Gustav Bergmann (May 4, 1906 – April 21, 1987) was an Austrian-born American philosopher. He studied at the University of Vienna and was a member of the Vienna Circle. Bergmann was influenced by the philosophers Moritz Schlick, Friedrich Waismann, and

Rudolf Carnap Rudolf Carnap (; ; 18 May 1891 – 14 September 1970) was a German-language philosopher who was active in Europe before 1935 and in the United States thereafter. He was a major member of the Vienna Circle and an advocate of logical positivism. He ...

who were members of the Circle."Gustav Bergmann" (clas.uiowa.edu)
/ref> In the United States, he was a professor of

philosophy Philosophy (from , ) is the systematized study of general and fundamental questions, such as those about existence, reason, knowledge, values, mind, and language. Such questions are often posed as problems to be studied or resolved. Some ...

and psychology at the University of Iowa.

Biography

Bergmann was born in Vienna, Austria-Hungary. He earned his Ph.D. in mathematics at the University of Vienna in 1928. His dissertation, directed by Walther Mayer, was titled ''Zwei Beiträge zur mehrdimensionalen Differentialgeometrie''. While studying for his doctorate, he was invited to join the Vienna Circle, a group of philosophers, mathematicians, scientists, and others committed to a scientific worldview under the name of

logical positivism Logical positivism, later called logical empiricism, and both of which together are also known as neopositivism, is a movement in Western philosophy whose central thesis was the verification principle (also known as the verifiability criterion o ...

. In 1930–31, he worked with Albert Einstein in Berlin. Unable as a Jew to find academic employment, Bergmann obtained a J.D. degree from the University of Vienna in 1935, and practiced corporate law until he and his family fled to the United States in 1938. Settling at the University of Iowa in

Iowa City Iowa City, offically the City of Iowa City is a city in Johnson County, Iowa, United States. It is the home of the University of Iowa and county seat of Johnson County, at the center of the Iowa City Metropolitan Statistical Area. At the time ...

in 1939, Bergmann eventually became professor of both philosophy and psychology. He died in Iowa City.

Bibliography

* ''The Metaphysics of Logical Positivism''. New York: Longmans, Green & Co. 1954. (Second edition: Madison, University of Wisconsin Press, 1967.) * ''Philosophy of Science''. Madison: University of Wisconsin Press 1957. * ''Meaning and Existence''. Madison: University of Wisconsin Press 1959. * ''Logic and Reality''. Madison: University of Wisconsin Press 1964. * ''Realism: A Critique of Brentano and Meinong''. Madison: University of Wisconsin Press 1967. * ''New Foundations of Ontology''. Madison: University of Wisconsin Press 1992. Edited by William Heald. * ''Collected Works. Vol I. II''. Frankfurt am Main: Ontos Verlag 2003.

References

* ''Ontology and Analysis: Essays and Recollections about Gustav Bergmann'', edited by Laird Addis, Greg Jesson, and Erwin Tegtmeier, Frankfurt: Ontos Verlag, 2007. * ''Fostering the Ontological Turn: Gustav Bergmann (1906–1987), ''edited by Rosaria Egidi and Guido Bonino, Frankfurt: Ontos Verlag, 2008. * ''Gustav Bergmann: Phenomenological Realism and Dialectical Ontology, ''edited by Bruno Langlet and Jean-Maurice Monnoyer, Frankfurt: Ontos Verlag, 2009. * ''The Ontological Turn: Studies in the Philosophy of Gustav Bergmann,'' edited by Moltke Gram and Elmer Klemke, Iowa City: University of Iowa Press, 1974. * ''The Positivist and the Ontologist: Bergmann, Carnap, and Logical Realism, ''by Herbert Hochberg, Amsterdam: Rodopi, 2001.

External links

Bergmann archives

Bergmann pictures, biography, bibliography

{{DEFAULTSORT:Bergmann, Gustav 1906 births 1987 deaths 20th-century American lawyers 20th-century American philosophers 20th-century American male writers 20th-century American non-fiction writers 20th-century Austrian lawyers American male non-fiction writers Jewish emigrants from Austria to the United States after the Anschluss Analytic philosophers Austrian Jews Austrian male writers Austrian philosophers Jewish American academics Jewish philosophers Linguistic turn Ontologists Metaphysicians Philosophers from Iowa Philosophers of science University of Iowa faculty University of Vienna alumni Vienna Circle Writers from Vienna

Biography

Bibliography

See also

References

References

External links