Metodo

International Studies in Phenomenology and Philosophy

Series | Book | Chapter

177806

Carnap, philosophy and "politics in its broadest sense"

Thomas Uebel

pp. 133-148

Abstract

Is there anything new that can be learnt about Carnap and his philosophy from recent findings about Carnap's participation in the production of the Circle's inofficial manifesto of 1929, Wissenschaftliche Weltauffassung. Der Wiener Kreis (Carnap, Hahn, Neurath 1929)? "More than one might think", is my answer. To be sure, what there is to be learnt is not something radically new, but that is still enough to make a difference in an ongoing dispute over whether Carnap's philosophy was of a purely academic nature. What there is to be learnt is enough to contradict the quite common picture of Carnap as quietist.1 Instead, Carnap emerges as an activist and his philosophy as part of his activism. Accordingly, the thesis to be defended here is that throughout his life, though perhaps most strongly so during his Vienna Circle period, Carnap intended his philosophy to make a difference to everyday life: it was to be political in the broadest sense.

Publication details

Published in:

Creath Richard (2012) Rudolf Carnap and the legacy of logical empiricism. Dordrecht, Springer.

Pages: 133-148

DOI: 10.1007/978-94-007-3929-1_8

Full citation:

Uebel Thomas (2012) „Carnap, philosophy and "politics in its broadest sense"“, In: R. Creath (ed.), Rudolf Carnap and the legacy of logical empiricism, Dordrecht, Springer, 133–148.