Wolfgang Stegmüller (; June 3, 1923 – June 11, 1991) was a German-Austrian philosopher who made important contributions in

philosophy of science Philosophy of science is the branch of philosophy concerned with the foundations, methods, and implications of science. Amongst its central questions are the difference between science and non-science, the reliability of scientific theories, ...

and

analytic philosophy Analytic philosophy is a broad movement within Western philosophy, especially English-speaking world, anglophone philosophy, focused on analysis as a philosophical method; clarity of prose; rigor in arguments; and making use of formal logic, mat ...

Biography

Stegmüller studied

economics Economics () is a behavioral science that studies the Production (economics), production, distribution (economics), distribution, and Consumption (economics), consumption of goods and services. Economics focuses on the behaviour and interac ...

and

philosophy Philosophy ('love of wisdom' in Ancient Greek) is a systematic study of general and fundamental questions concerning topics like existence, reason, knowledge, Value (ethics and social sciences), value, mind, and language. It is a rational an ...

at the

University of Innsbruck The University of Innsbruck (; ) is a public research university in Innsbruck, the capital of the Austrian federal state of Tyrol (state), Tyrol, founded on October 15, 1669. It is the largest education facility in the Austrian States of Austria, ...

. In 1944 he graduated as "Diplom-Volkswirt" and one year later he obtained a PhD in economics. Also at the University of Innsbruck he obtained in 1947 a PhD in philosophy with the thesis ''Erkenntnis und Sein in der modernen Ontologie mit besonderer Berücksichtigung der Erkenntnismetaphysik Nicolai Hartmanns: eine kritische Untersuchung''. In 1949 he

habilitated Habilitation is the highest university degree, or the procedure by which it is achieved, in Germany, France, Italy, Poland and some other European and non-English-speaking countries. The candidate fulfills a university's set criteria of excellen ...

with the thesis ''Sein, Wahrheit und Wert in der heutigen Philosophie''. After a stay of one year at the University of Oxford in 1954 he returned to the University of Innsbruck where he was appointed as associate professor for philosophy in 1956. After staying as a visiting professor at the Universities of Kiel and Bonn he received a call from the

Ludwig Maximilian University of Munich The Ludwig Maximilian University of Munich (simply University of Munich, LMU or LMU Munich; ) is a public university, public research university in Munich, Bavaria, Germany. Originally established as the University of Ingolstadt in 1472 by Duke ...

. In 1958, he was appointed professor for philosophy, logic, and philosophy of sciences there and became director of the "Seminar II". Except for two stays as a visiting professor in 1962/63 and 1964 at the University of Pennsylvania, he remained in Munich and ran there a center for

analytical philosophy Analytic philosophy is a broad movement within Western philosophy, especially English-speaking world, anglophone philosophy, focused on analysis as a philosophical method; clarity of prose; rigor in arguments; and making use of formal logic, mat ...

until his retirement in 1990. From 1977 to 1979 he also was dean of the faculty for philosophy, philosophy of science, and statistics. Stegmüller was from 1966 onwards a corresponding member of the

Austrian Academy of Sciences The Austrian Academy of Sciences (; ÖAW) is a legal entity under the special protection of the Republic of Austria. According to the statutes of the Academy its mission is to promote the sciences and humanities in every respect and in every fi ...

and from 1967 on a member of the

Bavarian Academy of Sciences and Humanities The Bavarian Academy of Sciences and Humanities () is an independent public institution, located in Munich. It appoints scholars whose research has contributed considerably to the increase of knowledge within their subject. The general goal of th ...

. 1972 he became a member of the French Institut International de Philosophie, located in Paris. He also was a member of the International Academy of Science, Munich founded in 1980."Selection of IAS-ICSD Founding Members"
/ref> In 1989 W. Stegmüller was awarded an honorary doctorate from the University of Innsbruck. After his retirement he was elected as honorary president of the Gesellschaft für Analytische Philosophie (Society for Analytical Philosophy).

Work

Stegmüller can be credited with essential contributions to the dissemination of ideas of

and

in the

German German(s) may refer to: * Germany, the country of the Germans and German things **Germania (Roman era) * Germans, citizens of Germany, people of German ancestry, or native speakers of the German language ** For citizenship in Germany, see also Ge ...

-speaking world. In his inaugural lecture at the

, he outlined the four problems in

epistemology Epistemology is the branch of philosophy that examines the nature, origin, and limits of knowledge. Also called "the theory of knowledge", it explores different types of knowledge, such as propositional knowledge about facts, practical knowle ...

, which he focussed on in his later work: * The problem of induction * The fundamental role of

experience Experience refers to Consciousness, conscious events in general, more specifically to perceptions, or to the practical knowledge and familiarity that is produced by these processes. Understood as a conscious event in the widest sense, experience i ...

* The problem of theoretical concepts * The problem of scientific explanation

Logic

In his books ''Das Wahrheitsproblem und die Idee der Semantik'' (''The Problem of Truth and the Idea of Semantics'', 1957), and ''Unvollständigkeit und Unentscheidbarkeit'' (''Incompleteness and Undecidability'', 1959) Stegmüller disseminated the ideas of

Alfred Tarski Alfred Tarski (; ; born Alfred Teitelbaum;School of Mathematics and Statistics, University of St Andrews ''School of Mathematics and Statistics, University of St Andrews''. January 14, 1901 – October 26, 1983) was a Polish-American logician ...

and

Rudolf Carnap Rudolf Carnap (; ; 18 May 1891 – 14 September 1970) was a German-language philosopher who was active in Europe before 1935 and in the United States thereafter. He was a major member of the Vienna Circle and an advocate of logical positivism. ...

semantics Semantics is the study of linguistic Meaning (philosophy), meaning. It examines what meaning is, how words get their meaning, and how the meaning of a complex expression depends on its parts. Part of this process involves the distinction betwee ...

and

logics Logic is the study of correct Logical reasoning, reasoning. It includes both Logic#Formal logic, formal and informal logic. Formal logic is the study of Validity (logic), deductively valid inferences or logical truths. It examines how conclu ...

as well as those of

Kurt Gödel Kurt Friedrich Gödel ( ; ; April 28, 1906 – January 14, 1978) was a logician, mathematician, and philosopher. Considered along with Aristotle and Gottlob Frege to be one of the most significant logicians in history, Gödel profoundly ...

mathematical logic Mathematical logic is the study of Logic#Formal logic, formal logic within mathematics. Major subareas include model theory, proof theory, set theory, and recursion theory (also known as computability theory). Research in mathematical logic com ...

. Later similar works are on ''Die Antinomien und ihre Behandlung'' (''

Antinomies In philosophy, an antinomy (Ancient Greek: 'against' + 'law') is a real or apparent contradiction between two conclusions, both of which seem justified. It is a term used in logic and epistemology, particularly in the philosophy of Immanuel Kant. ...

and Their Treatment'', 1955) as well as ''Strukturtypen der Logik'' (''Types of Structures of Logic'', 1961).

Epistemology

One of the most influential books of Stegmüller is ''Metaphysik, Skepsis, Wissenschaft'' (1954). In this work, he discusses the epistemological foundations of

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 ...

scepticism Skepticism ( US) or scepticism ( UK) is a questioning attitude or doubt toward knowledge claims that are seen as mere belief or dogma. For example, if a person is skeptical about claims made by their government about an ongoing war then the pe ...

, and

science Science is a systematic discipline that builds and organises knowledge in the form of testable hypotheses and predictions about the universe. Modern science is typically divided into twoor threemajor branches: the natural sciences, which stu ...

. He demonstrates that any search for epistemological fundamentals will necessarily lead to the problem of the

evidence Evidence for a proposition is what supports the proposition. It is usually understood as an indication that the proposition is truth, true. The exact definition and role of evidence vary across different fields. In epistemology, evidence is what J ...

— which Stegmüller does not regard as solvable. He also refuses the potential solution that universal

skepticism Skepticism ( US) or scepticism ( UK) is a questioning attitude or doubt toward knowledge claims that are seen as mere belief or dogma. For example, if a person is skeptical about claims made by their government about an ongoing war then the p ...

is self-refuting. Even if it were self-refuting, universal skepticism can be stated if the skeptic does not try to justify it. In consequence, explicit conditions (''Evidenzvoraussetzungen'') are necessary in

as well as in

. This means that neither can be fundamentally justified but do presuppose a decision. A further focus of Stegmüller's work was

phenomenalism In metaphysics, phenomenalism is the view that physical objects cannot justifiably be said to exist as " things-in-themselves", but only as perceptual phenomena or sensory stimuli (e.g. redness, hardness, softness, sweetness, etc.) situated in t ...

. In "Der Phänomenalismus und seine Schwierigkeiten" (1958), he describes the extreme problems, which hinder a stringent implementation of the phenomenalism program.

Philosophy of science

Stegmüller is regarded as one of the leading philosophers of science of the second half of the 20th century. Deeply influenced by Thomas S. Kuhn and Joseph D. Sneed, he and several co-workers expanded upon the ideas of Sneed in order to overcome the prevalent rationality crisis of science that was often regarded as a consequence of Kuhn's works. Furthermore, this led him to a new answer to the problems of theoretical concepts. This line of investigations is today known as the " structural theory of the empirical sciences".

Selected publications

*''Das Wahrheitsproblem und die Idee der Semantik'', 1957 *''Unvollständigkeit und Unentscheidbarkeit'', 1959 *''Einheit und Problematik der wissenschaftlichen Welterkenntnis'', 1967 *''Metaphysik-Skepsis-Wissenschaft'', 1969 *''Probleme und Resultate der Wissenschafttheorie und Analytischen Philosophie'' **Band I, ''Erklärung-Begründung-Kausalität'', 1983 **Band II, ''Theorie und Erfahrung'', 1974 ***1. Teilband: ''Theorie und Erfahrung'', 1974 ***2. Teilband: ''Theorienstrukturen und Theoriendynamik'', 1985 ***3. Teilband: ''Die Entwicklung des neuen Strukturalismus seit 1973'', 1986 **Band III, ''Strukturtypen der Logik'', 1984 **Band IV, ''Personelle und statistische Wahrscheinlichkeit'', 1973 ***1. Halbband: ''Personelle Wahrscheinlichkeit und rationale Entscheidung'', 1973 ***2. Halbband: ''Statistisches Schließen - Statistische Begründung - Statistische Analyse'', 1973 *''Das Problem der Induktion: Humes Herausforderung und moderne Antworten'', 1975 *''Rationale Rekonstruktion von Wissenschaft und ihrem Wandel'', 1979 *''The Structuralists View of Theories'', 1979 *''Aufsätze zur Wissenschaftstheorie'', 1980 *''Philosophy of economics'', 1982 *'' Kripkes Deutung der Spätphilosophie Wittgensteins. Kommentarversuch über einen versuchten Kommentar.'' 1986 *''Hauptströmungen der Gegenwartsphilosophie'', Bd. I-IV, Kröner, 7. Auflage (1989),