View source for Ernst Mally

{{Short description|Austrian philosopher (1879–1944)}}
{{Distinguish|Ern Malley}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=January 2024}}
{{Infobox philosopher
| region = [[Western philosophy]]
| era    = [[20th-century philosophy]]
| name        = Ernst Mally
| image       = 
| caption     =
| birth_date  = 11 October 1879
| birth_place = [[Kranj]], [[Duchy of Carniola]], [[Austria-Hungary]]
| death_date  = {{death-date and age|8 March 1944|11 October 1879}}
| death_place = [[Schwanberg, Styria|Schwanberg]], [[Austria within Nazi Germany|Austria]]
| education    = [[University of Graz]]<br />(PhD, 1903; Dr. phil. hab., 1912)
| institutions = [[University of Graz]]<br />(1925–1942)
| thesis1_title      = Untersuchungen zur Gegenstandstheorie des Messens (Investigations in the Object Theory of Measurement)
| thesis1_url        = https://archive.org/details/untersuchungenzu00mein/page/n4/mode/2up
| thesis1_year       = 1903
| thesis2_title      = Gegenstandstheoretische Grundlagen der Logik und Logistik (Object-theoretic Foundations for Logics and Logistics
| thesis2_url        = https://books.google.com/books/about/Gegenstandstheoretische_Grundlagen_der_L.html?id=g65LAAAAYAAJ&redir_esc=y
| thesis2_year       = 1912
| doctoral_advisor   = [[Alexius Meinong]]
| doctoral_students  = [[J. N. Findlay]]
| school_tradition   = [[Graz School]] of [[abstract object theory|object theory]] (part of the [[Austrian realist]] [[Meinong's School]]) (early)<ref name=School>Liliana Albertazzi, Dale Jacquette, ''The School of Alexius Meinong'', Routledge, 2017, p. 191.</ref><br />[[Analytic philosophy]] (late)<ref name=SEP/><ref name=Zalta>[[Edward N. Zalta]], [https://mally.stanford.edu/Papers/salzburg.pdf "Mally's Determinates and Husserl's Noemata"], in ''Ernst Mally – Versuch einer Neubewertung'', A. Hieke (ed.), St. Augustin: Academia-Verlag, 1998, pp. 9–28.</ref>
| main_interests   = [[Metaphysics]], [[Abstract object theory|theory of objects]]
| influences       = [[Alexius Meinong]], [[Ernst Schröder (mathematician)|Ernst Schröder]],<ref name=Mally1912-I>Mally 1912, [https://mally.stanford.edu/mally-book/ObjectTheoreticFoundationsOfLogic1.pdf ch. I. "Allgemeines"].</ref> [[Louis Couturat]]<ref name=Mally1912-I/>
| influenced       = [[Edward N. Zalta]]
| notable_ideas    = [[Dual predication approach|"Instantiating" vs. "being determined by"]] (''erfüllen vs. determiniert sein'') a [[Property (philosophy)|property]] as two modes of [[Predicate (mathematical logic)|predication]]<ref name=Mally1912-33>Mally 1912, [https://mally.stanford.edu/mally-book/ObjectTheoreticFoundationsOfLogic2.pdf §§33 and 39].</ref><ref name=SEP>{{harvnb|Hieke|Zecha}}</ref><br />[[Dual predication approach|Nuclear vs. extranuclear (formal vs. extra-formal)]] [[Property (philosophy)|properties]] (''formale vs. außerformale Bestimmungen'') of objects<ref>Mally, Ernst. 1909. "Gegenstandstheorie und Mathematik", ''Bericht Über den III. Internationalen Kongress für Philosophie zu Heidelberg (Report of the Third [[International Congress of Philosophy]], Heidelberg)'', 1–5 September 1908; ed. Professor Dr. [[Theodor Elsenhans]], 881–886. Heidelberg: Carl Winter’s Universitätsbuchhandlung. Verlag-Nummer 850. Translation: Ernst Mally, "Object Theory and Mathematics", in: Jacquette, D., ''Alexius Meinong, The Shepherd of Non-Being'' (Berlin/Heidelberg: Springer, 2015), [https://link.springer.com/content/pdf/bbm%3A978-3-319-18075-5%2F1.pdf pp. 396–404, esp. 397].</ref><ref>Dale Jacquette, ''Meinongian Logic: The Semantics of Existence and Nonexistence'', Walter de Gruyter, 1996, p. 16.</ref><ref name=Stanford>[https://mally.stanford.edu/mally.html Ernst Mally – The Metaphysics Research Lab]</ref><br />[[Abstract object theory|Abstract determinates]] (''Determinaten'') as the content of [[mental state]]s<ref name=Mally1912-33/><ref name=Zalta/><br />Axiomatization of [[ethics]] ([[deontic logic]])
}}

'''Ernst Mally''' ({{IPAc-en|ˈ|m|ɑː|l|i}}; {{IPA|de|ˈmali|lang}}; 11 October 1879 – 8 March 1944) was an Austrian [[analytic philosopher]],<ref name=SEP/><ref name=Zalta/> initially affiliated with [[Alexius Meinong]]'s [[Graz School]] of [[abstract object theory|object theory]]. Mally was one of the founders of [[deontic logic]] and is mainly known for his contributions in that field of research. In [[metaphysics]], he is known for introducing a distinction between two kinds of [[Predicate (mathematical logic)|predication]], better known as the [[dual predication approach]].<ref name=Stanford/>

== Life ==
Mally was born in the town of [[Kranj]] ({{langx|de|link=no|Krainburg}}) in the [[Duchy of Carniola]], [[Austria-Hungary]] (now in [[Slovenia]]). His father was of [[Slovenes|Slovene]] origin, but identified himself with [[Austrian German]] culture (he also [[Germanize]]d the orthography of his surname, originally spelled Mali, a common Slovene surname of [[Upper Carniola]]). After his death, the family moved to the [[Carniola]]n capital of [[Ljubljana]] ({{langx|de|link=no|Laibach}}). There, Ernst attended the prestigious [[Poljane Grammar School|Ljubljana German-language Gymnasium]]. Already at a young age, Mally became a fervent supporter of the [[Pan-German]] nationalist movement of [[Georg von Schönerer]]. In the same time, he developed an interest in philosophy.

In 1898, he enrolled in the [[University of Graz]], where he studied philosophy under the supervision of [[Alexius Meinong]], as well as [[physics]] and mathematics, specializing in [[formal logic]]. He graduated in 1903 with a [[doctoral thesis]] entitled ''Untersuchungen zur Gegenstandstheorie des Messens'' (''Investigations in the Object Theory of Measurement''). In 1906 he started teaching at a high school in [[Graz]], at the same time collaborating with Adalbert Meingast and working as Meinong's assistant at the university. He also maintained close contacts with the [[Graz Psychological Institute]], founded by Meinong. In 1912, he wrote his [[habilitation thesis]] entitled ''Gegenstandstheoretische Grundlagen der Logik und Logistik'' (''Object-theoretic Foundations for Logics and Logistics'') at Graz with Meinong as supervisor.

From 1915 to 1918 he served as an officer in the [[Austro-Hungarian Army]]. After the end of [[World War I]], Mally joined the [[Greater German People's Party]], which called the unification of [[German Austria]] with Germany. In the same period, he started teaching at the university and in 1925 he took over Meinong's chair. In 1938, he became a member of the [[National Socialist Teachers League]] and two months after the ''[[Anschluss]]'' he joined the [[NSDAP]]. He continued teaching during the [[Austria in the time of National Socialism|Nazi administration of Austria]] until 1942 when he retired.

He died in 1944 in [[Schwanberg, Styria|Schwanberg]].

==Philosophical work==

===Mally's deontic logic===
Mally was the first logician ever to attempt an [[axiomatization]] of [[ethics]] (Mally 1926). He used five [[axioms]], which are given below. They form a [[first-order theory]] that quantifies over [[proposition]]s, and there are several predicates to understand first. !x means that x ought to be the case. Ux means that x is unconditionally obligatory, i.e. that !x is [[logical truth|necessarily true]]. ∩x means that x is unconditionally forbidden, i.e. U(¬x). A f B is the [[binary relation]] A requires B, i.e. A materially implies !B. (All [[Logical consequence|entailment]] in the axioms is [[material conditional]].) It is defined by axiom III, whereas all other terms are defined as a preliminary.

<math>
\begin{array}{rl}
\mbox{I.} & ((A\; \operatorname{f}\; B) \And (B \to C)) \to (A\; \operatorname{f}\; C) \\
\mbox{II.} & ((A\; \operatorname{f}\; B) \And (A\;\operatorname{f}\;C)) \to (A\; \operatorname{f}\; (B \And C)) \\
\mbox{III.} & (A\; \operatorname{f}\; B) \leftrightarrow\; !(A \to B) \\
\mbox{IV.} & \exists U\; !U \\
\mbox{V.} & \neg (U\; \operatorname{f}\; \cap)
\end{array}
</math>
<!-- How could we write an upside-down U instead of \cap? -->

Note the implied [[universal quantifier]]s in the above axioms.

The fourth axiom has confused some logicians because its formulation is not as they would have expected, since Mally gave each axiom a description in words also, and he said that axiom IV meant "the unconditionally obligatory is obligatory", i.e. (as many logicians have insisted) UA → !A. Meanwhile, axiom 5 lacks an object to which the predicates apply, a [[typo]]. However, it turns out these are the least of Mally's worries (see below).

===Failure of Mally's deontic logic===

Theorem: This axiomatization of [[deontic logic]] implies that !x [[if and only if]] x is true, OR !x is unsatisfiable. (This makes it useless to deontic logicians.)
Proof: Using axiom III, axiom I may be rewritten as (!(A → B) & (B → C)) → !(A → C). Since B → C holds whenever C holds, one immediate consequence is that (!(A → B) → (C → !(A → C))). In other words, if A requires B, it requires any true statement. In the special case where A is a [[tautology (logic)|tautology]], the theorem has consequence (!B → (C → !C)). Thus, if at least one statement ought be true, every statement must [[Material conditional|materially entail]] it ought be true, and so every true statement ought be true. As for the converse (i.e. if some statement ought be true then all statements that ought be true are true), consider the following logic: ((U → !A) & (A → ∩)) → (U → !∩) is a special case of axiom I, but its [[consequent]] contradicts axiom V, and so ¬((U → !A) & (A → ∩)). The result !A → A can be shown to follow from this, since !A implies that U → !A and ¬A implies that A → ∩; and, since these are not both true, we know that !A → A.

Mally thought that axiom I was self-evident, but he likely confused it with an alternative in which the implication B → C is ''logical'', which would indeed make the axiom self-evident. The theorem above, however, would then not be demonstrable. The theorem was proven by [[Karl Menger]], the next deontic logician. Neither Mally's original axioms nor a modification that avoids this result remains popular today. Menger did not suggest his own axioms. (See also deontic logic for more on the subsequent development of this subject.)

===Metaphysics===
In [[metaphysics]], Mally is known for introducing a distinction between two kinds of [[Predicate (mathematical logic)|predication]], a strategy better known as the [[dual predication approach]], for solving the problem of [[nonexistent object]]s (Mally 1912).<ref name=Stanford/> He also introduced a similar strategy, the [[dual property strategy]], but did not endorse it.<ref name=SEP/> The dual property strategy was eventually adopted by Meinong.<ref name=SEP/>

Mally developed a [[Philosophical realism|realistic]] approach to [[ontology]] (Mally 1935) and saw himself in opposition to the [[Vienna Circle]] and the [[logical positivists]].<ref name=School/>

===Legacy===
Mally's metaphysical work influences some contemporary metaphysicians and logicians working in [[abstract object theory]], especially [[Edward Zalta]].<ref>{{cite web |last1=Zalta |first1=Edward |title=The Theory of Abstract Objects |url=https://mally.stanford.edu/theory.html |website=Metaphysics Research Lab |access-date=5 September 2020}}</ref>

The analytic philosopher [[David Kellogg Lewis]] argued forcefully that the name of the fictional Australian poet [[Ern Malley]], created by [[James McAuley]] and [[Harold Stewart]], was an allusion to Mally.<ref>{{cite journal |last1=Lewis |first1=David |title=Ern Malley's Namesake |journal=Quadrant |issue=March 1995 |pages=14–15 |url=https://andrewmbailey.com/dkl/Ern_Malley.pdf |access-date=5 September 2020}}</ref>

== Works ==
* (1904 [1903]) ''Untersuchungen zur Gegenstandstheorie des Messens (Investigations in the Object Theory of Measurement)'', Leipzig: Barth ([[doctoral thesis]]).
* (1912) ''Gegenstandstheoretische Grundlagen der Logik und Logistik (Object-theoretic Foundations for Logics and Logistics)'', Leipzig: Barth ([[habilitation thesis]]).
* (1926) ''Grundgesetze des Sollens. Elemente der Logik des Willens (The Basic Laws of Ought: Elements of the Logic of Willing)'', Graz: Leuschner & Lubensky. Reprinted in Ernst Mally: ''Logische Schriften. Großes Logikfragment—Grundgesetze des Sollens'', K. Wolf, P. Weingartner (eds.), Dordrecht: Reidel, 1971, 227–324.
* (1935) ''Erlebnis und Wirklichkeit. Einleitung zur Philosophie der Natürlichen Weltauffassung (Experience and Reality: Introduction to the Philosophy of the Natural World-conception)'', Leipzig: Julius Klinkhardt.

==Notes==
{{reflist|35em}}

==References==
* {{cite SEP |url-id=mally |title=Ernst Mally |last=Hieke |first=Alexander|last2=Zecha |first2=Gerhard}}
* {{cite SEP |url-id=mally-deontic |title=Mally's Deontic Logic |last=Lokhorst |first=Gert-Jan|ref=none}}

{{Authority control}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Mally, Ernst}}
[[Category:1879 births]]
[[Category:1944 deaths]]
[[Category:20th-century Austrian mathematicians]]
[[Category:20th-century Austrian philosophers]]
[[Category:Abstract object theory]]
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