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Keywords Economic theory, History, Universities, Academic staff, Germany
Abstract The essay narrates and analyzes Eugen Duhring's remotion, ie. the taking away of his status as Privatdozent, and thereby of his right to teach at a university, by the Prussian Minister of Culture in 1877 After sketching out the background of the University of Berlin, the institution of Privatdozent, and Duhring himself first, Duhring's 1875 clash with Adolph Wagner is described, which put him on `probation" Then, the 1877 scandal is looked at in detail, and the accusations against Duhring by the Faculty of Philosophy - mainly Ebel and insult checked against the facts. It is argued that, while there might have been a point in Duhring's charge of plagiarism against the physicist Helmholtz regarding the first law of thermodynamics, Duhring was generally guilty as charged, and that his remotion was certainly legal As far as the legitimacy of this harsh measure is concerned, the case is less clear, but in the end, it is claimed that the remotion was legitimate as well.
Ich bin verfolgt. Muff ich drum auchgleich edel sein?[1].
In 1877, the Prussian Minister of Culture, on application of the Faculty of Philosophy of the University of Berlin, removed Dr Eugen Duling's venia legendi, the permission to teach, and the related status of Privatdozent. This rather unique act at one of the world's preeminent universities, which involved still-today famous figures, and which attracted widespread attention, will be studied as a case in this essay. The attempt is to see, to the extent that this is possible, what really happened - for which some contextual explanation is necessary - and whether, by the standards of 1877, the remotion was both legal and legitimate. Using a simple version of the latter dichotomy (see Creifelds, 1996, "Legalitat", p. 770), I mean by legal, in accordance with the existing laws, both "in letter and spirit", and by legitimate, in accordance with an ethical-normative standard, preferably that of the protagonists.
The sources for such an investigation of the Duhring case are very good, because all relevant files are contained in a booklet published by the faculty (Aktenstucke, 1877), obviously in order to justify itself[2]. Duhring himself later complained about the selectivity of the brochure, as it...