Neurath’s Congestions, Depth of Intention, and Precization: Arne Naess and His Viennese Heritage

Bringing the environment in: Early Central European contributions to an ecologically oriented psychology of perception.

“…Besides this, this research can be regarded as a contribution to the history and philosophy of science (cf. Radler, 2013) and history of psychology. Most importantly, it invites scholars to investigate Bühler’s and Meinong’s contributions, and those of their students (e.g., Mally, 1930), to the psychology of perception further, to broaden their point of view and to take a look at the Central European roots of ecological psychology (anew).…”

“…Hence, Brunswik’s research mirrored the methodological demands of physicalism, which was highly debated in the Vienna Circle at that time and especially stressed by Otto Neurath (cf. Ash, 2001; Carnap, 1932; Radler 2013; Leary, 1987). To understand this approach, one must only reconsider Brunswik’s experiments—no thoughts, beliefs, or other mentalistic notions are striven for but only the “introspective minimum”: If a subject has the impression that the main object and the comparison object are of equal value, for example, height, then she has only to assert this (e.g., by answering “yes” or by raising a hand or using another gesture of affirmation).…”

“…This “methodological physicalism” (Brunswik, 1943/2001, p. 63) most clearly illustrates Brunswik’s connection to logical empiricism (cf. Radler, 2013).…”