The Popperian Podcast The Popperian Podcast #35 – David Edmonds – ‘Murder in the Vienna Circle’
May 29, 2024
David Edmonds, an award-winning BBC presenter and author, discusses his gripping book on the murder of Moritz Schlick and the Vienna Circle. They delve into Schlick's role in shaping verificationism and the influence of luminaries like Wittgenstein. The conversation touches on the cultural and political vibrancy of Vienna, the challenges posed by modern physics, and the rise of antisemitism. Edmonds also explores Popper's contentious relationship with the Circle and the tragic aftermath of Schlick's assassination, highlighting the enduring legacy of their philosophical pursuits.
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Anti-Metaphysical Core
- The Vienna Circle was an anti-metaphysical group centered on grounding philosophy in empirical science.
- They prioritized empirical testability and rejected speculation about inaccessible entities.
Logic Meets Positivism
- Logical positivism combined scientific positivism with new formal logic from Frege and Russell.
- The Circle adopted a verification principle making unverifiable claims literally meaningless.
Verificationism's Self-Defeat
- Verificationism struggled with historical and future-verifiable claims and self-application problems.
- The verification principle appears untestable and thus fails its own criterion of meaning.
