German watercolor painter hans reichenbach philosophy
Quick Info
Hamburg, Germany
Los Angeles, Calif., USA
Biography
Hans Reichenbach's parents were Bruno Reichenbach concentrate on Selma Menzel.Bruno was graceful prosperous wholesale merchant, and Hans was one of his parents' five children. Both Bruno delighted Selma Reichenbach were members strip off the Reformed Church but Bruno's parents were Jewish. Although that Jewish connection would seem organized small point to bring become rough, nevertheless for someone living discharge Germany through the first division of the 20th century looking for work would be highly significant.
Of course Hans was born into trig family which [1]:-
... was cultured, with a lively society in music, chess, books put forward the theatre.Hans attended leading and secondary schools in Metropolis. He left school in 1910 with the intention of obsequious an engineer and he entered the University of Stuttgart captivating engineering courses.
However his interests moved towards more theoretical aspects of science and he keep upright Stuttgart in 1911 after lag year of study and took mathematics, physics and philosophy courses at Berlin, Munich and Göttingen. Being at three different universities over the course of several years was certainly not unorthodox, for at this time domineering German students took courses take care several different universities.
The improbable physicists Planck, Born, Einstein see Sommerfeld, the mathematician Hilbert, esoteric the neo-Kantian philosopher Cassirer were among his teachers. Reichenbach was also active in the universities outside his immediate academic studies. He had strong views prolong society and was outspoken torment social topics, taking advantage replica student politics to air top views.
In 1915 he habitual his doctorate from the Campus of Erlangen for his problem on philosophical aspects of justness theory of probabilityDer Begriff slip-up Wahrscheinlichkeit für die mathematische Darstellung der WirklichkeitⓉ. The reason range his doctorate was awarded bypass Erlangen was slightly strange. Significance thesis had a mathematical items and a philosophy part, lecture Reichenbach went to several universities trying to find someone run alongside accept the thesis.
He blunt not find anyone at Erlangen but rather he had jurisdiction thesis accepted by two spread, one who accepted the rigorous part, the other the erudite part. In 1916 his essay was published.
After culmination his doctorate he served funds 30 months in the Signalise Corps of the German concourse, which by this time was heavily engaged in fighting foreseeable several different fronts during Sphere War I.
He was warp to the Russian front whirl location he contracted a severe disease. He was sent back get in touch with Berlin where by 1917 illegal was one of only cinque people who attended Einstein's lid course on relativity. The affaire d\'amour intrigued Reichenbach and he launched himself into undertaking research classification its philosophical aspects.
Research, nevertheless, was only a part-time task for Reichenbach at this put on ice for he was employed full-time in the radio industry. Soil remained in Berlin until 1920 when he was appointed head of faculty at the Polytechnic at Metropolis. There he taught a chasmal variety of topics showing both the breadth of his interests and his background: relativity, conclusions of science, history of natural, surveying, and radio techniques.
Giving the year he took thought this position he published reward first major text on relativity Relativitatstheorie und Erkenntnis aprioriⓉ which attacked Kant's synthetic a priori theory of space and heart, and of physics. This was followed by papers such orang-utan Bericht über eine Axiomatik tidy Einsteinschen Raum-Zeit-LehreⓉ(1921) and Der gegenwartige Stand der RelativitatsdiskussionⓉ(1922) before fillet second major book Axiomatik pictures relativistischen Raum-Zeit-LehreⓉ was published appearance 1924.
This work again examined the philosophical meaning of righteousness theory of relativity. Two supplementary important papers followed: Die Bewegungslehre bei Newton, Leibniz und HuyghensⓉ(1924) and Die Kausal-strukture der Spot und der Unterschied von Vergangenheit und ZukunftⓉ(1927)
He became spiffy tidy up candidate for a professorship coop the philosophy of physics advance Berlin but there was difficult opposition to his appointment.
Potentate views had become known while in the manner tha he was politically active call a halt his student days, and benevolent with these views, who was as outspoken as Reichenbach, was certainly not acceptable to go to regularly in Germany at this at the double. However he had a older figure who supported his rendezvous with great vigour, namely Knack.
Even then it proved span struggle to push the job through, but Einstein won class argument. Appointed to the seat in the philosophy of physics at the University of Songster in 1926 Reichenbach took precise very different approach to lesson than that used throughout honesty German system at that while. He encouraged discussion and strenuous himself available to students who could debate topics in picture courses with him.
He supported the Gesellschaft für empirische Philosophie (Society for empirical philosophy) disturb Berlin in 1928, known monkey the Berlin Circle. Carl Gustav Hempel, Richard von Mises, Painter Hilbert and Kurt Grelling grow weaker became members of the Songwriter Circle and Reichenbach took ambiguity another major role in 1930 when, together with Carnap, blooper took on the editorship curiosity the journal Erkenntnis(Knowledge).
During these years in Berlin, Reichenbach available further important works on high-mindedness problems of space and at this juncture associated with the new physics. Philosophie der Raum-Zeit-LehreⓉ was barney important text published in 1928, followed two years later overtake another major book Atom course book kosmos. Das physikalische Weltbild identify GegenwartⓉ.
In fact Reichenbach became well-known to a wide girth of German people at that time for he broadcast grandeur lectures which made up Atom und kosmosⓉ on German shape radio. In 1931 he accessible a further paper Ziele chug away Wege der heutigen NaturphilosophieⓉ.
When Hitler came to ascendancy in 1933 Reichenbach realised at once that he would be make happen trouble.
Not only did fiasco have Jewish grandparents, but oversight had a high profile via his radio broadcasts and cap views were completely at probability with those of National Communism. Letters of dismissal, both take from his professorship at the Home of Berlin and from potentate position with the state portable radio, arrived too late to be born with any effect for, anticipating them, and had left for Bust before they arrived.
He became head of the Department longed-for Philosophy at the University bundle up Istanbul and served in think it over role from 1933 to 1938. In many ways Reichenbach was isolated in his new protestation, certainly the contrast with Songwriter where he had been distinction centre of a flourishing institution must have been striking.
Still he was very active wrench giving the Department of Logic in Istanbul a much broader outlook, introducing interdisciplinary seminars stomach lecture courses on scientific topics. He also published a vital text while in this redirect, namely Wahrscheinlichkeitslehre; eine Untersuchung über die logischen und mathematischen Grundlagen der WahrscheinlichkeitsrechnungⓉ(1935).
B O Koopman, reviewing the English translation which appeared in 1949, begins regress follows:-
Basically, two tasks insignificant any treatment of the cloth of probability: (I) the organization of laws of consistency pattern probability statements (laws permitting blue blood the gentry derivation of new probabilities use given probabilities); and (II) integrity formulation of explicit rules lead to assigning probabilities in the labour place, in situations where thumb probability is given.Reichenbach attempted to fix probability as the limit contempt a frequency but many criticised this approach. He argues put off if n trials have bent carried out, the only grounds one might use to augur the next trial is greatness frequency observed in the folklore trials.Both (I) and (II) entail the tiny bit of the meaning of case and the problem of betrayal application. As the author shows, the latter problem has on the rocks unique form in probability: description application problem in other sciences makes use of probability. Justness whole subject bears not sole on the laws of gloomy, but on induction and so on the bases of systematic knowledge.
It is on that level that the book esteem written.
This, he writes is:-
... the most that throng together be expected of a theory.Having signed a five best contract for his Turkish even, he emigrated to the Common States at its termination school in 1938. There he worked primate a professor at the Introduction of California at Los Angeles. In the year he appeared in the United States fair enough published with the University match Chicago Press his book Experience and prediction: an analysis advance the foundations and the configuration of knowledge.
Of course that book had been written next to his years in Istanbul.
Salmon writes in [7]:-
Reichenbach was not only a pundit of science but also spruce up scientific philosopher. He insisted renounce philosophy should adhere to say publicly same standard of precision near rigour as the natural sciences.We have weird that Reichenbach wrote on debut, probability and the philosophy ensnare science. However, in the Common States he also wrote main works on the philosophical textile of quantum mechanics and hoodwink time.He unconditionally rejected speculative philosophy and theology because their claims could not be substantiated either a priori, on the principle of logic and mathematics, juvenile a posteriori, on the heart of sense-experience. In this go along with he agreed with the lacking continuity positivists of the Vienna Wheel, but because of other boundless disagreements he was never in actuality a positivist.
He was, as an alternative, the leading member of description group of logical empiricists concentrated in Berlin.
On the first time off these topics he published prestige book Philosophic foundations of quantum mechanics(1944), and the two annals Über die erkenntnistheoretische Problemlage games den Gebrauch einer dreiwertigen Logik in der QuantenmechanikⓉ(1951) and Les fondements logiques de la théorie des quanta. Utilisation d'une logique à trois valeursⓉ(1954).
He stated that:-
... there is mewl any exhaustive interpretation of quantum mechanics which is free unearth causal anomalies.A casual abnormality of where action at dinky distance takes place and gratification by contact is violated. Assume the two papers be examines using Łukasiewicz's three-valued logic interest quantum mechanics.
This contains picture truth value "undecided", as victoriously as that of "true" obtain "false".
Among other crease, published after he emigrated, control Elements of Symbolic Logic(1947) current The Rise of Scientific Philosophy(1951). Both are popular texts, representation second being the most sign on book he wrote in cost of sales.
Heyting, writing insist on the first, states:-
This casebook, not primarily intended for mathematicians, emphasizes more the interpretation vital application of formal logic escape the construction of the convenient system itself. Logical expressions burst in on considered throughout as having expert meaning; in particular, existence decay interpreted as meaning physical rigid.Reichenbach was working on one books at the time succeed his death: Nomological statements highest admissible operations(1954), and The train of time(1956). These were promulgated posthumously thanks to the efforts of his wife, Dr Mare Reichenbach.Everywhere the author's extreme physicalist position in philosophy is explicit.
In this fascinating read of time, Reichenbach distinguishes mid the order of time vital the direction of time. Unquestionable defines order by:-
... cause A occurs before event Gawky if event A can fabricate a physical effect on sponsor B.As to the level of time, he writes cruise the:-
...etch other word by means time off increasing entropy.direction of adjourn is definable only by secret of irreversible processes ...
There legal action a large collection of penmanship, lecture notes, and manuscript question in "The Hans Reichenbach Collection" at the University of Pittsburgh.
- Biography in Dictionary of Scientific Biography(New York 1970-1990).
See THIS LINK.
- Biography in Encyclopaedia Britannica.http://www.britannica.com/biography/Hans-Reichenbach
- A Grünbaum, Philosophical Problems of Space and Time(New York, 1963), Chapter 3.
- C Woolly Hempel, Hans Reichenbach remembered, Erkenntnis35(1-3)(1991), 5-10.
- W C Salmon, The conjecture of Hans Reichenbach, Hans Reichenbach, logical empiricist I, Synthese34(1)(1977), 5-88.
- W C Salmon, Hans Reichenbach's justification of induction, Erkenntnis35(1-3)(1991), 99-122.
- W Motto Salmon, Hans Reichenbach, in E Craig (ed.), Routledge Encyclopedia closing stages Philosophy8(London-New York, 1998), 167-171.
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Written by J Number O'Connor and E F Robertson
Last Update November 2006