Gustav Bergmann (May 4, 1906 – April 21, 1987) was an Austrian-born American philosopher. He studied at the
University of Vienna
The University of Vienna (german: Universität Wien) is a public research university located in Vienna, Austria. It was founded by Duke Rudolph IV in 1365 and is the oldest university in the German-speaking world. With its long and rich hist ...
and was a member of the
Vienna Circle
The Vienna Circle (german: Wiener Kreis) 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, ch ...
. Bergmann was influenced by the philosophers
Moritz Schlick
Friedrich Albert Moritz Schlick (; ; 14 April 1882 – 22 June 1936) was a German philosopher, physicist, and the founding father of logical positivism and the Vienna Circle.
Early life and works
Schlick was born in Berlin to a wealthy Prussian f ...
,
Friedrich Waismann
Friedrich Waismann (; 21 March 18964 November 1959) was an Austrian mathematician, physicist, and philosopher. He is best known for being a member of the Vienna Circle and one of the key theorists in logical positivism.
Biography
Born to a Jewis ...
, and
Rudolf Carnap who were members of the Circle.
"Gustav Bergmann" (clas.uiowa.edu)
/ref> In the United States
The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territori ...
, he was a professor of philosophy and psychology
Psychology is the scientific study of mind and behavior. Psychology includes the study of conscious and unconscious phenomena, including feelings and thoughts. It is an academic discipline of immense scope, crossing the boundaries between ...
at the University of Iowa
The University of Iowa (UI, U of I, UIowa, or simply Iowa) is a public research university in Iowa City, Iowa, United States. Founded in 1847, it is the oldest and largest university in the state. The University of Iowa is organized into 12 col ...
.
Biography
Bergmann was born in Vienna
en, Viennese
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, Austria-Hungary
Austria-Hungary, often referred to as the Austro-Hungarian Empire,, the Dual Monarchy, or Austria, was a constitutional monarchy and great power in Central Europe between 1867 and 1918. It was formed with the Austro-Hungarian Compromise of ...
. He earned his Ph.D. in mathematics at the University of Vienna
The University of Vienna (german: Universität Wien) is a public research university located in Vienna, Austria. It was founded by Duke Rudolph IV in 1365 and is the oldest university in the German-speaking world. With its long and rich hist ...
in 1928. His dissertation, directed by Walther Mayer
Walther Mayer (11 March 1887 – 10 September 1948) was an Austrian mathematician, born in Graz, Austria-Hungary. With Leopold Vietoris he is the namesake of the Mayer–Vietoris sequence in topology.. He served as an assistant to Albert Einstei ...
, was titled ''Zwei Beiträge zur mehrdimensionalen Differentialgeometrie''. While studying for his doctorate
A doctorate (from Latin ''docere'', "to teach"), doctor's degree (from Latin ''doctor'', "teacher"), or doctoral degree is an academic degree awarded by universities and some other educational institutions, derived from the ancient formalism ''li ...
, he was invited to join the Vienna Circle
The Vienna Circle (german: Wiener Kreis) 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, ch ...
, a group of philosophers, mathematicians, scientists, and others committed to a scientific worldview under the name of logical positivism. In 1930–31, he worked with Albert Einstein
Albert Einstein ( ; ; 14 March 1879 – 18 April 1955) was a German-born theoretical physicist, widely acknowledged to be one of the greatest and most influential physicists of all time. Einstein is best known for developing the theory ...
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
The University of Iowa (UI, U of I, UIowa, or simply Iowa) is a public research university in Iowa City, Iowa, United States. Founded in 1847, it is the oldest and largest university in the state. The University of Iowa is organized into 12 col ...
in Iowa City 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
The University of Wisconsin Press (sometimes abbreviated as UW Press) is a non-profit university press publishing peer-reviewed books and journals. It publishes work by scholars from the global academic community; works of fiction, memoir and p ...
, 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.
See also
* American philosophy
* List of American philosophers
This is a list of American philosophers; of philosophers who are either from, or spent many productive years of their lives in the United States.
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References
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