The Kraft Circle was a student society of

philosophers Philosophy ('love of wisdom' in Ancient Greek) is a systematic study of general and fundamental questions concerning topics like existence, reason, knowledge, value, mind, and language. It is a rational and critical inquiry that reflects on ...

at the Institut für Österreichische Geschichtsforschung of the

University of Vienna The University of Vienna (, ) is a public university, public research university in Vienna, Austria. Founded by Rudolf IV, Duke of Austria, Duke Rudolph IV in 1365, it is the oldest university in the German-speaking world and among the largest ...

devoted to "considering philosophical problems in a nonmetaphysical manner and with special reference to the findings of the sciences". Its chairman and leading professor was

Viktor Kraft Victor Kraft (; 4 July 1880 – 3 January 1975) was an Austrian philosopher. He is best known for being a member of the Vienna Circle. Early life and education Kraft studied philosophy, geography and history at the University of Vienna. He par ...

, a former associate of the

Vienna Circle The Vienna Circle () of logical empiricism was a group of elite philosophers and scientists drawn from the natural and social sciences, logic and mathematics who met regularly from 1924 to 1936 at the University of Vienna, chaired by Moritz Sc ...

, to which the Kraft Circle is sometimes viewed as a post-

Second World War World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...

extension. The Circle was a part of the Austrian College Society founded in 1945 by

Austria Austria, formally the Republic of Austria, is a landlocked country in Central Europe, lying in the Eastern Alps. It is a federation of nine Federal states of Austria, states, of which the capital Vienna is the List of largest cities in Aust ...

n resistance fighters. The club was founded in 1949 by science and engineering students interested in the philosophical foundations of their disciplines. In the first year

Ludwig Wittgenstein Ludwig Josef Johann Wittgenstein ( ; ; 26 April 1889 – 29 April 1951) was an Austrian philosopher who worked primarily in logic, the philosophy of mathematics, the philosophy of mind, and the philosophy of language. From 1929 to 1947, Witt ...

gave a talk. The members were mainly students, but there were occasional faculty attendees and even "foreign dignitaries" made appearances. Meetings of the circle took place during the academic year, while international meetings of the Austrian College Society took place during the summer at

Alpbach Alpbach (, ) is a town in western Austria in the state of Tyrol. History The earliest written record of the name Alpbach comes from 1150, although human settlement is known to have begun there before and around the year 1000, and a bronze axe f ...

. The circle disbanded in 1952/53. Feyerabend's paper "An Attempt at a Realistic Interpretation of Experience" (''Proceedings of the Aristotelian Society''

958 Year 958 (Roman numerals, CMLVIII) was a common year starting on Friday of the Julian calendar. Events By place Byzantine Empire * October / November – Battle of Raban: The Byzantine Empire, Byzantines under John I Tzimiskes, Jo ...

is "a condensed version of the discussions in the Kraft Circle".

Members

, chairman *

Paul Feyerabend Paul Karl Feyerabend (; ; January 13, 1924 – February 11, 1994) was an Austrian philosopher best known for his work in the philosophy of science. He started his academic career as lecturer in the philosophy of science at the University of Bri ...

, founder *

Erich Jantsch Erich Jantsch (8 January 1929 12 December 1980) was an Austrian system-theorist, philosopher, astrophysicist, engineer, educator, author,Emilio Ambasz al. "Erich Jantsch (1929-1980)," in: ''The Universitas Project: Solutions for a Post-technol ...

, astrophysicistHe "met members of our circle at the astronomical observatory and later became a guru of dissident or pseudo-dissident scientists, trying to use old traditions to new purposes" (Feyerabend 1988, 274 n.2). *Johnny Sagan, later professor of mathematics at the

University of Illinois The University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign (UIUC, U of I, Illinois, or University of Illinois) is a public university, public land-grant university, land-grant research university in the Champaign–Urbana metropolitan area, Illinois, United ...

*Heinrich Eichhorn, later director of New Haven Observatory at

Yale College Yale College is the undergraduate college of Yale University. Founded in 1701, it is the original school of the university. Although other Yale schools were founded as early as 1810, all of Yale was officially known as Yale College until 1887, ...

*Rudolf Goldberger de Buda, later professor of communications and electrical engineering at

McMaster University McMaster University (McMaster or Mac) is a public research university in Hamilton, Ontario, Canada. The main McMaster campus is on of land near the residential neighbourhoods of Ainslie Wood, Ontario, Ainslie Wood and Westdale, Ontario, Westd ...

*Peter Schiske, physicist

Notes

Bibliography

*Paul Feyerabend. ''Against Method''. Revised edition. London: Verso, 1988. *John Preston
"Paul Feyerabend"
''The Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy''. Published 1 June 2009. Austrian philosophy Philosophy organizations Vienna Circle {{philo-org-stub