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Theories of Order in Carnap’s Aufbau

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Influences on the Aufbau

Part of the book series: Vienna Circle Institute Yearbook ((VCIY,volume 18))

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Abstract

The notion of “order” occupies a prominent place in Carnap’s Aufbau, and is a key concept in important debates in the period around 1920. This paper discusses how this notion functions in a number of, in retrospect, highly diverse debates, ranging from logic and philosophy of mathematics to psychology and epistemology, and why it could be seen as integrating these discourses. Key features to be found in all theories of order in this period are the search for an ultimately general form of science, an anti-atomist approach that accepts the existence of complex elements, and an attitude of tolerance or neutrality that allows to capture a large array of different scientific attitudes under the notion of “order”. This paper presents the background of the theories of order that Carnap is referring to, highlights some issues in which Carnap’s Aufbau-project fits into a discourse about order, and raises the question as to which historiographical conclusions should be drawn from the prominence of these theories in the Aufbau.

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Notes

  1. 1.

    References to the Aufbau are given via paragraph numbers. The English translations follow Carnap 1967; the - ->key terms are also given in the German original. Other translations are mine. – Many thanks to the reviewer of the first version of this paper and to Thomas Mormann- -> for constructive discussions.

  2. 2.

    Ueberweg’s history of philosophy in the edition from 1906 only briefly names Ziehen- -> as one of the philosophical authors dealing with the status of psychology and with psychology’s role within epistemology; as far as established movements are concerned, he is related to the “immanence philosophy” of which Wilhelm Schuppe- -> was the main protagonist - -> (Heinze 1906, 375–6). The 12th edition from 1923 emphasizes his role in the development of “empiriocriticism” beyond its original formulation in the works of Avenarius- -> and Mach- ->, and stresses the positivist elements in Ziehen’s philosophy - -> (Oesterreich 1923, 401–407). On Ziehen, see the website maintained by A. - -> Herbst and the paper by Th. Mormann- -> in this volume.

  3. 3.

    While Dubislav- -> is given due attention – with respect to his logical and methodological ideas – in - -> Milkov and Peckhaus 2013 - ->, Part IV, his Wörterbuch and his cooperation with Clauberg- -> are hardly discussed in the literature. Clauberg, a medical doctor, is sometimes wrongly identified with the NS-doctor Carl Clauberg. The Kant- ->-Gesellschaft names him in 1920 as a new member with the profession of being a “Medizinalpraktikant”. In 1929 he became Privatdozent, in 1935 Professor for medicine in Berlin.

  4. 4.

    On Driesch- ->, Ziehen- -> and Dubislav- -> see in more detail section - -> “Getting closer to Carnap: Ziehen, Driesch, Dubislav”.

  5. 5.

    The inclusion of the theologian Tillich- -> may seem surprising; however, Tillich was indeed well known in this period for his ideas on ordering the sciences - -> (Ziche 2004).

  6. 6.

    For an analysis that is very strongly focussed on one single author – Husserl- -> – see Haddock 2008 - ->.

  7. 7.

    For an overview, see again Mormann- ->’s text in this volume. For recent examples of this broader approach, see - -> Carus 2007; - -> Awodey and Klein 2004; Köchy 2010 - ->. – A clear example of an approach that – despite its considerable breadth – narrows down the field, is to be found in - -> Coffa1991. See f.i. p. 1: “Within the field of epistemology one may discern three major currents of thought in the nineteenth century: positivism, Kantianism, and what I propose to call the semantic tradition.” – Gereon - -> Wolters’ (1994, 2004) discussion of various styles of philosophizing would deserve more attention in this context, though Wolters, too, is focussing quite strongly on tensions between the various styles.

  8. 8.

    The equally interesting and intricate issue of Carnap- ->’s “reference politics” – raised by Mormann- -> in his paper in this volume – is, thus, consciously left out of consideration here.

  9. 9.

    In this paper, I shall focus on projective geometry as an important inspiration form mathematics. However, the highly general conceptualization given to theories of order by the various authors discussing this concept might make it possible to also discuss the way how the relationship between these sub-fields of mathematics was perceived in this period (and then, interestingly, both within mathematics proper – see, for instance, the broad range of theories that Whitehead- -> includes in his treatise on algebra, Whitehead 1898, and outside of mathematics proper).

  10. 10.

    While this may appear surprising in the light of the pessimistic and Nietzschean aspects of Vaihinger- ->’s project to reveal that our thinking is everywhere, in philosophy, mathematics, and the sciences, based upon „fictions“, there is also a strongly mathematical strand in his arguments; Vaihinger has been particularly interested in exploring his theory’s basis in, and implications for, topics in mathematics.

  11. 11.

    Take an example: from statements of the form “Any three not collinear planes determine a point”, he comes to the more general one that “All space consists of a collection of points, and three qualities may be found, which are all possessed, though in different magnitudes, by different points” - -> (Russell 1990, 346–7).

  12. 12.

    Given the importance of the issue of concept formation in Ostwald- ->, I cannot accept Carnap- ->’s negative verdict concerning the lack of derivative relations between concepts in Ostwald.

  13. 13.

    Cassirer- -> uses the notion of “order” also to discuss the difference between idealism and realism (Cassirer 1913, 53): while idealism views the “cognized order/erkannte Ordnung” as that what is ultimately objective, the realist has to relate objectivity to absolute substances. Külpe- ->’s realistic philosophy (Külpe 1912–1923) is important for Cassirer here.

  14. 14.

    Cassirer 1913 - ->, 36–43, gives an extensive discussion of Ziehen- ->’s ideas concerning epistemology. Interesting for discussions about psychologism – see below, sections “Some Carnapian implications” and “Whence demarcation? – Concluding remarks” – is Cassirer’s statement (Cassirer 1913, 44) that Richard Hönigswald- -> inverts Carl Stumpf- ->’s claim that only what is psychologically adequate can find a place within logic, in a particularly illuminating fashion: psychology must not fail to conform to the “logical notion of truth”.

  15. 15.

    The metaphysical and theological dimensions also remain present, see e.g. - -> Schmidt 1956, who at the same time emphasizes the relevance of logic.

  16. 16.

    Again, the historical contextualization is broad and complex; let me only point out some features: again, Volkelt- -> explicitly refers – as Cassirer- -> also did, see above – to Jacobi- ->, but places him in a long list also containing mystics (Paracelsus- ->, Guyau- ->). Fichte- ->, Driesch- ->, and Husserl- -> are also among the authors he refers to (Volkelt 1922, 11, 14).

  17. 17.

    Ziehen- -> introduces quite a number of other novel concepts; one of the most interesting ones is that of a “Koinade” (Ziehen 1913, 15–6), which stands for a clearly demarcated complex of sensations. – In the supplements to Ziehen 1913, he refers, among other authors, to Hermann Grassmann- ->, thereby making explicit his indebtedness to new foundational discourses in mathematics.

  18. 18.

    On the role of Driesch- -> for Der Raum see also Stone- -> 2006, with a good account of the status of Driesch in his time. Driesch has produced an autobiography which informs in detail about his career (Driesch 1951).

  19. 19.

    The theory of order also determines the fundamental categories of metaphysics. See Driesch- -> 1922, III: “Theory of order, or logic, that can also be called – in the broadest sense of the term – theory of experience or theory of science”/“Ordnungslehre oder Logik, die auch, im weitesten Sinne des Wortes, Erfahrungslehre oder Wissenschaftslehre heißen kann”, provides the basic structure of the “Wirklichkeitslehre”, the theory of reality.

  20. 20.

    This point is made very forcefully in Driesch- -> 1913 (this text is almost entirely structured along the Würzburg School’s ideas on experimental thought psychology): when taking the theory of order as a foundation, it becomes clear that many researchers, “logicians” as well as “psychologists”, work in the same direction, and Driesch consequently emphasizes the surprising agreement in their views (Driesch 1913, V–VI). What he intends to present under the title of a “logic” is a concept that both logicians and psychologists claim as theirs.

  21. 21.

    Similar ideas are voiced in Ernst Mach- ->’s Analyse der Empfindungen that is addressed in the Aufbau a number of times (also in § 3 where Carnap- -> explicitates his indebtedness to theories of order). For Mach, whether a (in itself neutral) element becomes a senssation or a physical object, depends on how it enters into functional dependencies to other elements (Mach 1922, 13).

  22. 22.

    There is a real issue here; Martin Kusch- ->’s discussion of the intricacies of the psychologism-debate has Carnap- -> pretty strongly on the side of the anti-psychologists, but also gives evidence that Carnap was indeed charged with being a psychologist (Kusch 1995, 7), though only much later.

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  1. Department of Philosophy, University of Utrecht, Janskerkhof 13A, 3512BL, Utrecht, The Netherlands

    Paul Ziche

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Ziche, P. (2016). Theories of Order in Carnap’s Aufbau . In: Damböck, C. (eds) Influences on the Aufbau. Vienna Circle Institute Yearbook, vol 18. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-21876-2_5

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