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Otto Neurath: The Philosopher in the Cave

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Neurath Reconsidered

Part of the book series: Boston Studies in the Philosophy and History of Science ((BSPS,volume 336))

Abstract

The question of philosophy’s relevance to extra-academic concerns is much with us today. Plato tells us that, once the philosopher has seen the truth in the full light of the sun, she must return to the cave, there to put knowledge to work in making a better world, even though, being temporarily unaccustomed to the dark, she risks ridicule from those still in thrall to illusion. This paper reflects upon the life and career of Otto Neurath as a modern exemplification of this ideal of philosophical engagement. In spite of, or, perhaps, because of his never having held an academic appointment, Neurath made a difference for the good in human affairs. The key components of what I term Neurath’s “philosophy of science in action” are explicated in order to understand how that could be. Foregrounded are Neurath’s socialism, his own version of the thesis of the empirical underdetermination of theory by evidence, his anti-metaphysical stance, and his commitment to physicalism and the unity of science. The paper concludes with a discussion of the contemporary relevance of Neurath’s model of engaged philosophy of science.

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Notes

  1. 1.

    Radakrishnan served as Vice President and President of India after independence, 1952–1967. Masaryk was the first President of Czechoslovakia after World War One, 1918–1937. Besteiro was twice member of the Spanish Congress of Deputies, 1918–1923 and 1931–1937, and he served as President of the Congress from 1931 to 1933. Ortega was, likewise, a member of the Congress of Deputies, 1931–1933.

  2. 2.

    Lukács was the Minister of Culture for the post-World War One Hungarian Soviet Republic, from March until August 1919.

  3. 3.

    For the record, Neurath was not, himself, sympathetic with Plato’s conception of the ideal state in The Republic. Writing toward the end of World War Two, in February 1945, Neurath and Joseph Lauwerys (1945) emphasize the extent to which the totalitarian aspects of Plato’s state resemble Nazi Germany (Neurath and Lauwerys 1945). In a manner strikingly similar to Popper’s (1945) critique in his The Open Society and Its Enemies, Neurath and Lauwerys deplore Plato’s subordination of the individual to the collective.

  4. 4.

    For Neurath’s involvement and work in the Association see Sophie Hochhäusl’s chapter in the present volume.

  5. 5.

    For more on “Isotype,” see Neurath (2010) and Vossoughian (2008). See Angélique Groß’s and Sophie Hochhäusl’s chapter in the present volume as well.

  6. 6.

    The definitive biography of Neurath is Sandner (2014). Cartwright , Cat, Fleck , Uebel (1996) is another excellent source. Very interesting are the biographical memoirs collected in Neurath and Cohen (1973). Stadler (2001/2015) is also helpful. On Neurath’s rather neglected English-period see the chapters of Michelle Henning, Antonia Soulez and Adam Tamas Tuboly in the present volume.

  7. 7.

    Neurath’s early political writings are analyzed by Günther Sandner in the present volume.

  8. 8.

    On the history of the International Encyclopedia of Unified Science , see Morris (1962), Nemeth and Stadler (1996), and Reisch (1994).

  9. 9.

    The unflattering contrast with Latour (1987) is intentional.

  10. 10.

    Blum (1985) is a good source for more on Austro-Marxism.

  11. 11.

    On Neurath’s economics see Thomas Uebel’s chapter in the present volume.

  12. 12.

    Neurath’s paper is analyzed also in Gábor Zemplén’s chapter with regard Neurath’s ideas on optics.

  13. 13.

    The question of political agendas and the concept formation, theory acceptance and rejection in physics was discussed in detail by Philipp Frank (1957).

  14. 14.

    For more on the history of mechanical materialism from a Marxist point of view, see Wittich (1971).

  15. 15.

    On the Cold War context see Howard (2003) and Reisch (2005). On Frank’s marginalization see Reisch (2005, Chap. 15) and Tuboly (2017).

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  1. Department of Philosophy, University of Notre Dame, Notre Dame, IN, USA

    Don Howard

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  1. Department of History and Philosophy of Science and Medicine, Indiana University Bloomington, Bloomington, IN, USA

    Jordi Cat

  2. Institute of Philosophy, Hungarian Academy of Sciences, Budapest, Hungary

    Adam Tamas Tuboly

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Howard, D. (2019). Otto Neurath: The Philosopher in the Cave. In: Cat, J., Tuboly, A. (eds) Neurath Reconsidered. Boston Studies in the Philosophy and History of Science, vol 336. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-02128-3_3

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