Wienerkretsen

Wienerkretsen, known in English as the Vienna Circle, was an informal group of philosophers, logicians, mathematicians and scientists active in Vienna in the 1920s and 1930s. The circle sought to reform philosophy through the methods of modern logic and empirical science, articulating a program often described as logical empiricism or logical positivism. Its members emphasized the analysis of language and the clarification of scientific meaning, arguing that meaningful statements are reducible to verifiable experiences or tautologies and that metaphysical language is largely nonsensical.

Core figures associated with the circle included Moritz Schlick, a professor at the University of Vienna and the group’s organizer and leader; Rudolf Carnap; Otto Neurath; Hans Hahn; and Philipp Frank. The circle also welcomed figures connected to its program such as Friedrich Waismann and, at times, Kurt Gödel, who participated in discussions. As the rise of Nazism and the persecution of intellectuals intensified, many members emigrated to the United States and the United Kingdom, where the ideas they developed continued to influence philosophy of science and analytic philosophy.

The Vienna Circle played a significant role in shaping 20th-century discussions of science, logic, and epistemology. Its members advocated reconstructing scientific language through formal logic and empirical verification, and they advocated for a rejection of traditional metaphysics. The movement fostered a lasting legacy in analytic philosophy and the philosophy of science, though its central theses, particularly the strict verification principle, faced substantial criticism and evolved in later decades. The death of Moritz Schlick in 1936 and the political upheavals of the era contributed to the decline of the circle as a cohesive group, but its influence persisted through its members’ subsequent work in exile and in subsequent generations.