He became a priest in 1864 and began teaching two years later at the University of Wurzburg. Religious doubts led him to leave the priesthood and resign from his teaching position in 1873. The following year, he wrote Psychology from an Empirical Standpoint .
Intentionality links the subject and the object in a very powerful way.
He was given a position as professor at the University of Vienna soon after. In 1880, he tried to marry, but his marriage was forbidden by the Austrian government, who still considered him a priest. He left his professorship and moved to Leipzig to get married. The next year, he was permitted to come back to the University of Vienna, as a lecturer. He was quite popular with students.