Abstract

In his obituary on Mach, Einstein, asked, “It is difficult – and perhaps also not very important – to answer the question: “What has Mach taught, which was principally new relative to Bacon and Hume?” Mach’s teaching had such an influence on people like Einstein that it fundamentally changed their way of thinking. Is this effect reproducible, and if so, how? For answering this question, one needs to research into the historical-genetic origins of Mach’s erkenntnis-theory and its difference to other erkenntnis-theories, namely Platonism and Pythagoreanism. Mach’s empirical-genetic erkenntnis-theory is the only one consistent with the requirements of evolutionary theory, especially regarding psychology and pedagogy.