Hans Reichenbach facts for kids
Quick facts for kids
Hans Reichenbach
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| Born | September 26, 1891 |
| Died | April 9, 1953 (aged 61) |
| Education | University of Berlin University of Göttingen University of Munich University of Erlangen (PhD, 1916) Technische Hochschule Stuttgart (Dr. phil. hab., 1920) |
| Era | 20th-century philosophy |
| Region | Western philosophy |
| School | Analytic Berlin Circle Logical empiricism |
| Institutions | University of Berlin Istanbul University UCLA |
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| Doctoral advisors | Paul Hensel, Max Noether (PhD thesis advisors) |
| Other academic advisors | Max Born, Ernst Cassirer, David Hilbert, Max Planck, Arnold Sommerfeld, Albert Einstein |
| Doctoral students | Carl Gustav Hempel, Hilary Putnam, Wesley Salmon |
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Main interests
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Philosophy of science |
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Notable ideas
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Probabilistic justification/reasoning
Philosophical implications of the theory of relativity Philosophical foundations of quantum mechanics The "context of discovery"/"context of justification" distinction Relativized a priori (the fallible set of constitutive principles underlying knowledge) Axioms of connection (empirical laws) vs. axioms of coordination (constitutive principles) |
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Influences
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Influenced
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Hans Reichenbach (September 26, 1891 – April 9, 1953) was an important philosopher of science and teacher. He was a strong supporter of logical empiricism, a way of thinking that uses logic and observation to understand the world.
He started the Gesellschaft für empirische Philosophie (Society for Empirical Philosophy) in Berlin in 1928. This group was also known as the "Berlin Circle". Famous thinkers like Carl Gustav Hempel and David Hilbert were part of it. In 1930, Reichenbach and Rudolf Carnap became editors of the journal Erkenntnis.
Reichenbach made big contributions to understanding how we use probability in science. He also studied the logic of mathematics, and the ideas of space, time, and relativity theory. He wrote about quantum mechanics, which is the study of very tiny particles. His most popular book, The Rise of Scientific Philosophy, came out in 1951.
Contents
Hans Reichenbach's Early Life
Hans Reichenbach was born in Hamburg, Germany. He was the second son of Bruno Reichenbach, a merchant. His mother, Selma Menzel, was a school teacher.
His older brother, Bernard, was involved in a political movement. His younger brother, Herman, became a music teacher.
After finishing school, Hans studied many subjects. He learned civil engineering, physics, mathematics, and philosophy. He went to several universities, including Berlin, Erlangen, Göttingen, and Munich. Some of his teachers were famous scientists like Max Planck and Albert Einstein.
Hans Reichenbach's Political Activities
When he was young, Reichenbach was very active in student groups. He joined the Freistudentenschaft in 1910. He also helped start the Freideutsche Jugend group in 1913.
He wrote articles about making universities better. He also spoke out for freedom of research. He was against unfair treatment of students in organizations. His older brother, Bernard, was also very active in politics.
In 1918, Hans wrote the plan for the Socialist Student Party, Berlin. He became the chairman of this party. He worked with other activists like Karl Wittfogel. However, after attending lectures by Albert Einstein in 1919, he stopped being involved in political groups.
Hans Reichenbach's Academic Career
Reichenbach earned his degree in philosophy in 1915. His PhD paper was about the theory of probability. It was called The Concept of Probability for the Mathematical Representation of Reality.
During World War I, Reichenbach served in the German army. He worked in the radio troops on the Russian front. In 1917, he became ill and returned to Berlin. While working as a physicist, he attended Albert Einstein's lectures on the theory of relativity.
Teaching and Early Books
In 1920, Reichenbach started teaching at the Technische Hochschule Stuttgart. That same year, he published his first book. It was about the philosophical ideas behind the theory of relativity. The book was called The Theory of Relativity and A Priori Knowledge. In it, he disagreed with some of Kant's ideas about knowledge.
He then wrote more books on relativity, including Axiomatization of the Theory of Relativity (1924). He also wrote From Copernicus to Einstein (1927) and The Philosophy of Space and Time (1928). These books explained the logical empiricist view of relativity.
Joining the University of Berlin
In 1926, with help from Albert Einstein and Max Planck, Reichenbach became an assistant professor. He taught in the physics department at the University of Berlin. He was known for his teaching style. He was easy to talk to, and his classes allowed for open discussions. This was very unusual at the time.
The Berlin Circle
In 1928, Reichenbach started the "Berlin Circle". This group was also called the Society for Empirical Philosophy. Members included Carl Gustav Hempel and David Hilbert. The ideas of the Berlin Circle were similar to those of the Vienna Circle, another important group of philosophers. In 1930, Reichenbach and Rudolf Carnap became editors of the journal Erkenntnis.
Moving to Turkey and the United States
When Adolf Hitler became leader of Germany in 1933, Reichenbach was removed from his job. This happened because of new laws against people of Jewish background. Even though he did not practice Judaism, he was still affected.
He then moved to Turkey and became the head of the Philosophy Department at Istanbul University. He started new courses that combined different scientific subjects. In 1935, he published The Theory of Probability.
In 1938, Reichenbach moved to the United States. He became a professor at the University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA). He helped make UCLA's Philosophy Department one of the best in the country. Some of his most famous students were Carl Hempel and Hilary Putnam.
While at UCLA, he wrote several important books. These included Philosophic Foundations of Quantum Mechanics (1944) and Elements of Symbolic Logic (1947). His most popular book, The Rise of Scientific Philosophy, was published in 1951.
Hans Reichenbach died suddenly from a heart attack in 1953. He was working on ideas about the nature of time and scientific laws. He suggested a new way to think about time in language. This idea is still used by linguists today. Two of his books were published after he passed away: The Direction of Time and Nomological Statements and Admissible Operations.
See also
- American philosophy
- List of American philosophers
