How the Cold War transformed philosophy of science : to the icy slopes of logic / George A. Reisch.

Format:

Book

Author/Creator:

Reisch, George A., 1962-

Language:

English

Subjects (All):

Science--Philosophy--History--20th century.

Science.

Science--Philosophy.

History.

Cold War--Influence.

Cold War.

Logical positivism.

United States--Intellectual life--20th century.

United States.

Intellectual life.

Physical Description:

xiv, 418 pages : illustrations ; 23 cm

Place of Publication:

Cambridge, UK ; New York : Cambridge University Press, 2005.

Summary:

This in-depth study of the development of philosophy of science studies in the United States during the Cold War documents the political vitality of logical empiricism and Otto Neurath's Unity of Science Movement when the movement emigrated to the U.S. in the 1930s. It follows its de-politicization by a convergence of intellectual, cultural and political forces in the 1950s. The volume will be of interest to philosophers and historians of science, as well as scholars of Cold War studies.

Contents:

1 An Introduction to Logical Empiricism and the Unity of Science Movement in the Cold War 1

2 Otto Neurath, Charles Morris, Rudolf Carnap, and Philipp Frank: Political Philosophers of Science 27

3 Leftist Philosophy of Science in America and the Reception of Logical Empiricism in New York City 57

4 "Doomed in Advance to Defeat"? John Dewey on Reductionism, Values, and the International Encyclopedia of Unified Science 83

5 Red Philosophy of Science: Blumberg, Malisoff, Somerville, and Early Philosophy of Science 96

6 The View from the Left: Logical Empiricism and Radical Philosophers 118

7 The View from the Far Left: Logical Empiricism and Communist Philosophers 136

8 Postwar Disillusionment, Anti-Intellectualism, and the Values Debate 149

9 Horace Kallen's Attack on the Unity of Science 167

10 Creeping Totalitarianism, Creeping Scholasticism: Neurath, Frank, and the Trouble with Semantics 191

11 Frank's Neurathian Crusade: Science, Enlightenment, and Values 208

12 "A Very Fertile Field for Investigation": Anticollectivism and Anticommunism in Popular and Academic Culture 234

13 Anticommunist Investigations, Loyalty Oaths, and the Wrath of Sidney Hook 259

14 Competing Programs for Postwar Philosophy of Science 283

15 Freedom Celebrated: The Professional Decline of Philipp Frank and the Unity of Science Movement 307

16 The Marginalization of Charles Morris 331

17 Values, Axioms, and the Icy Slopes of Logic 344

18 Professionalism, Power, and What Might Have Been 369.

Notes:

Includes bibliographical references (pages 389-405) and index.

ISBN:

0521837979

0521546893

OCLC:

55886401