Eckehart Köhler - Böcker

Constructivity and complexity play central roles in recent research in computer science, mathematics and physics. For example, scientists are investigating the complexity of computer programs, constructive proofs in mathematics and the randomness of physical processes. But there are different approaches to the explication of these concepts. This volume presents important research on the state of this discussion, especially as it refers to quantum mechanics. This "foundational debate" in computer science, mathematics and physics was already fully developed in 1930 in the Vienna Circle. A special section is devoted to its real founder, Hans Hahn, referring to his contribution to the history and philosophy of science. The documentation section presents articles on the early Philipp Frank and on the Vienna Circle in exile. Reviews cover important recent literature on logical empiricism and related topics.

This volume collects together contributions to the theory of games, the theory of game-theoretical rationality, and their applications. Twenty-seven articles present current advances in game theory after the award of the Nobel Prize in economics and especially in game theory to John F. Nash, John C. Harsanyi, and Reinhard Selten. Harsanyi and Selten, have themselves contributed leading articles to this volume. In utility and game theory, the question of which rationality governs their methods and the behaviour of the agents as well has emerged as one of the new conceptual foundations of all social sciences. The main aim of this book is to find an answer to this problem. Do we have to give up our belief in the traditional form of deductive and linear rationality in the social sciences in favour of probabilistic and stochastic methods? Which kind of rationality do we, and should we, use when we attempt to practically solve societal problems and conflicts? Quite a few articles in this book address these questions.The consequences of a new, multi-faceted rationality, which may to shake the traditional foundation of game theory, decision theory, and utility theory, and, finally, the social sciences in their entirety, are discussed in depth in seven chapters and a preface: "Rationality and the Foundations of the Social Sciences", "Cooperation and Rationality", "Rationality and Economics", "Bayesian Theory and Rationality", "Evolution and Evolutionary Game Theory", "Ethics and Game Theory", and "Applications of Game Theory". The contributors include economists, utility and decision theorists, psychologists, sociologists, physicists, philosophers of sciences and probability theorists. They attempt to make their contributions accessible to a wide audience. The book should be of interest to researchers, teachers and advanced students in the above-mentioned disciplines; it can be used for a one-semester course on the graduate level. The volume also includes a review section focusing on recent publications on Logical Empiricism and its influence. An autobiographical report on the Vienna Circle by Arne Naess follows the main part of the Yearbook.An overview of the activities of the Institute Vienna Circle 1997/98 concludes the volume.

The larger part of this text constitutes the proceedings of a symposium on Alfred Tarski and his influence on and interchanges with the Vienna Circle, especially those on and with Rudolf Carnap and Kurt Godel. Attention is mainly paid to the origins, development and subsequent role of Tarski's definition of truth. Some contributions are primarily historical, others analyze logical aspects of the concept of truth. Contributors include Anita and Saul Feferman, Jan Wolenski, Jan Tarski and Hans Sluga. Several Polish logicians contributed: Gzegorczyk, Wojcicki, Murawski and Rojszczak. The volume presents biographical material on Tarski, both from his Polish period and on his influential career in the United States at Harvard, Princeton, Hunter, and at the University of California at Berkeley. The high point of the analysis involves Tarski's influence on Carnap's evolution from a narrow syntactical view of language, to the ontologically more sophisticated but more controversial semantical view. The concluding part of the book includes documentation, book reviews and a summary of current activities of the Institute Vienna Circle.Jan Tarski introduces letters written by his father to Godel; Paolo Parrini reports on the Vienna Circle's influence in Italy; several reviews cover past books on logical empiricism, on Godel, on cosmology, on holistic approaches in Germany, and on Mauthner.

Philosophy of Science deals with the problem, 'What is science?' It seems that the answer to this question can only be found if we have an answer to the question, 'How does science function?' Thus, the study of the methodology of social sciences is a prominent factor in any analysis of these sciences. The history of philosophy shows clearly that the answer to the question, 'How does science function?' was the conditio sine qua non of any kind of philosophy of science, epistemology and even of logic. Aristotle, Hume, Kant, Mill, Russell, to mention a few classical authors, clearly emphasized the primacy of methodology of science for any kind of philosophy of science. One may even state that analyses of the presup­ positions, the foundations, the aims, goals and purposes of science are nothing else than analyses of their general and specific formal, as well as practical and empirical methods. Thus, the whole program of any phi­ losophy of science is dependent on the analysis of the methods of sciences and the establishment of their criteria. If the study of scientific method is the predominant factor in the philosophy of science, then all the other problems will depend on the outcome of such a study. For example, the old question of a possible unity of all social sciences will be brought to a solution by the study of the presuppositions, the methods, as well as of the criteria germane to all social sciences.

Philosophy of Science deals with the problem, 'What is science?' It seems that the answer to this question can only be found if we have an answer to the question, 'How does science function?' Thus, the study of the methodology of social sciences is a prominent factor in any analysis of these sciences. The history of philosophy shows clearly that the answer to the question, 'How does science function?' was the conditio sine qua non of any kind of philosophy of science, epistemology and even of logic. Aristotle, Hume, Kant, Mill, Russell, to mention a few classical authors, clearly emphasized the primacy of methodology of science for any kind of philosophy of science. One may even state that analyses of the presup­ positions, the foundations, the aims, goals and purposes of science are nothing else than analyses of their general and specific formal, as well as practical and empirical methods. Thus, the whole program of any phi­ losophy of science is dependent on the analysis of the methods of sciences and the establishment of their criteria. If the study of scientific method is the predominant factor in the philosophy of science, then all the other problems will depend on the outcome of such a study. For example, the old question of a possible unity of all social sciences will be brought to a solution by the study of the presuppositions, the methods, as well as of the criteria germane to all social sciences.

Constructibility and complexity play central roles in recent research in computer science, mathematics and physics. For example, scientists are investigating the complexity of computer programs, constructive proofs in mathematics and the randomness of physical processes. But there are different approaches to the explication of these concepts. This volume presents important research on the state of this discussion, especially as it refers to quantum mechanics. This 'foundational debate' in computer science, mathematics and physics was already fully developed in 1930 in the Vienna Circle. A special section is devoted to its real founder Hans Hahn, referring to his contribution to the history and philosophy of science. The documentation section presents articles on the early Philipp Frank and on the Vienna Circle in exile. Reviews cover important recent literature on logical empiricism and related topics.

This volume collects outstanding contributions to the theory of games, the theory of game-theoretical rationality, and their applications. 27 articles present the new situation and the recent advances in game theory after the award of the Nobel Prize in economics and especially in game theory to John F. Nash, John C. Harsanyi, and Reinhard Selten. Two of them, Harsanyi and Selten, have contributed leading articles to this volume. In utility and game theory, the question of which rationality governs their methods and the behavior of the agents as well has emerged as one of the most exciting new conceptual foundations of all social sciences. The main aim of this book is to find an answer to this problem. Do we have to give up our belief in the traditional form of deductive and linear rationality in the social sciences in favor of probabilistic and stochastic methods? Which kind of rationality do we, and should we, use when we attempt to practically solve societal problems and conflicts? Quite a few articles in this book address these questions.The consequences of a new, multi-faceted rationality, which is going to shake the traditional foundation of game theory, decision theory, and utility theory, and, finally, the social sciences in their entirety, are discussed in depth in seven chapters and a preface: 'Rationality and the Foundations of the Social Sciences,' 'Cooperation and Rationality,' 'Rationality and Economics,' 'Bayesian Theory and Rationality,' 'Evolution and Evolutionary Game Theory,' 'Ethics and Game Theory,' and 'Applications of Game Theory'. The contributors include economists, utility and decision theorists, psychologists, sociologists, physicists, philosophers of sciences and probability theorists. They attempt to make their contributions accessible to a wide audience. The book will interest researchers, teachers and advanced students in the above-mentioned disciplines; it can be used for a one-semester course on the graduate level. The volume also includes a review section focusing on recent publications on Logical Empiricism and its influence. An autobiographical report on the Vienna Circle by Arne Naess follows the main part of the Yearbook.An overview of the activities of the Institute Vienna Circle 1997/98 concludes the volume.