The Berlin Group and the philosophy of logical empiricism. Partially based on the conference on the Berlin Group, University of Paderborn, Germany, September 3--5, 2009. (Q1944233)

This book presents fifteen articles, by various authors, on the Berlin Group (or Berlin Circle) and the work of its members. In the 1920s and 1930s, the Group and its counterpart in Vienna pursued philosophical programs that, while differing, share the label of ``logical empiricism''. Although Hans Reichenbach, Walter Dubislav, and Kurt Grelling, key members of the Group, had all studied under Hilbert, the work discussed in this volume generally lies more in realms like philosophy of science and philosophical logic, rather than philosophy of mathematics or mathematical logic. However, one place where the latter plays a more prominent role is Christian Thiel's article. Contents: Part I, Introductory chapters: \textit{Nikolay Milkov}, ``The Berlin Group and the Vienna Circle: affinities and divergences'' (pp. 3--32); \textit{Nicholas Rescher}, ``The Berlin Group and the USA: a narrative of personal interactions'' (pp. 33--39). Part II, Historical-theoretical context: \textit{Helmut Pulte}, ``J. F. Fries' philosophy of science, the New Friesian School and the Berlin Group: on divergent scientific philosophies, difficult relations and missed opportunities'' (pp. 43--66); \textit{Jeremy Heis}, ``Ernst Cassirer, Kurt Lewin, and Hans Reichenbach'' (pp. 67--94). Part III, Hans Reichenbach: \textit{Flavia Padovani}, ``Genidentity and topology of time: Kurt Lewin and Hans Reichenbach'' (pp. 97--122); \textit{Michael Stöltzner}, ``Did Reichenbach anticipate quantum mechanical indeterminism?'' (pp. 123--150); \textit{Andreas Kamlah}, ``Everybody has the right to do what he wants: Hans Reichenbach's volitionism and its historical roots'' (pp. 151--175). Part IV, Walter Dubislav: \textit{Christian Thiel}, ``Dubislav and classical monadic quantificational logic'' (pp. 179--189); \textit{Temilo van Zantwijk}, ```Demonstrations', not `deductions': Walter Dubislav on transcendental arguments'' (pp. 191--204); \textit{Anita Kasabova}, ``Dubislav and Bolzano'' (pp. 205--228). Part V, Kurt Grelling: \textit{Volker Peckhaus}, ``The third man: Kurt Grelling and the Berlin Group'' (pp. 231--244); \textit{Arkadiusz Chrudzimski}, ``Gestalt, equivalency, and functional dependency: Kurt Grelling's formal ontology'' (pp. 245--261). Part VI, Paul Oppenheim and Carl Hempel: \textit{Paul Ziche} and \textit{Thomas Müller}, ``Paul Oppenheim on order -- the career of a logico-philosophical concept'' (pp. 265--291); \textit{Nikolay Milkov}, ``Carl Hempel: whose philosopher?'' (pp. 293--309); \textit{Erich H. Reck}, ``Hempel, Carnap, and the covering law model'' (pp. 311--324). Index (pp. 325--332).