LAAS

laas, ernst (1837-1885), german philosopher, was born on the 16th of june 1837 at furstenwalde. he studied theology and philosophy under trendelenburg at berlin, and eventually became professor of philosophy in the new university of strassburg. in _kant's analogien der erfahrung_ (1876) he keenly criticized kant's transcendentalism, and in his chief work _idealismus und positivismus_ (3 vols., 1879-1884), he drew a clear contrast between platonism, from which he derived transcendentalism, and positivism, of which he considered protagoras the founder. laas in reality was a disciple of hume. throughout his philosophy he endeavours to connect metaphysics with ethics and the theory of education. his chief educational works were _der deutsche aufsatz in den obern gymnasialklassen_ (1868; 3rd ed., part i., 1898, part ii, 1894), and _der deutsche unterricht auf hohern lehranstalten_ (1872; 2nd ed. 1886). he contributed largely to the _vierteljahrsschr. f. wiss. philos._ (1880-1882); the _litterarischer nachlass_, a posthumous collection, was published at vienna (1887). see hanisch, _der positivismus von ernst laas_ (1902); gjurits, _die erkenntnistheorie des ernst laas_ (1903); falckenberg, _hist. of mod. philos._ (eng. trans., 1895).