Elias and the neo-Kantians: an alternative view. A comment on Benjo Maso

Samenvatting

Benjo Maso's "Elias en de neokantianen: Intellectuele achtergronden van Het civilisatieproces" ([Elias and the Neokantians: Intellectual Backgrounds of the Civilization Process]) identifies important philosophical tendencies prominent in Norbert Elias's early education, helping to explain Elias's battle against philosophy, especially neo-Kantianism. However, Maso is ambivalent about Elias, arguing that Elias fails to acknowledge that his theory of civilizing process is founded on the relational neo-Kantian epistemology espoused by Ernst Cassirer of the Marburg School, while praising Elias for his intellectual achievement and original application of epistemology. In contrast, by making a break with philosophy, Elias's sociology became structurally different from philosophy in spite of terminological similarities. In Van Cassirers epistemologie tot Freuds metfysica: Over het artikel van Kilminster en Wouters (From Cassirer's Epistemology to Freud's Metaphysics: On Kilminster's and Wouters's Article), Maso replies that Kilminster's and Wouters's knowledge of Cassirer is based largely on secondary sources. Sigmund Freud is cited as an additional influence on the young Elias. Special attention is given to the intellectual climate of the Marburg school. 89 References. M. Meeks