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Eino Kaila and The Vienna Circle

(21st Vienna Circle Lecture)

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Logical Empiricism and Pragmatism

Part of the book series: Vienna Circle Institute Yearbook ((VCIY,volume 19))

Abstract

Eino Kaila (1890–1958) was the leading Finnish philosopher in the first half of the twentieth century. During the time he sought personal contact with Hans Reichenbach, Moritz Schlick, and Rudolf Carnap, he had already in 1926 formulated his own position of “logical empiricism”. For Kaila, philosophy is “the alpha and omega of science”: philosophical reflection has to be based upon the results of the best current work in physics, biology, and psychology. Even though Kaila was a consistent critic of metaphysics, who admired exact methods in philosophy, his philosophical passion to solve the riddle of reality differed from the program of logical positivists and later analytic philosophers of language. As a result, his encounter with the Vienna Circle in his visits in 1929, 1932, and 1934 was dramatic, even stormy.

Based on the 21st Vienna Circle Lecture, given at the University of Vienna, November 7, 2013. I wish to thank Juha Manninen and Friedrich Stadler for illuminating discussions about Kaila and the Vienna Circle during many years.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Philosophy, History, Culture, and Art Studies, University of Helsinki, Unioninkatu 40 A, 24, FI-00014, Helsinki, Finland

    Ilkka Niiniluoto

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  1. Ilkka Niiniluoto
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Correspondence to Ilkka Niiniluoto .

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Editors and Affiliations

  1. Faculty of Theology, University of Helsinki , Helsinki, Finland

    Sami Pihlström

  2. Institut Wiener Kreis, Universität Wien , Vienna, Austria

    Friedrich Stadler

  3. Forum Scientiarum, Universität Tübingen Forum Scientiarum, Tübingen, Germany

    Niels Weidtmann

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Niiniluoto, I. (2017). Eino Kaila and The Vienna Circle. In: Pihlström, S., Stadler, F., Weidtmann, N. (eds) Logical Empiricism and Pragmatism. Vienna Circle Institute Yearbook, vol 19. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-50730-9_10

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