Abstract

In a book in which the severity of the critique betrays some iconoclasm, Statera first examines the three-way discussion of Schlick, Carnap, and Neurath concerning protocols and verification, then describes the systematic goals of the Encyclopedia of Unified Science, and concludes with an exposition and appraisal of Neurath's work in the philosophy of the social sciences. The selection of Neurath for this preliminary study is a happy one. Neurath's efforts to overcome the gap between sciences of nature and sciences of man are central for an understanding of the complementary and conflicting aspects of the main trends in the philosophy of the social sciences in our time. These main trends are: the historical sociologism of Dilthey and Weber, Marxism, Logical Positivism, and Pragmatism. These four schools, while autonomous and even antagonistic in their work, have nevertheless interacted with each other more than is commonly known, or accepted, in certain quarters. In particular, in the case of Neurath, his association of Logical Positivism with Marxism first, and later with pragmatic notions, is an eloquent proof of the impossibility to dissociate these viewpoints altogether.--A. M.