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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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26Carsten Seck: Theorien und tatsachen. Eine untersuchung zur wissenschaftstheoriegeschichtlichen charakteristik der theoretischen philosophie Des frühen Moritz Schlick (review)Journal for General Philosophy of Science / Zeitschrift für Allgemeine Wissenschaftstheorie 40 (2): 399-401. 2009.
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25Michael Esfeld und Christian Sachse: Kausale Strukturen. Einheit und Vielfalt in der Natur und den Naturwissenschaften (review)Journal for General Philosophy of Science / Zeitschrift für Allgemeine Wissenschaftstheorie 42 (2): 415-419. 2011.
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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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21Perry, the ‘Ego-Centric Predicament’, and the Rise of Analytic Philosophy in the United StatesJournal of the American Philosophical Association 10 (1): 185-204. 2024.This paper examines Ralph Barton Perry's analysis of the ‘ego-centric predicament’. It will be shown that Perry convincingly argued against prevailing contemporary versions of idealism and that it makes perfectly good sense to consider him a precursor of subsequent trends in American analytic philosophy. Perry's appraisal and promotion of the contemporary logic of relations in the framework of early twentieth-century American neorealism provides further evidence of his being a proto-analytic phi…Read more
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21Reichenbach: scientific realist and logical empricist?Synthese 199 (3-4): 8875-8897. 2021.Hans Reichenbach’s position in the debate over scientific realism is remarkable. On the one hand, he endorsed the programmatic premises of logical empiricism; on the other, he explicitly employed a realist approach to conceptions such as reference, causality, and inference to the best explanation. How could that work out? It will be shown in the present paper that in Reichenbach’s view scientific realism is not, as frequently assumed, opposed to logical empiricism but rather to logical positivis…Read more
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20Heinz Steinert: Max Webers unwiderlegbare Fehlkonstruktionen. Die protestantische Ethik und der Geist des KapitalismusPhilosophischer Literaturanzeiger 67 (4): 369-372. 2014.
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20Nagel on the Methodology of the Social SciencesIn Matthias Neuber & Adam Tamas Tuboly (eds.), Ernest Nagel: Philosophy of Science and the Fight for Clarity, Springer. pp. 215-232. 2021.Ernest Nagel was one of the first philosophers of science who reflected systematically on the methodology of the social sciences. His cooperation with Paul F. Lazarsfeld at Columbia University proved to be instructive in this regard. Moreover, Nagel stood in close contact with representatives of sociological functionalism and published, in 1956, a contribution on the prospects of a formalization of functionalism. In his seminal The Structure of Science from 1961, Nagel devoted two long chapters …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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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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18Physics 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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18Charles-Augustin Sainte-Beuve: Menschen des XVIII. JahrhundertsPhilosophischer Literaturanzeiger 67 (4): 366-372. 2014.
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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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17Physics without Pictures? The Ostwald-Boltzmann Controversy, and Mach's (Unnoticed) Middle-WayIn M. Heidelberger F. Stadler (ed.), Vienna Circle Institute Yearbook, Springer. pp. 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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17Die Kulturphilosophie Ernst Cassirers. Neuere Forschungstrends und -perspektivenLatest Issue of Philosophische Rundschau 63 (2): 123-142. 2016.
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17Idealismus, „neuer“ Realismus und die Anfänge der analytischen Philosophie in den Vereinigten StaatenArchiv für Geschichte der Philosophie 105 (4): 648-684. 2023.Analytic philosophy in the United States emerged parallel to the demise of idealism. During the second half of the nineteenth century, Josiah Royce had contributed importantly to the predominance of idealist systems and corresponding academic groups. With the rise of pragmatism and new realism, the situation changed dramatically: the idealist movement lost momentum and realism began to dominate the discourse. The present paper argues that the critiques of idealism put forward by the realists dur…Read more
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17Between Pragmatism and RealismEuropean Journal of Pragmatism and American Philosophy 11 (1). 2019.This paper explores the philosophical approach of the Swedish-born thinker John Elof Boodin. It will be shown that Boodin’s philosophical development ran through various stages, beginning with more or less “orthodox” pragmatism and ending with what he labeled “functional” realism. My principal thesis is that, in the last analysis, Boodin failed in establishing a stable systematic point of view. However, his philosophical development is worth considering in some detail because it nicely reflects …Read more
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16Volker Kruse, Uwe Barrelmeyer: Max Weber. Eine EinführungPhilosophischer Literaturanzeiger 65 (4): 312-318. 2012.
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15Günther Kebeck/Henning Schroll: Experimentelle ÄsthetikPhilosophischer Literaturanzeiger 64 (3): 253-258. 2011.
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14Ernest Nagel’s “The Philosophy of Science” Lecture at the Delaware SeminarIn Matthias Neuber & Adam Tamas Tuboly (eds.), Ernest Nagel: Philosophy of Science and the Fight for Clarity, Springer. pp. 315-339. 2021.Among the “Ernest Nagel Papers 1930–1988” at Columbia University’s Rare Book & Manuscript Library, there is a file at Box 7, entitled “The Philosophy of Science: University of Delaware 1961”. This is the edited text with some editorial comments and polishing.
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14Torsten Wilholt: Die Freiheit der Forschung: Begrenzungen und BegründungenJournal for General Philosophy of Science / Zeitschrift für Allgemeine Wissenschaftstheorie 44 (2): 397-399. 2013.Torsten Wilholt’s book on the freedom of research is a remarkable contribution to a long-standing debate over an issue which is becoming increasingly important today. As Wilholt points out in the preface, the topic ‘freedom of research’ has a twofold face: On the one hand, freedom of research is the presupposition of an engaged and unprejudiced search for knowledge; on the other hand, it implies the risk of borderless and ‘untamed’ research. In considering this contradiction, Wilholt makes recou…Read more
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14What We Talk About When We Talk About This Being BlueEuropean Journal of Pragmatism and American Philosophy 14 (1). 2022.The relationship between American pragmatism and American critical realism needs to be reconsidered. The two currents shared many aspects, but there were also significant differences. One of these differences pertains to the object of perception or, more precisely, to the question of what we talk about when we talk about this, for example, being blue. By re-addressing that question, some light can be shed on the historical development of analytic philosophy in the United States during the first …Read more
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14Perception in Plato’s Heaven?European Journal of Pragmatism and American Philosophy 15 (2). 2023.American critical realism was defended in two versions, an “essentialist” and an “empirical.” The main proponent of the essentialist version was George Santayana, who in his Scepticism and Animal Faith (1923) outlined a critical realist account of epistemology based substantially on an articulate doctrine of essences. In the present paper, an attempt is made to critically examine the resulting approach, particularly in relation to perception. It will be argued that Santayana failed to develop a …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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12Michael Tomasello: Eine Naturgeschichte der menschlichen MoralPhilosophischer Literaturanzeiger 74 (1): 44-48. 2021.
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12Interview with Ernest Nagel by Remmel NunnIn Matthias Neuber & Adam Tamas Tuboly (eds.), Ernest Nagel: Philosophy of Science and the Fight for Clarity, Springer. pp. 257-314. 2021.
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10Anne Siegetsleitner: Ethik und Moral im Wiener Kreis. Zur Geschichte eines engagierten HumanismusPhilosophischer Literaturanzeiger 68 (3): 252-258. 2015.
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10Külpe and American Critical RealismDiscipline filosofiche. 27 (2): 205-222. 2017.It is shown that Külpe’s critical realism anticipates several elements of modern scientific realism. Furthermore, a comparison with contemporary American critical realism is drawn. On the whole, it is argued that more intensive relevant research in the future is needed.
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10In der Studie geht Matthias Neuber der Frage nach, in welchem Verhältnis das Konzept des Realismus und der logische Empirismus des Wiener Kreises, eine der dominanten Strömungen der deutschsprachigen theoretischen Philosophie des frühen 20. Jahrhunderts, zueinander stehen. Diese Fragestellung ist in der philosophiehistorischen Forschung bislang nur am Rande behandelt worden. Das ist umso erstaunlicher, als die neuere wissenschaftsphilosophische Realismusdebatte gerade durch den logischen Empiris…Read more
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9Introduction: Ernest Nagel and the Making of Philosophy of Science a ProfessionIn Matthias Neuber & Adam Tamas Tuboly (eds.), Ernest Nagel: Philosophy of Science and the Fight for Clarity, Springer. pp. 1-27. 2021.This chapter provides an overview of the life and philosophy of Ernest Nagel, as well as a summary of the chapters in this volume. Regarding Nagel's philosophy, we focus on his role and activities to stabilize analytic philosophy and make it a profession, his views about the role and nature of history and sociology of science, naturalism, and socially engaged philosophy, and finally his understanding of the relation between science, society, and philosophy.
Tübingen, Baden-Württemberg, Germany
Areas of Specialization
20th Century Philosophy |
General Philosophy of Science |