Josef Schächter: Philosophical Writings and Documents in the Context of the Vienna Circle, Volume I Before the Second World War

This book on the life and work of Josef Schächter, member of the Vienna Circle and Rabbi, covers all writings of his Viennese period until 1938. The works include his dissertation on Nicolai Hartmann, his monograph Prolegomena zu einer kritischen Grammatik inspired by Wittgenstein, his Introduction to Logic, and several articles on linguistic and analytic philosophy, ethics, and religion. It is an important source for anyone working on Schächter, Wittgenstein and/or the Vienna Circle. It provides students and researchers with a special contribution to the Jewish cultural history of Vienna before the Shoah.

Introduction.- Dissertation and Examiner’s Report by Moritz Schlick.- Prolegomena zu einer kritischen Grammatik.- On the Essence of Philosophy.- Ein Beitrag zu einer Analyse des Begriffs Kultur.- Religion and Science.- Eine kurze Einführung in die Logistik.- Review of F. Waismann’s Einführung in das mathematische Denken.- Notes on Problems of Ethics and the Philosophy of Culture .- The Meaning of Pessimistic Sentences.

Esther Heinrich-Ramharter is Associate Professor for Philosophy at the University of Vienna. She holds doctorate degrees in philosophy and in mathematics. Her areas of expertise include philosophy of logic and of mathematics, philosophy of religion, as well as research on Ludwig Wittgenstein and on Simone Weil. She is deputy speaker of the Research Centre “Religion and Transformation in Contemporary Society” at the University of Vienna.

Selected book publications: Eine Frage der Farbe. Modalitäten des Zeichengebrauchs in der Logik, Parerga, 2011; (ed.) The Vienna Circle and Religion, Springer, 2022; (ed. with Sabine Mainberger) Linienwissen und Liniendenken, De Gruyter, 2017; (ed. with Michael Staudigl) Religionsphilosophie. Stimmen – Schauplätze – Systeme, Alber, 2023; (ed.) Religionsphilosophie nach Wittgenstein, Metzler, 2024

Friedrich Stadler is retired Full Professor for History and Philosophy of Science at the University of Vienna. He is currently Permanent Fellow at the Institute Vienna Circle, which he founded and headed till 2018. In parallel, he acts as director of the Vienna Circle Society and as member of the Commission for History and Philosophy of Science at the Austrian Academy of Sciences. He was guest professor and research fellow in Berlin, Minneapolis, Tübingen, and Helsinki. Awards: 2014 Grand Decoration of Honour of the Austrian Republic; 2016 The Honorary Field Memorial Medal Jan Patocka of the Academy of Sciences of the Czech Republic; 2017 George Sarton Medal for History of Science of the University of Ghent.

He is the author and of monographs on Ernst Mach and the Vienna Circle, editor and co-editor of 3 book series with Springer covering Logical Empiricism, history and philosophy of science, analytic philosophy, as well as modern intellectual history and exile studies, and the history of the University of Vienna. Editor and Co-editor of edition projects on Ernst Mach and Moritz Schlick. He served as former President of the European Philosophy of Science Association and of the Austrian Ludwig Wittgenstein Society.