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5857Pierre Duhem gilt ais einer der wichtigsten Reprüsentanten der franzosischen Wissenschaftsphilosophie um 1900. Seine Konzeption physikalischer Theorien wird üblicherweise ais moderne Umsetzung des antiken – proto-positivistischen – Programms der „Rettung der Phänomene‟ angesehen. Diese Sicht ist richtig, bedarf aber der Ergänzung, indem der diskursive Kontext der Duhemschen Position berücksichtigt wird. Im vorliegenden Beitrag wird dargelegt, dass Duhems philosophischer Zeitgenosse Abel Rey eine…Read more
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31Helmholtz, Kaila, and the Representational Theory of MeasurementHopos: The Journal of the International Society for the History of Philosophy of Science 8 (2): 409-431. 2018.The problem of measurement can be reformulated as the problem of measurability: What are the conditions under which measurement becomes possible at all? And what is the ontological status of concrete measurement outcomes? It will be shown in the course of this article that what Joel Michell deemed the ‘representational theory’ of measurement provides an adequate framework for answering these questions. However, contrary to Michell, I will point out that Hermann von Helmholtz should be seen as an…Read more
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13,,Denn was man messen kann, das existiert auch." Grundzüge eines metrologischen StrukturenrealismusZeitschrift für Philosophische Forschung 72 (1): 50-74. 2018.
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164Perception and Coincidence in Helmholtz’s Theory of MeasurementJournal for the History of Analytical Philosophy 6 (3). 2018.The present paper is concerned with Helmholtz’s theory of measurement. It will be argued that an adequate understanding of this theory depends on how Helmholtz’s application of the concepts of perception and coincidence is interpreted. In contrast both to conventionalist and Kantian readings of Helmholtz’s theory, a more realistic interpretation will be suggested.
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26Mathematik und Ontologie. Der lange Weg zum,strukturellen Formalismus'Zeitschrift für Philosophische Forschung 71 (3): 358-379. 2017.
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10Die Kulturphilosophie Ernst Cassirers – Neuere Forschungstrends und -perspektivenPhilosophische Rundschau 63 (3): 263. 2016.
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28Treffpunkt Struktur – Cassirer, Schlick und CarnapArchiv für Geschichte der Philosophie 95 (2): 206-233. 2013.Structure is the connecting link between the early epistemologies of Cassirer, Schlick, and Carnap. However, there are important programmatic differences among Cassirer’s, Schlick’s, and Carnap’s articulations of the structuralistic point of view. Whereas Cassirer hoped to argue in favor of an ‚idealist‘ and Schlick in favor of a ‚realist‘ conception of structure, Carnap thought it possible to remain neutral in this respect. I will argue that Carnap’s approach, though at first sight promising, w…Read more
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1002Realistic Claims in Logical EmpiricismIn Uskali Mäki, Stéphanie Ruphy, Gerhard Schurz & Ioannis Votsis (eds.), Recent Developments in the Philosophy of Science: EPSA13 Helsinki, Springer. forthcoming.Logical empiricism is commonly seen as a counter-position to scientific realism. In the present paper it is shown that there indeed existed a realist faction within the logical empiricist movement. In particular, I shall point out that at least four types of realistic arguments can be distinguished within this faction: Reichenbach’s ‘probabilistic argument,’ Feigl’s ‘pragmatic argument,’ Hempel’s ‘indispensability argument,’ and Kaila’s ‘invariantist argument.’ All these variations of arguments …Read more
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20"Die Grenzen des Revisionismus" befasst sich mit den erkenntnis- und wissenschafttheoretischen Positionen des frühen Moritz Schlick und des frühen Ernst Cassirer
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18Zwei Formen des transzendentalen Revisionismus. ‚Wissenschaftliche Philosophie‘ beim frühen Ernst Cassirer und beim frühen Moritz SchlickKant Studien 102 (4): 455-476. 2011.In their early epistemological writings, Cassirer and Schlick represent two different strategies in their revisionist approaches toward the original Kantian doctrine. While Cassirer attempts a revision in the sense of ‚critical idealism‘, Schlick attempts a revision in the sense of ‚critical realism‘. It will be shown that this contrast in programmatic outlook leads to significant divergences, especially in the respective theories of space and the correlated interpretations of Einstein's general…Read more
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Naturphilosophie als Metaphysik der Natur (review)Zeitschrift für Philosophische Forschung 62 (3). 2008.
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123Feigl’s ‘Scientific Realism’Philosophy of Science 78 (1): 165-183. 2011.This article considers the evolution of Feigl's attempt at establishing a stable form of scientific realism. I will argue that Feigl's work in that area should be appreciated for two reasons: it represents a telling case against the view of there being an unbridgeable ‘analytic-continental divide’ in the context of twentieth-century philosophy; it contradicts the idea that scientific realism is at odds with logical empiricism. It will be shown that Feigl developed his scientific realist position…Read more
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449Ostwald, Weber und die 'energetischen Grundlagen' der KulturwissenschaftIn Gerhard Wagner & Claudius Härpfer (eds.), Max Webers vergessene Zeitgenossen. Studien zur Genese der Wissenschaftslehre., Harrassowitz Verlag.. 2015.Wilhelm Ostwald’s program of a physical energetics is the attempt at a comprehensive description of nature on the basis of the concept of energy. In his book Energetische Grundlagen der Kulturwissenschaft, first published in 1909, Ostwald applies this conception to the area of culture. His central assumption is that cultural phenomena should be described by the energetic notion of “efficiency relation” (Güteverhältnis). His systematic thesis is that science, when organized according to the Machi…Read more
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44Zwei Formen des transzendentalen Revisionismus. ‚Wissenschaftliche Philosophie‘ beim frühen Ernst Cassirer und beim frühen Moritz SchlickKant Studien 102 (4): 455-476. 2011.In their early epistemological writings, Cassirer and Schlick represent two different strategies in their revisionist approaches toward the original Kantian doctrine. While Cassirer attempts a revision in the sense of ‚critical idealism‘, Schlick attempts a revision in the sense of ‚critical realism‘. It will be shown that this contrast in programmatic outlook leads to significant divergences, especially in the respective theories of space and the correlated interpretations of Einstein's general…Read more
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773Critical Realism in Perspective - Remarks on a Neglected Current in Neo-Kantian EpistemologyIn T. Uebel (ed.), Philosophy of Science in a European Perspective, Springer. pp. 657-673. 2014.Critical realism is a frequently mentioned, but not very well-known, late nineteenth-/early twentieth-century philosophical tradition. Having its roots in Kantian epistemology, critical realism is best characterized as a revisionist approach toward the original Kantian doctrine. Its most outstanding thesis is the idea that Kantian things-in-themselves are knowable. This idea was—at least implicitly—suggested by thinkers such as Alois Riehl, Wilhelm Wundt, and Oswald Külpe. Interestingly enough, …Read more
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20Realism as a Problem of Language – From Carnap to Reichenbach and KailaVienna Circle Institute Yearbook 16 37-56. 2012.Rudolf Carnap’s role in the debate over scientific realism is fairly unclear. In a certain sense, Carnap must be regarded as the one who rendered the whole issue irrelevant. However, it cannot be ignored that Carnap sometimes spoke of himself as an ‘empirical realist.’ So the question to be answered is: in what sense, if at all, did Carnap play a constructive role in the scientific realism debate. It is the aim of the present paper to tackle this question by investigating the relationship betwee…Read more
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24Is Logical Empiricism Compatible With Scientific Realism?Vienna Circle Institute Yearbook 17 249-262. 2014.Scientific realism is the view that the theoretical entities of science exist. Atoms, forces, electromagnetic fields, and so on, are not merely instruments for organizing observational data but are real and causally effective. This view seems to be hardly compatible with the logical empiricist agenda: As common wisdom has it, logical empiricism is mainly characterized by a strong verification criterion of meaning, i.e., by the project of defining the meaning of theoretical terms by virtue of the…Read more
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5Die Kulturphilosophie Ernst Cassirers – Neuere Forschungstrends und -perspektivenLatest Issue of Philosophische Rundschau 63 (3): 263-277. 2016.
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480David J. Chalmers: Constructing the World (review)Zeitschrift für Philosophische Forschung 68 (4): 648-652. 2014.
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Theoriebeladenheit und Objektivität. Zur Rolle von Beobachtungen in den Naturwissenschaften (review)Zeitschrift für Philosophische Forschung 57 (2). 2003.
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19Physics without Pictures?: The Ostwald-Boltzmann Controversy, and Mach’s Middle-WayVienna Circle Institute Yearbook 9 185-198. 2002.It is a common view in cognitive psychology that there is a fundamental difference between what may be called descriptive information, on the one hand, and depictive information, on the other. While the first kind of information is — ideally spoken — non-pictorial and usually equated with the content of a proposition, the second kind of information is pictorial by defmition and accordingly equated with the content of a mental image. Granting the correctness of this distinction, cognitive scienti…Read more
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15Günther Kebeck/Henning Schroll: Experimentelle ÄsthetikPhilosophischer Literaturanzeiger 64 (3): 253-258. 2011.
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11Anne Siegetsleitner: Ethik und Moral im Wiener Kreis. Zur Geschichte eines engagierten HumanismusPhilosophischer Literaturanzeiger 68 (3): 252-258. 2015.
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1714Philosophie der modernen Physik - Philipp Frank und Abel ReyGrazer Philosophische Studien 80 (1): 131-149. 2010.The aim of this paper is to show that the French philosopher and historian of science Abel Rey played a more influential role in the formative phase of the Vienna Circle than hitherto supposed. On the whole, it will be argued that Rey's contribution had political impact. His interpretation of "modern physics" in 1907 in the face of the alleged "bankruptcy of science" should be appreciated as a masterpiece of applied enlightenment thought. As such, it was especially paradigmatic for Philipp Frank…Read more
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41Matthias Koßler (Hg.): Musik als Wille und Welt. Schopenhauers Philosophie der MusikPhilosophischer Literaturanzeiger 64 (4): 349-355. 2011.
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233Review Don Ross, James Ladyman, Harold Kincaid (eds.): Scientific Metaphysics (review)Zeitschrift für Philosophische Forschung 68 (3): 426-430. 2014.
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132Invariance, Structure, Measurement – Eino Kaila and the History of Logical EmpiricismTheoria 78 (4): 358-383. 2012.Eino Kaila's thought occupies a curious position within the logical empiricist movement. Along with Hans Reichenbach, Herbert Feigl, and the early Moritz Schlick, Kaila advocates a realist approach towards science and the project of a “scientific world conception”. This realist approach was chiefly directed at both Kantianism and Poincaréan conventionalism. The case in point was the theory of measurement. According to Kaila, the foundations of physical reality are characterized by the existence …Read more
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20th Century Philosophy |
General Philosophy of Science |