Rudolf Carnap is widely regarded as one of the most important philosophers of the twentieth century. This book places his central ideas in a broad cultural, political and intellectual context, showing how he synthesised many different currents of thought to achieve a philosophical perspective that remains strikingly relevant in the twenty first century.
Contents
Introduction; 1. The cultural inheritance; 2. The intellectual inheritance: positivism and Kantianism; 3. The grand plan of a 'System of Knowledge': science and logic; 4. Carnap's early neo-Kantianism; 5. The impact of Russell; 6. Rational reconstruction; 7. The impact of Wittgenstein; 8. The crisis of rational reconstruction; 9. Liberation; 10. Tolerance; 11. The ideal of explication.
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