FRIEDRICH MEINECKE (1862‒1954). ON THE ISSUE OF SCIENTIST'S ANTISEMITISM

Abstract

The article deals with the problem of presence of antisemitism in the views of the German scientist Friedrich Meinecke (1862-1954), which the author encountered during a study on this scholar. On the basis of comparative method, general and special in the studies of several authors were identified, and the political views of the scientist were considered using historical-genetic and retrospective methods, on the basis of which conclusions were drawn about the presence of antisemitism in them.
The present article begins by examining the formation of Friedrich Meinecke's political views from the beginning of his conscious life in the second half of the 19th century. Emphasis is placed on the socio-cultural environment in which the scholar was formed as a person. The content of the concept of antisemitism and its genesis are then briefly highlighted. The research problem is not only personal, but also historiographical, as we can observe the existence of several points of view, the consideration and comparison of which occupies the main part of this paper. In the end, the conclusion of the author is given, thanks to which we can clearly observe the ambiguity and complexity of the figure of Friedrich Meinecke, even when examining such a private question concerning his life.