Abstract

Hans-Joachim Dahms’s long-awaited book on the so-called “positivism dispute” is a most timely and important study of a particularly puzzling episode in the history of 20th century Central European philosophy.1 Transcending the distinction between internal and external historiography, it tells a story that may be read not only as a well-situated philosophical critique of the positions at issue in that dispute, but also as a political history of mid-20th century Central European philosophy of science. Read either way, Dahms’s study is of great contemporary relevance despite its historical orientation