| Scientologie, Wissenschaft von der Beschaffenheit und der Tauglichkeit des Wissens |
|
|---|---|
| Author(s) | Dr. Anastasius Nordenholz |
| Country | Germany |
| Language | German, English |
| Subject(s) | philosophy of science, existentialism |
| Genre(s) | non-fiction |
| Publisher | Ernst Reinhardt publishing house, Munich, Germany |
| Publication date | 1934 |
| ISBN | ISBN 3-9804724-0-X |
| OCLC Number | 75680321 |
Scientologie, Wissenschaft von der Beschaffenheit und der Tauglichkeit des Wissens (Scientology: Science of the Constitution and Usefulness of Knowledge) is a 1934 book published by Dr. Anastasius Nordenholz, in which he defines the term "Scientologie" or "Eidologie" as a science of knowing or knowledge and discusses the philosophical implications of the concept.
The book has been cited by some as a possible source of inspiration for L. Ron Hubbard and his better-known conception of Scientology, though this interpretation is disputed.
Contents |
Nordenholz highlights the problem of isolating knowledge as "a particular appearance of the world." He asks:
After establishing a number of definitions, he concludes that
He goes on to assert that human consciousness can be raised to a position of independence, or isolation, but notes that "The consciousness, which always remains a part and particular creation of the world, is incompetent to create from a nothingness because of this very worldliness. In order for the consciousness to be able to create, it has to first find a fountainhead source out of which it can create, and this Something is a Beingness."
Nordenholz next introduces the concept of a number of axioms and systems which "stand of their own power and dignity, as if they were capable of, but do not need, a verification or confirmation from another source." He defines the structure of Scientologie:
Nordenholz held that the most important axiom was the Axiom of Mediation:
George Malko claims that Nordenholz's concept of Scientologie has no proven connection to Scientology, which was created later by L. Ron Hubbard, although he notes some possible similarities between the ideas expounded by Nordenholz and Hubbard.[1] Roy Wallis casts doubt on the perceived similarities, noting that Malko had used an English translation produced in 1968 by a former Scientologist, Woodward R. McPheeters. Wallis comments:
Furthermore, the Free Zone association of independent scientologists (Freie Zone e.V.) considers the parallels in content sufficiently valid to republish it "in its original context".[3]
The term "Scientologie" is a registered trademark of the Religious Technology Center, which controls the Church of Scientology's trademarks. It is used in French-speaking countries as a localized version of the word "Scientology",[1] though in Germany the church uses "Scientology" instead.[2]
The Church is currently in dispute with Free Zone Scientologists who have schismed off into their own offshoot of Scientology. They use the domain name scientologie.de for their website; the Church has attempted to force the Free Zoners to relinquish this domain name, claiming trademark infringement. But the German courts have rejected this in the light of Nordenholz having coined the term long before the church registered it as a trademark; also refusing the argument of "possible confusion" because Free Zone per see does not sell courses nor indeed anything else; and that the use of a similar name in these circumstances was covered by the "fair use" policy.[4]
The English-language term "Scientology" originated neither with Hubbard nor Nordenholz, but with philologist Allen Upward, who coined the term in 1907 in his book The New Word.[3] This reference is cited to be a use of the word to ridicule pseudoscientific theories in the book A Piece of Blue Sky by Jon Atack.[5]
"...unhappily scientology is as often mistaken for science as theology is for worship."--The New Word, p. 149 [4]