Friedrich Waismann - Causality and Logical Positivism

1. Front Matter

   Pages i-vii

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2. Waismann: The Wandering Scholar

   • Brian Mcguinness

   Pages 9-16

3. Tributes to and Impressions of Friedrich Waismann

   • Brian McGuinness

   Pages 17-29

4. Waismann’s Lectures on Causality: An Introduction1

   • Mathieu Marion

   Pages 31-51

5. The Decline and Fall of Causality

   • B. F. McGuinness, Friedrich Waismann†

   Pages 53-90

6. Causality

   • B. F. McGuinness, Friedrich Waismann†

   Pages 91-184

7. The Logical Force of Expressions1

   • B. F. McGuinness, Friedrich Waismann†

   Pages 185-195

8. A Philosopher Looks at Kafka

   • B. F. McGuinness, Friedrich Waismann†

   Pages 197-206

9. Waismann Versus Ewing on Causality

   • Alexander Bird

   Pages 207-224

10. Waismann as Spokesman for Wittgenstein

    • Joachim Schulte

    Pages 225-241

11. Waismann’s Testimony of Wittgenstein’s Fresh Starts in 1931–35

    • Juha Manninen

    Pages 243-265

12. Otto Neurath’s ‘Encyclopedia of the World War’: A Contextualisation

    • Hadwig Kraeutler, Corinna Oesch, GÜnther Sandner

    Pages 267-295

13. One Hundred Years of Philosophy of Science: The View from Munich

    • Thomas Mormann

    Pages 297-309

14. John T. Blackmore: Two Recent Trilogies on Ernst Mach1

    • Hayo Siemsen

    Pages 311-321

15. Logical Syntax and the Application of Mathematics

    • Christoph Limbeck-Lilienau

    Pages 323-335

16. Reviews

    • Hans-Joachim Dahms, Markus Lammenranta, Juha Manninen, Georg Schiemer

    Pages 337-349

17. Obituary

    • Allan Janik

    Pages 351-357

18. Back Matter

    Pages 359-369

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Friedrich Waismann (1896–1959) was one of the most gifted students and collaborators of Moritz Schlick. Accepted as a discussion partner by Wittgenstein from 1927 on, he functioned as spokesman for the latter’s ideas in the Schlick Circle, until Wittgenstein’s contact with this most faithful interpreter was broken off in 1935 and not renewed when exile took Waismann to Cambridge. Nonetheless, at Oxford, where he went in 1939, and eventually became Reader in Philosophy of Mathematics (changing later to Philosophy of Science), Waismann made important and independent contributions to analytic philosophy and philosophy of science (for example in relation to probability, causality and linguistic analysis). The full extent of these only became evident later when the larger (unpublished) part of his writings could be studied. His first posthumous work The Principles of Linguistic Philosophy (1965, 2nd edn.1997; German 1976) and his earlier Einführung in das mathematische Denken (1936) have recently proved of fresh interest to the scientific community. This late flowering and new understanding of Waismann’s position is connected with the fact that he somewhat unfairly fell under the shadow of Wittgenstein, his mentor and predecessor. Central to this book about a life and work familiar to few is unpublished and unknown works on causality and probability. These are commented on in this volume, which will also include a publication of new or previously scattered material and an overview of Waismann’s life.

• Causality
• Logical Positivism
• Philosophy of Science
• Philosophy of mathematics

• Dipto. Filosofia e Scienze Sociali, Università di Siena, Siena, Italy

  B.F. McGuinness

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