Aurel Kolnai Research
Through its Director, the Centre for Ethics, Philosophy and Public Affairs is in process of acquiring the Nachlass of the important 20th C. moral philosopher Aurel Kolnai. The literary estate of Kolnai consists of over 100 books from his private collection (many annotated) and some twenty boxes of original papers. The books are in four languages: English, French, German and Spanish, and divide into three categories: books on ethics (including works by Acton, Hare, Von Hildebrand, Kovesi, MacIntyre, and Ross); books on politics and on political and social philosophy; other philosophical books; and non-philosophical books. The papers include published and unpublished writings, notebooks, personal and other documents.
This is an important archive of a distinctive philosopher the value of whose work in moral and social philosophy is increasingly appreciated. Born in Budapest in 1900, educated at the Royal Lutheran Gymnasium from which he matriculated in 1918, Kolnai studied at the universities of Vienna, Freiburg and Berne with such diverse figures as Moritz Schlick, Ludwig von Mises, and Edmund Husserl.
During the 1920s and 30s Kolnai worked in Vienna as a writer and journalist. During this period he was an associate of the German philosopher Dietrich von Hildebrand whose work in now the subject of a major publishing project. Kolnai’s articles were written under the pseudonym of Dr A. van Helsing, presumably an ironic reference to the vampire hunter of Bram Stoker’s Dracula. Two articles from 1934 clearly indicate his identification of, and anger at the corruption of philosophy in the interests of fascist ideology: ‘Der Missbrauch des Vitalen (‘The Abuse of the Vital’) and ‘Heideggers Nihilismus’ (‘Heidegger’s Nihilism’). In the previous year Kolnai had also begun what he later described as “a comprehensive critique of National Socialism and related doctrines”. That work, which is certainly a classic of twentieth century political philosophy and commentary, was written in English and published in London in 1938 under the title The War Against the West.
In the period following the Hungarian uprising of 1956, by which time he was living in England (after a decade and a half spent in the USA and in Canada), Kolnai was developing his ideas on the place of ethics in politics. Concerning which he writes that:
The basic intuitions of mankind – which Right and Left alike cannot but take for granted as a premise for their moral appeal – provide no solution, except in a prohibitive and limiting sense, for the permanent or topical problems of political organization and choice.
With the support of admirers Harold Acton, Bernard Williams, and David Wiggins, Kolnai was appointed to a part-time “Visiting Lectureship” at Bedford College at London University. During this peroid he became increasingly interested in British ethical intuitionism, and his writings influenced Wiggins, Williams and others. Kolnai later was awarded a visiting position at Marquette University in the US where he died in 1973.
In recognition of Kolnai's contribution to moral philosophy and with the aim of utilising the Nachlass for the study of his work and ideas the Centre for Ethics, Philosophy and Public Affairs wishes to support visits from scholars. Proposals for projects are welcome. These could include up to a year's study in St Andrews for a postgraduate student or a visiting fellowship for an academic along the lines of the Centre's existing scheme. Visits might also be supported under such schemes as the British Academy Visiting Scholar and Royal Society of Edinburgh International Funding programmes. Interested persons should write to the Director, Professor John Haldane, outlining a scheme of study or research relating to Kolnai and his thought and indicating the period for which they would want to visit St Andrews and the level of support they might require.
To date two Kolnai visiting fellows have been appointed:
2011 Chris Bessemans, Centrum voor Ethiek, Sociale en Politieke Filosofie, Louvain University
2012 Íngrid Vendrell Ferra, Philipps Universität Marburg, Germany.
For an account of the archive written by the first visitor, Chris Bessemans see A glimpse of the Kolnai Nachlaß