Goldscheid, Rudolf

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GOLDSCHEID, RUDOLF

GOLDSCHEID, RUDOLF (1870–1932), Austrian sociologist and pacifist. Born in Vienna, where he lived throughout his life, Goldscheid was representative of a strongly ethically oriented group whose interest was in the problems of sociology and social philosophy. A cofounder of the German Sociological Society ("Deutsche Gesellschaft fuer Soziologie," 1909), he sided with the approach of the "Kathedersozialisten" (academic social reformers) against Max Weber's emphasis on a strictly objective, "value-free" orientation in the social sciences. As editor of the Friedenswarte, he was one of the most influential European pacifists. He was also editor of the Annalen fuer Natur-und Kulturphilosophie. His publications include Zur Ethik des Gesamtwillens (1902), Verelendungs-oder Meliorationstheorie (1906), Monismus und Politik (1912), Hoeherentwicklung und Menschenoekonomie (1911), Frauenfrageund Menschenoekonomie (1913), and Staatssozialismus und Staatskapitalismus (1917).

add. bibliography:

ndb, vol. 6 (1964), 607; G. Witrisal, Der Soziallamarckismus von Rudolf Goldscheid – Ein milieutheoretischer Denker zwischen humanitärem Engagement und Sozialdarwinismus (2004).

[Werner J. Cahnman]