The Murder of Professor Schlick: The Rise and Fall of the Vienna Circle

David Edmonds

Published by Princeton University Press 2020

The Murder of Professor Schlick

The Rise and Fall of the Vienna Circle

David Edmonds

https://doi.org/10.1515/9780691185842

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Contents

About this book

The story of an extraordinary group of philosophers during a dark chapter in Europe's history

On June 22, 1936, the philosopher Moritz Schlick was on his way to deliver a lecture at the University of Vienna when Johann Nelböck, a deranged former student of Schlick's, shot him dead on the university steps. Some Austrian newspapers defended the madman, while Nelböck himself argued in court that his onetime teacher had promoted a treacherous Jewish philosophy. David Edmonds traces the rise and fall of the Vienna Circle—an influential group of brilliant thinkers led by Schlick—and of a philosophical movement that sought to do away with metaphysics and pseudoscience in a city darkened by fascism, anti-Semitism, and unreason.

The Vienna Circle's members included Otto Neurath, Rudolf Carnap, and the eccentric logician Kurt Gödel. On its fringes were two other philosophical titans of the twentieth century, Ludwig Wittgenstein and Karl Popper. The Circle championed the philosophy of logical empiricism, which held that only two types of propositions have cognitive meaning, those that can be verified through experience and those that are analytically true. For a time, it was the most fashionable movement in philosophy. Yet by the outbreak of World War II, Schlick's group had disbanded and almost all its members had fled. Edmonds reveals why the Austro-fascists and the Nazis saw their philosophy as such a threat.

The Murder of Professor Schlick paints an unforgettable portrait of the Vienna Circle and its members while weaving an enthralling narrative set against the backdrop of economic catastrophe and rising extremism in Hitler's Europe.

Author / Editor information

David Edmonds is the coauthor, with John Eidinow, of the bestselling Wittgenstein's Poker as well as Rousseau's Dog and Bobby Fischer Goes to War, and the author of Would You Kill the Fat Man? (Princeton). Cofounder, with Nigel Warburton, of the popular Philosophy Bites podcast series, he is a distinguished research fellow at the Oxford Uehiro Centre for Practical Ethics and an award-winning presenter and producer for the BBC. Twitter @DavidEdmonds100

Reviews

"This well-written book places a unique focus on the philosophy of the Vienna Circle, features a wealth of material on the cultural milieu and politics of Vienna, and also provides the most detailed account of Schlick's murder and its aftermath that I've ever read."—John Preston, author of Kuhn's "The Structure of Scientific Revolutions": A Reader's Guide

"Edmonds provides a new understanding of the forced decline of the Vienna Circle and logical empiricism during the rise of fascism and National Socialism. The Murder of Professor Schlick is an inspiring look at a vanished philosophical movement."—Friedrich Stadler, author of The Vienna Circle: Studies in the Origins, Development, and Influence of Logical Empiricism

"David Edmonds's story of the Vienna Circle is an absolute page-turner. I couldn't put it down. Full of larger-than-life characters, intrigues, bust-ups, political upheavals, and international adventures, it also delivers unparalleled insights into the origins of analytic philosophy."—David Papineau, author of Knowing the Score: What Sports Can Teach Us about Philosophy (and What Philosophy Can Teach Us about Sports)

"This book beautifully combines the ideas, politics, history, and personal side of one of the most important movements in philosophy. It will transform the way the Vienna Circle is viewed, much for the better. It is also a cracking good read."—Cheryl Misak, author of Frank Ramsey: A Sheer Excess of Powers

Topics

Frontmatter Publicly Available Download PDF	i
Contents Publicly Available Download PDF	v
Preface Publicly Available Download PDF	vii
Acknowledgments Publicly Available Download PDF	xi
1 Prologue: Goodbye, Europe Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	1
2 Little Rooster and the Elephant Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	5
3 The Expanding Circle Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	15
4 The Bald French King Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	30
5 Wittgenstein Casts His Spell Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	36
6 Neurath in Red Vienna Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	55
7 Coffee and Circles Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	64
8 Couches and Construction Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	74
9 Schlick’s Unwelcome Gift Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	89
10 Strangers from Abroad Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	101
11 The Longest Hatred Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	114
12 Black Days in Red Vienna: “Carnap Expects You” Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	128
13 Philosophical Rows Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	143
14 The Unofficial Opposition Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	163
15 Now, You Damn Bastard Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	170
16 The Inner Circle Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	180
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19 War Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	209
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Dramatis personae Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	263
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