Scientific Philosophy: Origins and Development is the first Yearbook of the Vienna Circle Institute, which was founded in October 1991. The book contains original contributions to an international symposium which was the first public event to be organised by the Institute: Vienna--Berlin--Prague: The Rise of Scientific Philosophy: The Centenaries of Rudolf Carnap, Hans Reichenbach and Edgar Zilsel.'
The first section of the book - Scientific Philosophy - Origins and Developments' reveals the extent of scientific communication in the inter-War years between these great...

Constructibility and complexity play central roles in recent research in computer science, mathematics and physics. For example, scientists are investigating the complexity of computer programs, constructive proofs in mathematics and the randomness of physical processes. But there are different approaches to the explication of these concepts. This volume presents important research on the state of this discussion, especially as it refers to quantum mechanics.
This foundational debate' in computer science, mathematics and physics was already fully developed in 1930 in the Vienna Circle....

This work is for scholars, researchers and students in history and philosophy of science focusing on Logical Empiricism and analytic philosophy (of science). It provides historical and systematic research and deals with the influence and impact of the Vienna Circle/Logical Empiricism on today's philosophy of science. It also explores the intellectual context of this scientific philosophy and focuses on main figures and peripheral adherents.

The articles in this volume deal with the main inferential methods that can be applied to different kinds of experimental evidence. These contributions - accompanied with critical comments - by renowned scholars in the field of philosophy of science aim at removing the traditional opposition between inductivists and deductivists. They explore the different methods of explanation and justification in the sciences in different contexts and with different objectives.
The volume contains contributions on methods of the sciences, especially on induction, deduction, abduction, laws, probability...

Zu Unrecht kennt weder die deutsch- noch die englischsprachige Literatur eine umfassende Gesamtschau von Leben und Werk von Felix Kaufmann (1895-1949), dem "Phanomenologen des Wiener Kreises." Diesem Mistand abzuhelfen, ist Ziel dieser Publikation. Er war ein Mittler zwischen verschiedenen Forschungsbereichen - als Jurist, Philosoph, Wissenschaftstheoretiker und Sozialwissenschaftler mit naturwissenschaftlichen Interessen. In einer Zeit, die Interdisziplinaritat zwar als Schlagwort und wiederkehrende Forderung im Wissenschaftsbetrieb kennt, in der aber eine Umsetzung in die Praxis dennoch...

Die Beitrage internationaler WissenschaftlerInnen behandeln die aktuelle Lage der aus Osterreich stammenden Stromungen 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 Osterreich eng verbundenen Philosophen der ersten Halfte unseres Jahrhunderts: Popper, Feyerabend, Carnap, Neurath und Zilsel. Insgesamt liefern die Beitrage, dem Titel entsprechend, aufeinander bezogene Bausteine fur ein dynamisches, offenes...

Egon Brunswik ist - wie viele andere - durch seine Emigration aus dem geistigen Leben seiner ehemaligen Heimat Osterreich verschwunden. Im Ausland aber ist seine Bedeutung als Wissenschaftstheoretiker der Psychologie, wie auch als Methodologe und Wissenschaftshistoriker ebenso unbestritten, wie sein Anteil an der Uberwindung des mechanistisch-kausalistischen Welt- und Menschenbildes. Dieses Buch hat es sich zur Aufgabe gesetzt, diesen Denker zwischen Buhler-Schule und Wiener Kreis fur den deutschsprachigen Raum neu zu entdecken. Die Schwerpunkte liegen in den wesentlichen Elementen seiner...

The present Volume 4 of the Vienna Circle Yearbook is dedicated to Otto Neurath, one of the leading figures of the Vienna Circle and one of last polymaths representative of the vanished culture from which the Circle emerged. Situating Neurath's work between the topoi of Encyclopedism - as a theoretical, scientific tool of the unfinished' project of (post-) enlightenment - and Utopianism - as the resolve to work for the systematic improvement of society and science - this volume presents the most recent research as well as critical and updated surveys and assessments of Neurath's...

Thisvolume combines the theoretical and historical perspective focusing on the specific features of a European philosophy of science. On the occasion of the 20th anniversary of the Institute Vienna Circle the Viennese roots and influences will be addressed, in addition.There is no doubt that contemporary philosophy of science originated mainly in Europe beginning in the 19th century and has influenced decisively the subsequent development of globalized philosophy of science, esp. in North America. Recent research in this field documents some specific characteristics of philosophy of science...

This volume is a serious attempt to open up the subject of European philosophy of science to real thought, and provide the structural basis for the interdisciplinary development of its specialist fields, but also to provoke reflection on the idea of 'European philosophy of science'. This efforts should foster a contemporaneous reflection on what might be meant by philosophy of science in Europe and European philosophy of science, and how in fact awareness of it could assist philosophers interpret and motivate their research through a stronger collective identity.The overarching aim is to set...