Ákos Pauler (9 April 1876 – 29 June 1933) was a Hungarian philosopher, member of the

Hungarian Academy of Sciences The Hungarian Academy of Sciences ( , MTA) is Hungary’s foremost and most prestigious learned society. Its headquarters are located along the banks of the Danube in Budapest, between Széchenyi rakpart and Akadémia utca. The Academy's primar ...

. He defended

metaphysics Metaphysics is the branch of philosophy that examines the basic structure of reality. It is traditionally seen as the study of mind-independent features of the world, but some theorists view it as an inquiry into the conceptual framework of ...

against

logical positivism Logical positivism, also known as logical empiricism or neo-positivism, was a philosophical movement, in the empiricist tradition, that sought to formulate a scientific philosophy in which philosophical discourse would be, in the perception of ...

. As part of this defense, he accounted for a method of determining truths alongside the

deductive Deductive reasoning is the process of drawing valid inferences. An inference is valid if its conclusion follows logically from its premises, meaning that it is impossible for the premises to be true and the conclusion to be false. For example, th ...

and inductive methods, one which he called ''reductive''. According to Pauler, the reductive method, unlike induction and deduction, does not determine what entities there are but rather can determine the conditions of possibility of valid thought itself. He also associates the reductive method with Plato's

dialectic Dialectic (; ), also known as the dialectical method, refers originally to dialogue between people holding different points of view about a subject but wishing to arrive at the truth through reasoned argument. Dialectic resembles debate, but the ...

, even suggesting that reduction can ultimately lead to knowledge of the

Form of the Good The Form of the Good, or more literally translated "the Idea of the Good" (), is a concept in the philosophy of Plato. In Plato's Theory of Forms, in which Forms are defined as perfect, eternal, and changeless concepts existing outside space and ...

References

* Kövesi, J., "Pauler, Ákos" in Brochert, D. M. (ed.), ''Encyclopedia of Philosophy'', Second Edition, vol. 2 (Thomson Gale, 2006), p. 145. * Simon, A. L.
"Philosophy"
in ''Made in Hungary: Hungarian contributions to universal culture'' (Simon Publications, 1999), pp. 180–183. * Tamas, G. M.
"Hungarian Philosophy"
in Honderich, T. (ed.), ''The Oxford Companion to Philosophy, New Edition'' (Oxford University Press, 2005), pp. 407–408. 1876 births 1933 deaths 20th-century Hungarian philosophers {{Hungary-philosopher-stub