CFP: Philosophia Scientiæ: Hugo Dingler and the origins of pragmatism in German philosophy of science

Thematic issue of Philosophia Scientiæ 18/2 (June 2014)

Guest Editor: Oliver Schlaudt (Heidelberg)

Submission deadline: June 1, 2013

Notification Date: September 1, 2013

Final version due: January 1, 2014

The “practical turn” in contemporary philosophy of science also produced a rising interest for pragmatism. Pragmatic ideas were found in many philosophical traditions, among them those dominating the 20th century (already in 1976 Bouveresse mentioned pragmatism in Carnap). This new interest relies on a rather open definition of pragmatism, like Rorty's according to which “pragmatic” means that “the vocabulary of practice is uneliminable”. There are however approaches to science where the vocabulary of practice is not only uneliminable, but plays a fundamental role. This is the case particularly for authors during the “classical age” of pragmatism around 1900 who today are largely unknown. A German representative of this group is Hugo Dingler (1881-1954) who, according to Philipp Frank, was at the time the major figure of conventionalism in Germany, and who had considerable influence on the young Carnap. Despite this influence, and despite the reception Dingler's ideas found in Paul Lorenzen's constructivist “Erlangen School” from 1950 on, today neither philosophers nor historians take notice of Dingler's original approach. One reason for this might be his concessions to National Socialist politics, which pale, however, in comparison to those of a certain Martin Heidegger.

In order to make known his interesting and promising account, and also in order to measure the international reception of Poincaré's philosophy, the journal Philosophia Scientiae (http://poincare.univ-nancy2.fr/PhilosophiaScientiae/) is preparing a special issue on "Hugo Dingler and the origins of pragmatism in German philosophy of science", whose guest editor will be Oliver Schlaudt (Heidelberg / Nancy).

The journal invites submissions for publication. Submitted manuscripts should

• be written in French, English, or German;
• contain an abstract of 10 to 20 lignes in english and french;
• not exceed 50.000 characters (including spaces and footnotes);  
• be ready for blind peer reviewing;
• be sent to: [email protected]

Once articles have been accepted for publication, authors will be asked to conform to the Guide for Authors that can be found on the website of the journal (http://poincare.univ-nancy2.fr/PhilosophiaScientiae/?contentId=2933). Manuscripts prepared in LaTeX are preferred, but MS-Word or OpenOffice formats are also accepted.

For further information, please contact: [email protected]

Philosophia Scientiæ  is a peer-reviewed scientific journal. It publishes research relating to epistemology, history and philosophy of science, especially in the field of mathematics, physics, and logic, without excluding any other scientific field. It is published by Kimé Editions (Paris).

The Editorial Board ([email protected])