ABSTRACT
Diverse discussion groups on logic and the philosophy of science met in Vienna before World War I and shaped the views of some of the later members of the Vienna Circle (e.g., Hahn, Frank, and Neurath). The chapter retraces these early discussions about Russell’s logic and the understanding of scientific theories in French conventionalism. It also emphasizes the role of Meinong’s philosophy in these early discussions. After the war, the Erlangen Conference (1923), organized by Carnap and Reichenbach, was a further occasion for discussions about a possible “exact” and scientific philosophy based on the new symbolic logic. The role of these pre- and postwar discussions in the formation of logical empiricism is investigated further.
