publikationen über seine Philosophie zeigen, eine beachtliche Breitenwirkung“. The second edition was published as early as 1925, the third in 1941. Schlick did not dedicate a book or paper to Hartmann, but he mentions him in his writings and they also met in person. One might say that Schlick and Hartmann were equal players in rival directions of philosophy at the time. For Schächter, on the other hand, Hartmann seems to be of little importance apart from the dissertation.