Book contents
- Interpreting Mach
- Interpreting Mach
- Copyright page
- Dedication
- Contents
- Figures
- Tables
- Contributors
- Introduction
- 1 Ernst Mach’s Piano and the Making of a Psychophysical Imaginarium
- 2 Mother’s Milk and More
- 3 Meaningful Work
- 4 Mach on Analogy in Science
- 5 Ernst Mach’s Enlightenment Pragmatism
- 6 On the Philosophical and Scientific Relationship between Ernst Mach and William James
- 7 Ernst Mach and Friedrich Nietzsche
- 8 Abstraction, Pragmatism, and History in Mach’s Economy of Science
- 9 Holding the Hand of History
- 10 Ernst Mach and the Vienna Circle
- 11 Narratives Divided
- 12 Phenomenalism, or Neutral Monism, in Mach’s Analysis of Sensations?
- 13 The Case for Mach’s Neutral Monism
- Index
- References
10 - Ernst Mach and the Vienna Circle
A Re-evaluation of the Reception and Influence of His Work
Published online by Cambridge University Press: 05 March 2021
Edited by
Book contents
- Interpreting Mach
- Interpreting Mach
- Copyright page
- Dedication
- Contents
- Figures
- Tables
- Contributors
- Introduction
- 1 Ernst Mach’s Piano and the Making of a Psychophysical Imaginarium
- 2 Mother’s Milk and More
- 3 Meaningful Work
- 4 Mach on Analogy in Science
- 5 Ernst Mach’s Enlightenment Pragmatism
- 6 On the Philosophical and Scientific Relationship between Ernst Mach and William James
- 7 Ernst Mach and Friedrich Nietzsche
- 8 Abstraction, Pragmatism, and History in Mach’s Economy of Science
- 9 Holding the Hand of History
- 10 Ernst Mach and the Vienna Circle
- 11 Narratives Divided
- 12 Phenomenalism, or Neutral Monism, in Mach’s Analysis of Sensations?
- 13 The Case for Mach’s Neutral Monism
- Index
- References
Summary
There is a familiar narrative of the development from Ernst Mach’s 'positivism' to the more sophisticated 'neo-positivism' of the Vienna Circle, with language analysis and formal logic as additional ingredients. But we also see an alternative historiography telling of the rise and decline of scientific philosophy and the genetic theory of learning from Mach to the Vienna Circle. Recent research on Mach uncovers a more complex and multifaceted influence and pluralist reception of his work within the Vienna Circle based on a general appreciation of his empiricism and his idea of the unity of science. This chapter reconstructs the complex and diverse reception of Mach by main members of the Vienna Circle, showing the inherent pluralism based on the common anti-Kantian and 'late Enlightenment' consensus between empiricism and pragmatism, with Mach figuring as a critic of 'school philosophy' and a pioneer of contemporary history and philosophy of science. The thesis of a strong positive reception and further development and extension (regarding language and logic) of Mach’s doctrines with a critical distance vis-à-vis academic metaphysical philosophy is demonstrated as a manifestation of Mach’s function as a role model and predecessor of Viennese Logical Empiricism from the 'First Vienna Circle' to the heyday of the Schlick Circle.
- Type
- Chapter
- Information
- Interpreting MachCritical Essays, pp. 184 - 207Publisher: Cambridge University PressPrint publication year: 2021
References
Banks, Erik C. 2003. Ernst Mach’s World Elements: A Study in Natural Philosophy. Kluwer.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Banks, Erik C. 2014. The Realistic Empiricism of Mach, James, and Russell: Neutral Monism Reconceived. Cambridge University Press.Google Scholar
Belke, Ingrid 1978. Die sozialreformerischen Ideen von Josef Popper-Lynkeus (1838–1921) im Zusammenhang mit allgemeinen Reformbestrebungen des Wiener Bürgertums um die Jahrhundertwende. J.C.B. Mohr.Google Scholar
Blackmore, John T. 1972. Ernst Mach: His Work, Life, and Influence. University of California Press.Google Scholar
Blackmore, John T. 1978. ‘Three Autobiographical Manuscripts by Ernst Mach’, Annals of Science 35: 401–418.Google Scholar
Blackmore, John T. (ed.) 1992. Ernst Mach – A Deeper Look. Documents and New Perspectives. Kluwer.Google Scholar
Blackmore, John T. (ed.) 1995. Ludwig Boltzmann: His Later Life and Philosophy, 1900–1906, 2 Vols. Kluwer.Google Scholar
Blackmore, John T. and Hentschel, Klaus (eds.) 1985. Ernst Mach als Außenseiter. Machs Briefwechsel über Philosophie und Relativitätstheorie mit Persönlichkeiten seiner Zeit. Braumüller.Google Scholar
Bonk, Thomas (ed.) 2003. Language, Truth and Knowledge. Contributions to the Philosophy of Rudolf Carnap. Springer.Google Scholar
Brentano, Franz 1988. Über Ernst Machs ‘Erkenntnis und Irrtum’. Edited and introduced by Roderick M. Chisholm und Johann C. Marek. Rodopi.Google Scholar
Carnap, Rudolf 1963. ‘Intellectual Autobiography’, in Schilpp, P. A. (ed.), The Philosophy of Rudolf Carnap. Open Court, pp. 1–84.Google Scholar
Carnap, Rudolf 1967. The Logical Structure of the World, and Pseudoproblems in Philosophy. University of California Press.Google Scholar
Carus, Andre W. 2007. Carnap and Twentieth-Century Thought. Explication as Enlightenment. Cambridge University Press.Google Scholar
Cohen, Robert S. and Seeger, Raymond J. (eds.) 1970. Ernst Mach: Physicist and Philosopher. D. Reidel.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Creath, Richard (ed.) 2012. Rudolf Carnap and the Legacy of Logical Empiricism. Springer.Google Scholar
Duhem, Pierre 1908. Ziel und Struktur der physikalischen Theorien. Autorisierte Übersetzung von Friedrich Adler. Mit einem Vorwort von Ernst Mach. Mit einer Einleitung Hrsg. Von Lothar Schäfer. Meiner.Google Scholar
Einstein, Albert 1916. ‘Ernst Mach’, Physikalische Zeitschrift 17: 101–104. English translation in John T. Blackmore (ed.), Ernst Mach – A Deeper Look. Documents and New Perspectives. Kluwer, 1992, pp. 154–159.Google Scholar
Feigl, Herbert 1969. ‘The Wiener Kreis in America’, in Fleming, D. and Bailyn, B. (eds.), The Intellectual Migration: Europe and America, 1930–1960. Harvard University Press, pp. 630–673.Google Scholar
Feigl, Herbert 1981. Inquiries and Provocations. Selected Writings 1929–1974. Ed. Cohen, R. S.. Springer.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Feigl, Herbert and Blumberg, A. 1974. ‘Introduction’, in Schlick, M., General Theory of Knowledge. Transl. Blumberg, A. E.. Springer, pp. xvii–xxvi.Google Scholar
Feyerabend, Paul K. 1988. ‘Machs Theorie der Forschung und ihre Beziehung zu Einstein’, in Haller, Rudolf and Stadler, F. (eds.), Ernst Mach – Werk und Wirkung. Hölder-Pichler-Tempsky, pp. 435–462.Google Scholar
Fisette, Denis 2014. ‘Austrian Philosophy and Its Institutions: Remarks on the Philosophical Society of the University of Vienna (1888–1938)’, in Reboul, A. (ed.), Mind, Values, and Metaphysics. Springer, pp. 349–374.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Fisette, Denis, Fréchette, Guillaume, and Stadler, Friedrich (eds.) 2020. Franz Brentano and Austrian Philosophy. Springer.Google Scholar
Frank, Philipp 1932/1998. Das Kausalgesetz und seine Grenzen. Springer. English translation, The Law of Causality and Its Limits. Ed. R. S. Cohen. Kluwer.Google Scholar
Frank, Philipp 1938. ‘Ernst Mach – The Centenary of his Birth’, Erkenntnis 7: 247–256.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Frank, Philipp 1949a. ‘Einstein, Mach, and Logical Positivism’, in Schilpp, P. A. (ed.), Albert Einstein: Philosopher–Scientist. Open Court, pp. 271–286.Google Scholar
Hahn, Hans 1930. Überflüssige Wesenheiten. (Occams Rasiermesser). A. Wolf Verlag. English translation, ‘Superfluous Entities, or Occam’s Razor’, in H. Hahn, Empiricism, Logic, and Mathematics. Philosophical Papers. Ed. B. F. McGuinness. D. Reidel, 1980, pp. 1–20.Google Scholar
Hahn, Hans 1933. Logik, Mathematik, Naturerkennen. Gerold & Co. English translation, ‘Logic, Mathematics, and Knowledge’, in McGuinness, Brian F. (ed.), Unified Science. The Vienna Circle Monograph Series, originally edited by Neurath, Otto, in an English edition. D. Reidel, 1987, pp. 24–45.Google Scholar
Haller, Rudolf 1979. Studien zur österreichischen Philosophie. Variationen über ein Thema. Rodopi.Google Scholar
Haller, Rudolf 1985. ‘Der erste Wiener Kreis’, in Haller, R., Fragen zu Wittgenstein und Aufsätze zur österreichischen Philosophie. Brill, pp. 89–107.Google Scholar
Haller, Rudolf 1988. ‘Grundzüge der Machschen Philosophie’, in Haller, Rudolf and Stadler, F. (eds.), Ernst Mach – Werk und Wirkung. Hölder-Pichler-Tempsky, pp. 64–86.Google Scholar
Haller, Rudolf and Stadler, F. (eds.) 1988. Ernst Mach – Werk und Wirkung. Hölder-Pichler-Tempsky.Google Scholar
Hentschel, Klaus 1986. ‘Die Korrespondenz Einstein-Schlick: Zum Verhältnis der Physik zur Philosophie’, Annals of Science 43: 475–488.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Holton, Gerald 1993. ‘From the Vienna Circle to Harvard Square: The Americanization of a European World Conception’, in Stadler, F. (ed.), Scientific Philosophy – Origins and Developments. Kluwer, pp. 47–73.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Kraft, Viktor 1918. ‘Ein österreichischer Denker: Ernst Mach’, Donauland 2: 1209–1213.Google Scholar
Kraft, Viktor 1966. ‘Ernst Mach als Philosoph’, Almanach der Österreichischen Akademie der Wissenschaften 116: 373–387.Google Scholar
Kraft, Viktor 1925. ‘Die Grundformen der wissenschaftlichen Methoden’, Sitzungsberichte der österreichischen Akademie der Wissenschaften, philos.-historische Klasse 203: 1–104.Google Scholar
Kusch, Martin 1995. Psychologism. A Case Study in the Sociology of Philosophical Knowledge. Routledge.Google Scholar
Lenin, Vladimir I. 1909. Materialismus und Empiriokritizismus. Kritische Bemerkungen über eine reaktionäre Philosophie. Russian edition: Zveno. First German edition: Verlag für Literatur und Politik, 1927. English edition: Materialism and Empirio-Criticism. International Publishers, 1927.Google Scholar
Limbeck-Lilienau, Christoph 2018. ‘The First Vienna Circle: Myth or Reality?’, Hungarian Philosophical Review 62: 50–65.Google Scholar
Mach, Ernst 1883a. Die Mechanik in ihrer Entwicklung historisch-kritisch dargestellt. J. A. Barth. Translated as The Science of Mechanics: A Critical and Historical Account of its Development. Translated by T. J. McCormack. Open Court, 1960.Google Scholar
Mach, Ernst 1883b. Principles of the Theory of Heat. Historically and Critically Elucidated. Ed. McGuinness, B. F.. Kluwer.Google Scholar
Mach, Ernst 1886. Populär-wissenschaftliche Vorlesungen. J. A. Barth. Translated as Popular Scientific Lectures. Open Court, 1986.Google Scholar
Mach, Ernst 1911. History and Root of the Principle of the Conservation of Energy. Open Court.Google Scholar
Mach, Ernst 1959. The Analysis of Sensations and the Relation of the Physical to the Psychical. Dover.Google Scholar
Mach, Ernst 1960. The Science of Mechanics: A Critical and Historical Account of its Development. Translated by Thomas J. McCormack. New Introduction by Karl Menger. Open Court.Google Scholar
Mach, Ernst 1976. Knowledge and Error. Sketches on the Psychology of Enquiry. D. Reidel.Google Scholar
Maddalena, Giovanni, and Stadler, Friedrich (eds.) 2019. European Pragmatism. Historical and Contemporary Perspectives (European Journal of Pragmatism and American Philosophy). Available from https://journals.openedition.org/ejpap/Google Scholar
McGuinness, Brian F. (ed.) 1987. Unified Science. The Vienna Circle Monograph Series, originally edited by Neurath, Otto, in an English edition. D. Reidel.Google Scholar
Menger, Karl 1970. ‘Mathematical Implications of Mach’s Ideas: Geometry, the Clarification of Functional Connections’, in Cohen, Robert S. and Seeger, Raymond J. (eds.), Ernst Mach: Physicist and Philosopher. D. Reidel, pp. 107–125.Google Scholar
Menger, Karl 1979. Selected Papers in Logic and Foundations, Didactics, Economics. D. Reidel.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Menger, Karl 1994. Reminiscences of the Vienna Circle and the Mathematical Colloquium. Eds. Golland, L., McGuinness, B. F., and Sklar, A.. Kluwer.Google Scholar
Neuber, Matthias 2018. Der Realismus im logischen Empirismus. Eine Studie zur Geschichte der Wissenschaftsphilosophie. Springer.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Neurath, Otto 1937. ‘Towards an Encyclopedia of Unified Science. Lectures by O. Neurath, E. Brunswik, C. L. Hull, G. Mannoury, and J. H. Woodger’, in McGuinness, Brian F. (ed.), Unified Science. The Vienna Circle Monograph Series, originally edited by Neurath, Otto, in an English edition. D. Reidel, 1987, pp. 130–165.Google Scholar
Neurath, Otto 1983. Philosophical Papers 1913–1946. Eds. Cohen, R. S. and Neurath, M.. Kluwer.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Schlick, Moritz 1917. Raum und Zeit in der gegenwärtigen Physik. Zur Einführung in das Verständnis der Relativitäts- und Gravitationstheorie. Springer. Translated in Moritz Schlick. Philosophical Papers, 2 Vols. Eds. H. Mulder and B. von der Velde-Schlick. D. Reidel, 1979, pp. 207–269.Google Scholar
Schlick, Moritz 1918/1925/1974. Allgemeine Erkenntnislehre. German edition: eds. Wendel, H. J. and Engler, F. O., 2009. English edition: General Theory of Knowledge. Translated by Albert E. Blumberg. With an Introduction by A. E. Blumberg and Herbert Feigl. Springer, 1974.Google Scholar
Schlick, Moritz 1950. ‘Schlick, Moritz’, in Ziegenfuss, W. and Jung, G. (eds.), Philosophen-Lexikon. Handwörterbuch der Philosophie nach Personen. De Gruyter, pp. 462–464.Google Scholar
Schlick, Moritz 1979. Philosophical Papers, 2 Vols. Eds. Mulder, H. and von der Velde-Schlick, B.. D. Reidel.Google Scholar
Siemsen, Hayo 2019. ‘Transforming Thinking: Can Mach’s Pedagogy be Replicated?’, in Stadler, Friedrich (ed.), Ernst Mach – Life, Work, Influence. Springer, pp. 571–600.Google Scholar
Stadler, Friedrich 1982a. ‘History and Philosophy of Science’, in Galavotti, M. C. et al. (eds.), New Directions in the Philosophy of Science. Springer, pp. 747–768.Google Scholar
Stadler, Friedrich 1982b. Vom Positivismus zur ʻWissenschaftlichen Weltauffassung’. Am Beispiel der Wirkungsgeschichte von Ernst Mach in Österreich von 1895–1934. Löcker.Google Scholar
Stadler, Friedrich 1988. ‘Ernst Mach – Zu Leben, Werk und Wirkung’, in Haller, Rudolf and Stadler, F. (eds.), Ernst Mach – Werk und Wirkung. Hölder-Pichler-Tempsky, pp. 11–63.Google Scholar
Stadler, Friedrich 1992. ‘The “Verein Ernst Mach” – What Was It Really?’, in Blackmore, J. T. (ed.), Ernst Mach – A Deeper Look: Documents and New Perspectives. Kluwer, pp. 363–377.Google Scholar
Stadler, Friedrich 2015. The Vienna Circle. Studies in the Origins, Development, and Influence of Logical Empiricism, 2nd edn. Springer.Google Scholar
Stadler, Friedrich 2017a. ‘Ernst Mach and Pragmatism – The Case of Mach’s Popular Scientific Lectures (1895)’, in Pihlström, S., Stadler, F., and Weidtmann, N. (eds.), Logical Empiricism and Pragmatism. Springer, pp. 3–14.Google Scholar
Stadler, Friedrich (ed.) 2017b. Integrated History and Philosophy of Science. Problems, Perspectives, and Case Studies. Springer.Google Scholar
Stadler, Friedrich 2017c. ‘Kommentar zu: Moritz Schlick: Vorrede zur Vorlesung “Einführung in die Naturphilosophie” (1922)’, in Assinger, T., Grabenweger, E., and Pelz, A. (eds.), Die Antrittsvorlesung. Wiener Universitätsreden der Philosophischen Fakultät. V&R unipress, Vienna University Press, pp. 189–202.Google Scholar
Stadler, Friedrich 2018a. ‘George Sarton, Ernst Mach, and the Unity of Science Movement. A Case Study in History and Philosophy of Science’, Sartoniana 31: 63–121.Google Scholar
Stadler, Friedrich 2018b. ‘Kant and Neo-Kantianism in Logical Empiricism. Elements of a Research Program’, in Waibel, V., Ruffing, M., and Wagner, D. (eds.), Natur und Freiheit. Akten des XII. Internationalen Kant-Kongresses. De Gruyter, pp. 763–790.Google Scholar
Stadler, Friedrich 2019c. ‘Only a Philosophical “Holiday Sportsman”? – Ernst Mach as a Scientist Transgressing the Disciplinary Boundaries’, in Stadler, Friedrich (ed.), Ernst Mach – Life, Work, Influence. Springer, pp. 3–22.Google Scholar
Stadler, Friedrich and Uebel, Thomas (eds.) 2012. Wissenschaftliche Weltauffassung. Der Wiener Kreis. Verein Ernst Mach, Wien: Artur Wolf Verlag (1929). Springer.Google Scholar
Tuboly, Adam Tamas (ed.) 2017. ‘The Life and Work of Philipp Frank’, Studies in East European Thought, Vol. 69, Issue 3.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Thiele, Joachim 1978. Wissenschaftliche Kommunikation. Die Korrespondenz Ernst Machs. Henn Verlag.Google Scholar
Uebel, Thomas 1992. Overcoming Logical Positivism from Within. The Emergence of Neurath’s Naturalism in the Vienna Circle’s Protocol-Sentence Debate. Rodopi.Google Scholar
von Mises, Richard 1938. ‘Ernst Mach und die Wissenschaftliche Weltauffassung. Zu Ernst Machs 100. Geburtstag am 18.Februar 1938’, Van Stockum. English translation in Brian F. McGuinness (ed.), Unified Science. The Vienna Circle Monograph Series, originally edited by Otto Neurath, in an English edition. D. Reidel, 1987, pp. 166–190.Google Scholar
von Mises, Richard 1939. Kleines Lehrbuch des Positivismus. Einführung in die empiristische Wissenschaftsauffassung. 2.Aufl. Mit einer Einleitung hrsg. von F.Stadler. Frankfurt/M.: Suhrkamp 1990. English translation Positivism. A Study in Human Understanding. Dover Publications, 1968.Google Scholar
Wolters, Gereon 1987. Mach I, Mach II, Einstein und die Relativitätstheorie. De Gruyter.Google Scholar
Zilsel, Edgar 1916. Das Anwendungsproblem. Ein philosophischer Versuch über das Gesetz der großen Zahlen und die Induktion. J. A. Barth.Google Scholar
Zilsel, Edgar 2000. The Social Origins of Modern Science. Eds. Raven, D., Krohn, W., and Cohen, R. S.. Kluwer.Google Scholar
Zilsel, Edgar and de Santillana, G. 1940. The Development of Rationalism and Empiricism. University of Chicago Press.Google Scholar
- 2
- Cited by