Tintner, Gerhard (1907–1983)

Abstract

Gerhard Tintner was born in Nuremberg, Germany, of Austrian parents, and educated in Vienna, completing his doctorate in economics, statistics and law at the University of Vienna in 1929. Tintner was much ahead of his time in important respects. First, he made early and significant contributions toward the development of a theory of behaviour under uncertainty (Tintner 1941a, b, 1942a, b, c). Second, he consistently stressed the need for a broad view of probability in the behavioural sciences and economics (Tintner 1960, 1968). His seminal article ‘Foundations of Probability and Statistical Inference’ (1949) started from Carnap’s view of probability as degree of confirmation and raised issues some of which are now being debated in current reformulations of econometric methodology (Harper and Hooker 1976; Koch and Spizzichino 1982). Third, he firmly believed that the tools of modern disciplines such as cybernetics and system theory should be adapted and used to gain insight into individual and social behaviour, which is the basis of all applied economic models (Tintner and Sengupta 1972).