ABSTRACT
In the Fall of 1871 Alois Hofler entered the University of Vienna where he studied math and physics under Ludwig Boltzmann and Josef Stefan. The 1890's were a period in which many people thought that philosophy would be replaced by scientific psychology and Brentano, Meinong, and Hofler seemed to be a part of this movement. Alois Hofler considered both physics and psychology not only to be Wissenschaften or sciences, but empirical sciences. Hofler was best at comparing different views in terms of their strong and weak points and then offering a provisional judgment. Hofler's broad interests helped make him an ideal leader of the University of Vienna Philosophical Society. Christian von Ehrenfels would also help interest Hofler in Gestalt theory in psychology, which Hofler's lectures, books, and textbooks on psychology would help disseminate. In 1903, Hofler was finally offered a professorship in a university. It was in education but at the German University in Prague.
