Wolfgang Stegmüller
Wolfgang Stegmüller | |
---|---|
Born | 20th-century philosophy | 3 June 1923
Region | Western philosophy |
School | Analytic philosophy Scientific structuralism |
Theses |
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Main interests | Philosophy of science |
Notable ideas | Dynamics of theories[1] |
Wolfgang Stegmüller (German: [ˈʃteːgˌmʏlɐ]; June 3, 1923 – June 11, 1991) was a German-Austrian philosopher who made important contributions in philosophy of science and analytic philosophy.
Biography
W. Stegmüller studied economics and philosophy at the University of Innsbruck. In 1944 he graduated as "Diplom-Volkswirt" and one year later he obtained a PhD in economics. Also at the University of Innsbruck he obtained in 1947 a PhD in philosophy with the thesis Erkenntnis und Sein in der modernen Ontologie mit besonderer Berücksichtigung der Erkenntnismetaphysik Nicolai Hartmanns: eine kritische Untersuchung. In 1949 he habilitated with the thesis Sein, Wahrheit und Wert in der heutigen Philosophie.
After a stay of one year at the University of Oxford in 1954 he returned to the University of Innsbruck where he was appointed as associate professor for philosophy in 1956. After stays as visiting professor at the Universities of Kiel and Bonn he received a call from the
Stegmüller was from 1966 on a corresponding member of the Austrian Academy of Sciences and from 1967 on a member of the Bavarian Academy of Sciences and Humanities. 1972 he became a member of the French Institut International de Philosophie, located in Paris. He also was a member of the International Academy of Science, Munich founded in 1980.[2] In 1989 W. Stegmüller was awarded an honorary doctorate from the University of Innsbruck. After his retirement he was elected as honorary president of the Gesellschaft für Analytische Philosophie (Society for Analytical Philosophy).
Work
Stegmüller can be credited with essential contributions to the dissemination of ideas of
- The problem of induction
- The fundamental role of experience
- The problem of theoretical concepts
- The problem of scientific explanation
Logic
In his books Das Wahrheitsproblem und die Idee der Semantik (The Problem of Truth and the idea of Semantics, 1957), and Unvollständigkeit und Unentscheidbarkeit (Incompleteness and Undecidability, 1959) Stegmüller disseminated the ideas of
Epistemology
One of the most influential books of Stegmüller is Metaphysik, Skepsis, Wissenschaft (1954). In this work, he discusses the epistemological foundations of
A further focus of Stegmüller's work was phenomenalism. In "Der Phänomenalismus und seine Schwierigkeiten" (1958), he describes the extreme problems, which hinder a stringent implementation of the phenomenalism program.
Philosophy of science
Stegmüller is regarded as one of the leading philosophers of science of the second half of the 20th century. Deeply influenced by
Selected publications
- Das Wahrheitsproblem und die Idee der Semantik, 1957
- Unvollständigkeit und Unentscheidbarkeit, 1959
- Einheit und Problematik der wissenschaftlichen Welterkenntnis, 1967
- Metaphysik-Skepsis-Wissenschaft, 1969
- Probleme und Resultate der Wissenschafttheorie und Analytischen Philosophie
- Band I, Erklärung-Begründung-Kausalität, 1983
- Band II, Theorie und Erfahrung, 1974
- 1. Teilband: Theorie und Erfahrung, 1974
- 2. Teilband: Theorienstrukturen und Theoriendynamik, 1985
- 3. Teilband: Die Entwicklung des neuen Strukturalismus seit 1973, 1986
- Band III, Strukturtypen der Logik, 1984
- Band IV, Personelle und statistische Wahrscheinlichkeit, 1973
- 1. Halbband: Personelle Wahrscheinlichkeit und rationale Entscheidung, 1973
- 2. Halbband: Statistisches Schließen - Statistische Begründung - Statistische Analyse, 1973
- Das Problem der Induktion: Humes Herausforderung und moderne Antworten, 1975
- Rationale Rekonstruktion von Wissenschaft und ihrem Wandel, 1979
- The Structuralists View of Theories, 1979
- Aufsätze zur Wissenschaftstheorie, 1980
- Philosophy of economics, 1982
- Kripkes Deutung der Spätphilosophie Wittgensteins. Kommentarversuch über einen versuchten Kommentar. 1986
- Hauptströmungen der Gegenwartsphilosophie, Bd. I-IV, Kröner, 7. Auflage (1989), ISBN 3-520-30807-X
References
- ^ Wolfgang Stegmüller, The structure and dynamics of theories, Springer-Verlag, 1976, p. 157.
- ^ Selection of IAS-ICSD Founding Members
Further reading
- ISBN 90-277-1646-3
- R. Kleinknecht: Nachruf auf Wolfgang Stegmüller (two years after he died), Journal for General Philosophy of Science, Vol. 24, 1–16, (1993)
- T. Perrone: La dinamica delle teorie scientifiche. Strutturalismo ed interpretazione logico-formale dell'epistemologia di Kuhn, Franco Angeli (2012) ISBN 9788856839975