New life for Carnap's Aufbau?

Rudolf Carnap’s Der logische Aufbau der Welt (The Logical Structure of the World) is generally conceived of as being the failed manifesto of logical positivism. In this paper we are interested in the following question: How much of the original Aufbau can actually be saved? We will argue that there is an adaptation of the old system that satisfies some of the original intentions of the Aufbau and shares several of its several properties. In order to defend this hypothesis one has to show how a new “Aufbau-like” programme may solve or circumvent the problems that affected the original Aufbau project. In particular, we are going to focus on how a new system might address the well-known ties concerning abstraction, dimensionality, and holism.

• Type: Journal
• Year: 2011
• Where: SYNTHESE
• Authors: Hannes Leitgeb
• Keywords: Aufbau Der Welt, Original Aufbau, Original Aufbau Project, SYNTHESE 2011