Friedrich Stadler

On the face of it ‘deterministic chance’ is an oxymoron: either a process is chancy or deterministic, but not both. Nevertheless, the world is rife with processes that seem to be exactly that: chancy and deterministic at once. Simple gambling devices like coins and dice are cases in point.2 On the one hand they are governed by deterministic laws – the laws of classical mechanics – and hence given the initial condition of, say, a coin it is determined whether it will land heads or tails when tossed.3 On the other hand, we commonly assign probabilities to the different outcomes of a coin toss, and doing so has proven successful in guiding our actions. The same dilemma also emerges in less mundane contexts. Classical statistical mechanics assigns probabilities to the occurrence of certain events – for instance to the spreading of a gas that is originally confined to the left half of a container – but at the same time assumes that the relevant systems are deterministic. How can this apparent conflict be resolved?

The University of Vienna saw witness to the Opening Conference of the ESF-Research Networking Programme “The Philosophy of Science in a European perspective” (PSE) which was organised by the Vienna Circle Institute and took place on the 18-20 December at the Campus of the University of Vienna, 2008. Its overarching aim was to set the background for a collaborative project organising, systematising, and ultimately forging an identity for, European philosophy of science by creating research structures and developing research networks across Europe to promote its development. As such under the general rubric of ‘the present situation in the philosophy of science’, the emphasis was on as a first step identifying traditions and research structures already present, and the directions in which this research was leading.

This book explores the complexity of two philosophical traditions, extending from their origins to the current developments in neopragmatism. Chapters deal with the first encounters of these traditions and beyond, looking at metaphysics and the Vienna circle as well as semantics and the principle of tolerance. There is a general consensus that North-American (neo-)pragmatism and European Logical Empiricism were converging philosophical traditions, especially after the forced migration of the European Philosophers. But readers will discover a pluralist image of this relation and interaction with an obvious family resemblance. This work clarifies and specifies the common features and differences of these currents since the beginning of their mutual scientific communication in the 19th century. The book draws on collaboration between authors and philosophers from Vienna, Tübingen, and Helsinki, and their networks. It will appeal to philosophers, scholars in the history of philosophy, philosophers of science, pragmatists and beyond.

Rudolf Haller was one of the pioneers of “Austrian philosophy” and analytic philosophy dealing with Bolzano, Brentano, Meinong, and Mach up to Wittgenstein and the Vienna Circle, especially Schlick and Neurath. As professor at the University of Graz he fostered this field with his teaching and research and promoted it together with a lot of invited renowned foreign scholars. In addition, he created the influential Grazer Forschungs- und Dokumentationsstelle für Österreichische Philosophie which hosts important philosophical archives. Moreover, he co-founded the Austrian Ludwig Wittgenstein Society in Kirchberg/W. in 1976 and supported the Institute Vienna Circle since its establishment in Vienna in 1991. This article is a personal review and remembrance of the author’s pleasing interaction and cooperation with Rudolf Haller, as an appreciation of his extraordinary achievements.

Research and publications on Wittgenstein and on the Vienna Circle of Logical Empiricism have been steadily increasing in recent decades. Nevertheless, detailed comparisons between the single famous philosopher and the influential circle around Moritz Schlick are less often undertaken. To be sure, the reception and impact of Wittgenstein’s Tractatus (TLP) on the Vienna Circle is a familiar topic as are the conversations Wittgenstein had with Schlick and Waismann. This introductory essay suggests that a broader focus be adopted. The first part provides an overview of the multi-faceted Vienna Circle based on recent historiography and primary sources; the second part offers a new perspective on the complex relations between Wittgenstein and the Vienna Circle. To this end, a case study of a central relevant document is provided, namely of Rose Rand’s “Development of the Theses of the ‘Vienna Circle’” (1932/33). A close reading of this unique source sheds new light on the central philosophical triangle of Wittgenstein-Schlick-Waismann and opens up new avenues for future analyses. These considerations are offered to provide a thematic frame for the papers contained in this volume documenting the international conference on “Wittgenstein and the Vienna Circle”, held in Vienna, June 2021 to mark the centenary of the publication of Wittgenstein’s Logisch-philosophische Abhandlung (1921) / Tractatus Logico-Philosophicus (1922).

This book offers a critical update of current Wittgenstein research on the Tractatus logico-philosophicus (TLP) and its relation to the Vienna Circle. The contributions are written by renowned Wittgenstein scholars, on the occasion of the "Wittgenstein Years" 1921/1922 with a special focus on its origin, reception, and interpretation then and now. The main topic is the mutual relation between Wittgenstein and the Vienna Circle (esp. Schlick, Waismann, Carnap, Gödel), but also Russell and Ramsey. In addition, included in this volume are new studies on Wittgenstein's life and work, on the philosophy of the TLP, and on the Wittgenstein family in philosophical and historical context. Furthermore, unpublished documents on Wittgenstein and Waismann from the archives are provided in form of edited and commented primary sources. As per the book series' usual format, a general part of this Yearbook covers a study on Neurath's economy as well as reviews of related publications.

Die Beiträge internationaler WissenschaftlerInnen behandeln die aktuelle Lage der aus Österreich stammenden Strömungen des Logischen Empirismus, des Kritischen Rationalismus und der analytischen Sprach- und Wissenschaftstheorie. Eingebettet in theoretische Abhandlungen finden sich biographische Artikel zu einigen der wichtigsten und mit Österreich eng verbundenen Philosophen der ersten Hälfte unseres Jahrhunderts: Popper, Feyerabend, Carnap, Neurath und Zilsel. Insgesamt liefern die Beiträge, dem Titel entsprechend, aufeinander bezogene Bausteine für ein dynamisches, offenes wissenschaftliches Weltbild, welches sich der logisch-rationalen Analyse und der kritisch-empirischen Aufklärung verpflichtet fühlt.

Der Band "Die europäische Wissenschaftsphilosophie und das Wiener Erbe" beschäftigt sich mit der Wissenschaftsphilosophie europäischer Prägung und ihren spezifischen Eigenschaften und enthält Beiträge aus theoretischer wie auch aus historischer Perspektive. Dabei werden auch die genuin Wiener Wurzeln und Einflüsse der Wissenschaftsphilosophie behandelt. Wenn man den europäischen Gesichtspunkt um die Geschichte und den gegenwärtigen Stand der Wissenschaftsphilosophie nach der transatlantischen Interaktion und Transformation, die „Rückkehr“ nach Europa nach dem Zweiten Weltkrieg erweitert, so stellt sich die Frage danach, ob es auch in der heutigen Wissenschaftsphilosophie europäische Charakteristika gibt. Auch die Rolle und Funktion des Wiener Kreises des Logischen Empirismus wie auch sein Einfluss auf die gegenwärtige Wissenschaftsphilosophie wird hier behandelt. Dementsprechend wird das Thema sowohl systematisch-formal als auch genetisch-historisch behandelt.

Der Einfluss des Wiener Kreises zeigt sich bis heute auf allen Gebieten der Philosophie. Mit der erzwungenen Emigration der meisten Mitglieder wurde diese logisch-empiristische Tradition in Mitteleuropa jedoch vorerst unterbrochen. Erst als der logische Empirismus nach dem 2. Weltkrieg in der angelsächsischen Welt zu einer wichtigen Denkrichtung geworden war, wirkte er von dort zurück nach Mitteleuropa. In den Beiträgen analysieren und bewerten namhafte Experten die Auswirkungen des Logischen Empirismus auf die Entwicklung der Philosophie in Ungarn.

Ernst Mach zählt zu den bedeutendsten Naturwissenschaftlern und Philosophen des 19. und 20. Jahrhunderts. In der Physik gilt er als Wegbereiter von Einsteins Relativitätstheorie und Kontrahent von Boltzmanns Atomistik. In der Biologie, Psychologie und Physiologie wird er als Pionier einer empiristischen und gestalthaften „Analyse der Empfindungen“ betrachtet. In der Wissenschaftsphilosophie schließlich war er Vorbild des Wiener Kreises mit dem Verein Ernst Mach und Wegbereiter einer integrierten Wissenschaftsgeschichte und Wissenschaftstheorie. Der Band versammelt die deutschsprachigen Beiträge zum Symposium anlässlich des 100. Todestages von Ernst Mach. Im Mittelpunkt der internationalen Konferenz im Juni 2016 an der Universität Wien und der Österreichischen Akademie der Wissenschaften standen Leben, Werk und Wirkung des Naturforschers und Philosophen. Der Band bietet eine kritische Bestandsaufnahme von Machs Lebenswerk vor dem Hintergrund der aktuellen Forschung und Historiografie. Die Autoren untersuchen unter anderem • seine Bedeutung für die Herausbildung einer naturwissenschaftlichen Psychologie • Machs historisch-kritische Methode • die Rolle der Kinematographie • die Rezeption durch Aleksander Bogdanov • das Verhältnis zu Sigmund Freuds Psychoanalyse Der Band erscheint in der Reihe „Veröffentlichungen des Instituts Wiener Kreis“ und richtet sich an Forschende auf den Gebieten der Wissenschaftsphilosophie, -geschichte und -theorie sowie der Kulturwissenschaften und der Wahrnehmungspsychologie.

The book discusses Franz Brentano’s impact on Austrian philosophy. It contains both a critical reassessment of Brentano’s place in the development of Austrian philosophy at the turn of the 20th century and a reevaluation of the impact and significance of his philosophy of mind or ‘descriptive psychology’ which was Brentano's most important contribution to contemporary philosophy and to the philosophy in Vienna. In addition, the relation between Brentano, phenomenology, and the Vienna Circle is investigated, together with a related documentation of Brentano's disciple Alfred Kastil. The general part deals with the ongoing discussion of Carnap's "Aufbau" and the philosophy of mind, with a focus on physicalism as discussed by Carnap and Wittgenstein. As usual, two reviews of recent publications in the philosophy of mathematics and research on Otto Neurath's lifework are included as related research contributions. This book is of interest to students, historians, and philosophers dealing with the history of Austrian and German philosophy in the 19th and 20th century.

Ernst Mach was already an international successful experimental physicist and scientist, when he, after professorships for Mathematics and Physics in Graz and Experimental Physics in Prague, took over the chair for “Philosophy, particularly for the History and Theory of the Inductive Sciences”, at the University of Vienna in 1895. This turn from the natural sciences to philosophy was really an exception in the academic field.Given his strong as well as controversial history of influence in philosophy and in the sciences Mach’s own pessimistic statement about the emergence of aprioristic currents at the beginning of the twentieth century is surprising and in need of an explanation.The article deals with Mach’s appointment in Vienna and Mach’s autobiographical fragments on his relation to academic philosophy from a today’s point of view. It appears that Mach can be regarded as a pioneer and predecessor of a topical “historical epistemology”, “history and philosophy of science”, and above all as a theorist and practitioner of inter- and transdisciplinarity. If he is to be regarded a philosopher, it is mainly in the context of naturalism, pragmatism and common sense philosophy – as general theory of research.

Otto Neurath experienced an adventurous as well as dangerous life. Already in his childhood, he was fascinated by his father’s huge library. He was especially impressed by images and illustrations since Ancient times and the French Encyclopédie, which inspired his lifelong dealing with picture language. This became manifest with the founding of his “Social and Economic Museum of Vienna” and the invention of his “Vienna Method of Pictorial Language,” later on renamed ISOTYPE. In the flourishing period of “Red Vienna” he acquired a lot of books in several languages covering his research fields and practical activities as a social reformer, teacher and museologist, philosopher, sociologist and historian of science. With his forced migrations from Vienna and The Hague, this most valuable collection of books and brochures was partly destroyed, dispersed, and aryanized, when Austro-Fascism came into power in Austria and Hitler’s troops invaded into the Netherlands. Luckily, Otto Neurath and some members of his family and collaborators could survive and save parts of this unique collection of books which mirrors the education and intellectual background of the polymath Neurath in Dutch and British exile. Here, he again bought and published books continuing his activities for the Vienna Circle of Logical Empiricism as well as the Unity of Science and the Isotype movements covering some 3000 books in 1945. Three typical case studies from the Neurath library are provided covering economics, philosophy, and literature: Neurath’s annotations in books of Friedrich A. von Hayek, Karl Popper, and the writer Stefan Zweig.

This book features papers on the history and philosophy of science. It also includes related reviews of recent research literature on Rudolf Carnap, Eino Kaila, Ernst Mach, and Otto Neurath. The central idea behind this volume is that this distinctive field is both historical and philosophical at the same time. Good history and philosophy of science is not just history of science into which some philosophy of science may enter. On the other hand, it is neither philosophy of science into which some history of science may enter. The founding insight of this modern research discipline is that history and philosophy have a special affinity and one can effectively advance both simultaneously. The selection of contributions collected in this volume are good examples and best practices for these claims. In addition, it includes illuminating case studies. It will appeal to scholars in the history of and philosophy of science, especially history and philosophy of physics and biology, as well as economics, extended evolution, and the history of knowledge.