It is astonishing that on the occasion of the 100th anniversary of the Vienna Circle in 2024 just its founder and head did not get the attention he deserved for several reasons to be discussed.
After his dissertation with Max Planck, the physicist-philosopher Schlick increasingly devoted himself to practical philosophy as counterpart of his turn towards natural philosophy, including the interpretation of the theory of relativity and quantum physics. This was already evident during his time in Rostock and Kiel and intensified after his appointment to the Vienna Chair of "Philosophy of Inductive Sciences" in 1922, as can be seen from his lectures, talks and publications. This arc stretches from his book Lebensweisheit (1908) to his Fragen der Ethik (1930) with his involvement in the Vienna Ethical Society, confirmed by the posthumously published selection of his aphorisms (1962). This continuity will be confirmed by two forthcoming books on Schlick’s philosophical continuity from Rostock to Vienna and on Schlick’s unfinished book project Natur, Kultur, Kunst (nature, culture, arts) from the archives.
In addition to a fundamental philosophical penetration of all scientific disciplines, the reason for Schlick’s orientation also lies in the increasing rise of fascism and National Socialism, against which he took a stand to the end. His individual epicureanism and political liberalism represented an alternative to the dominant totalitarian zeitgeist, which was ultimately also the background for his assassination in 1936. In this respect, Schlick was both a sensitive seismograph of his times and an object of the anti-Semitic history of violence of the interwar period. His murder was thus also a sign of an inhumane society before the final destruction of the First Republic and the expulsion of scientific reason.
References:
Julia Franke Reddig, Zur Kontinuität und Eigenständigkeit der Wissenschaftsphilosophie von Moritz Schlick. Cham: Springer (forthcoming)
Moritz Schlick, Philosophie der Natur, Kultur und Geschichte. Ed. by Friedrich Stadler and Bastian Stoppelkamp. Cham: Springer (forthcoming)
Moritz Schlick, Kritische Gesamtausgabe 2006 ff.: https://www.iph.uni-rostock.de/forschung/moritz-schlick-forschungsstelle/edition/
Friedrich Stadler is retired Professor of History and Philosophy of Science at the University of Vienna. Founder of the Institute Vienna Circle, where he is a Permanent Senior Fellow.
