Home > Rudolf Carnap

He was born in Ronsdorf and educated at the Gymnasium of Barmen and the University of Freiburg. At university he studied physics, mathematics and, under Bruno Bauch, philosophy. Initially Carnap's main interest was physics but his intended studies were halted by WW I, during which Carnap served. Post-war Carnap returned to his studies, writing his dissertation, Der Raum, on the theory of space and time under Bauch. Following the acceptance of his thesis in 1922 Carnap continued to work on issues in physics from a philosophical perspective as a logical positivist. Between 1924 and 1925 Carnap also attended seminars held by Edmund Husserl.

He moved to Vienna in 1926 to take up an academic post at the University of Vienna and became involved in the Vienna Circle, a group of intellectuals led by Moritz SchlickMoritz Schlick ( April 14, 1882 June 22, 1936) was the founding father of logical positivism and the Vienna Circle. He was born in Berlin to a wealthy family. He studied physics at Heidelberg, Lausanne, and, ultimately, the University of Berlin under Max and including Hans HahnHans Hahn ( 1879 1934) was an Austrian mathematician who made many contributions to functional analysis, topology, set theory, the calculus of variations, real analysis, and order theory. He was also actively interested in philosophy, being a member of th, Friedrich Waissman , Otto NeurathOtto Neurath ( December 10 1882- December 22 1945) was an Austrian sociologist, political economist and arguably one of the most unorthodox Marxists. Member of the 'left wing' of the Vienna Circle, he rejected both metaphysics and epistemology. Neurath vi, and attended on occasion by Kurt GödelKurt Godel [ kurˈt godl ], ( April 28, 1906 January 14, 1978) was a logician, mathematician, and philosopher of mathematics, whose biography lists quite a few nations, although he is usually associated with Austria. He was born in Brunn in Austria- and Carl Hempel , among others. Carnap and some of the circle's other members also met occasionally with WittgensteinLogic and the philosophy of language, critically examining the task of conventional philosophy and its relation to the nature of language. Ludwig Wittgenstein ( April 26, 1889 April 29, 1951) was an Austrian-born philosopher who contributed several ground when the latter was in Vienna. In 1928 Carnap published Der logische Aufbau der Welt, in which he argued for an empiricist reconstruction of scientific knowledge, redefining concepts by phenomentalistic language, based on experience. In 1929 he published a mathematical logic manual, Abriss der Logistik. In 1930 Carnap and Reichenbach founded the philosophy journal Erkenntnis. In 1931 Carnap was appointed Professor of natural philosophy at the University of Prague, he remained in that post until 1935 when he emigrated to the U.S.A. During the early 1930sCenturies: 19th century 20th century 21st century Decades: 1880s 1890s 1900s 1910s 1920s 1930s 1940s 1950s 1960s 1970s 1980s Years: 1930 1931 1932 1933 1934 1935 1936 1937 1938 1939 Events and trends Technology Jet engine invented Link Trainer invented Sc, W. V. QuineWillard Van Orman Quine ( June 25, 1908 December 25, 2000) was one of the most influential American philosophers and logicians of the 20th century. Overview Sometimes referred to as the "philosopher's philosopher", Quine is the quintessential model of an, then on a travelling fellowship, visited him and discussed his philosophy extensively.

He became a professor at the University of Chicago in 1936 and remained there until 1952. At Chicago he became interested in semantics and wrote three books in the 1940s on the subject. He worked briefly at Princeton before becoming a professor at UCLA in 1954. He returned to his work on scientific knowledge , concerned with distinguishing analytic statements from synthetic statements and with the verifiability principle .

At the age of fourteen Carnap learned Esperanto; later he visited the World Congress of Esperanto and practically used the language while travelling. In his autobiography from 1963 he relates very positively to Esperanto.

Other published works include: Logische Syntax der Sprache (1934), Meaning and Necessity: A Study in Semantics and Modal Logic (1947), Logical Foundations of Probability (1950), The Continuum of Inductive Methods (1952). The autobiographical The Philosophy of Rudolf Carnap, editor P. A. Schlipp was published in 1963.

See also: skeptic