In this article, I discuss Otto Neurath’s philosophy in the context of Vienna Circle modernism. Following recent scholarship, the discussion considers as a starting point Neurath’s participation at the fourth International Congress of Modern Architecture (CIAM IV). However, the image of Neurath’s modernism that results from this perspective is incomplete because it tends to overlook the importance of scientific utopianism in Neurath’s thought. Scientific utopianism is a methodology proposed by Neurath for the social sciences in technological contexts, in which scientists elaborate and develop plans (utopias) for the transformation of society, thus contributing to an informed societal debate. Decisions are nevertheless kept outside the domain of scientific activity. I claim that recognizing the centrality of scientific utopianism in Neurath’s philosophy is fundamental to understand Neurath’s modernism. This interpretation highlights the affinities of Neurath’s philosophy of the social sciences with the modern utopianism of H. G. Wells. Both authors consider that there can be no ultimate solution to social problems but that a plural and constant debate of proposals is fundamental for the improvement of society. Therefore, Neurath’s modernism connects his philosophy of science to the literary utopian tradition.
...MoreSimilar Citations
Thesis
Vossoughian, Nader;
(2004)
Facts and Artifacts: Otto Neurath and the Social Science of Socialization
(/isis/citation/CBB001560807/)
Article
Uebel, Thomas;
(2010)
What's Right about Carnap, Neurath and the Left Vienna Circle Thesis: A Refutation
(/isis/citation/CBB001021672/)
Article
Anker, Peder;
(2005)
The Bauhaus of Nature
(/isis/citation/CBB000551304/)
Book
Uebel, Thomas E.;
(2007)
Empiricism at the Crossroads: The Vienna Circle's Protocol-Sentence Debate
(/isis/citation/CBB001230414/)
Article
Uebel, Thomas;
(2011)
Beyond the Formalist Criterion of Cognitive Significance: Philipp Frank's Later Antimetaphysics
(/isis/citation/CBB001023578/)
Book
Hardcastle, Gary L.;
Richardson, Alan W.;
(2003)
Logical Empiricism in North America
(/isis/citation/CBB000410522/)
Article
Thomas Uebel;
(2020)
Intersubjective Accountability: Politics and Philosophy in the Left Vienna Circle
(/isis/citation/CBB294249168/)
Book
Jordi Cat;
Adam Tamas Tuboly;
(2019)
Neurath Reconsidered: New Sources and Perspectives
(/isis/citation/CBB378835855/)
Article
Potochnik, Angela;
Yap, Audrey;
(2006)
Revisiting Galison's “Aufbau/Bauhaus” in Light of Neurath's Philosophical Projects
(/isis/citation/CBB000740012/)
Article
Richardson, Sarah S.;
(2009)
The Left Vienna Circle, Part 1. Carnap, Neurath, and the Left Vienna Circle Thesis
(/isis/citation/CBB000931165/)
Article
McElvenny, James;
(2013)
International Language and the Everyday: Contact and Collaboration Between C.K. Ogden, Rudolf Carnap and Otto Neurath
(/isis/citation/CBB001320857/)
Book
Blackmore, J.;
Itagaki, R.;
Tanaka, S.;
(2001)
Ernst Mach's Vienna 1895-1930, Or Phenomenalism as Philosophy of Science
(/isis/citation/CBB000101429/)
Thesis
Walsh, Erin Aileen;
(2010)
Analogy's Territories: Ethics and Aesthetics in Darwinism, Modernism, and Cybernetics
(/isis/citation/CBB001560639/)
Chapter
Stadler, Friedrich;
(2002)
Schriftsprache und Bildsprache nach Otto Neurath: Popularisierung oder Humanisierung des Wissens?
(/isis/citation/CBB000430162/)
Book
Karl Sigmund;
Douglas Hofstadter;
(2017)
Exact Thinking in Demented Times: The Vienna Circle and the Epic Quest for the Foundations of Science
(/isis/citation/CBB704007808/)
Article
Uebel, Thomas;
(2008)
Writing a Revolution: On the Production and Early Reception of the Vienna Circle's Manifesto
(/isis/citation/CBB000831775/)
Chapter
Nikolow, Sybilla;
(2007)
Aufklärung durch und mit Beobachtungstatsachen: Otto Neuraths Bildstatistik als Vehikel zur Verbreitung der wissenschaftlichen Weltauffassung des Wiener Kreises
(/isis/citation/CBB001023701/)
Book
Uebel, Thomas E.;
(2000)
Vernunftkritik und Wissenschaft: Otto Neurath und der ersten Wiener Kreis
(/isis/citation/CBB000110200/)
Article
Cat, Jordi;
(1995)
The Popper-Neurath debate and Neurath's attack on scientific method
(/isis/citation/CBB000069326/)
Article
Matthew Paskins;
(2020)
History of science and its utopian reconstructions
(/isis/citation/CBB599954521/)
Be the first to comment!