Work · Analytic Philosophy
The Scientific Conception of the World: The Vienna Circle
The manifesto of the Vienna Circle, signed by Hans Hahn, Otto Neurath and Rudolf Carnap: unified science, logical analysis, no metaphysics – and an alliance with social reform.
Introduction
The pamphlet appeared in 1929, published by the Ernst Mach Society and dedicated to Moritz Schlick, who had just declined an offer from Bonn and stayed in Vienna. It is signed for the society by Hans Hahn, Otto Neurath and Rudolf Carnap; Neurath did most of the drafting. It sets out a “scientific world-conception” based on empiricism and logical analysis, rejects metaphysics as meaningless and calls for unified science. It lists the members and sympathisers of the circle and names forerunners such as Mach, Boltzmann, Einstein, Russell and Wittgenstein. Its final pages link the new philosophy to the reform of social and economic life, a point on which not all members agreed.
More works by Otto Neurath
As of November 2026 · Improve this page · How Agora is made