Leo Apostel and Rudolf Carnap : the development of logical empiricist ethics in post-war Europe

In this article I will discuss two twentieth century philosophers, Rudolf Carnap and Leo Apostel, who aimed to remove ethics from philosophy. Carnap’s ideas about value judgments amount to a well-known, classical account of non-cognitivism in twentieth century meta-ethics. Although Apostel’s ideas are unknown, I will show that they are a direct result of his interaction with Rudolf Carnap and develop Carnap’s position in an interesting way. Uncovering Apostel’s attempt to develop Carnap’s views on ethics is not only interesting because it sheds new light on Carnap’s position, but also because it sheds light on the politically activist reception of logical empiricist philosophy in the post-war period. Contrary to what most commentators have argued, logical empiricism did not entirely lose all of its political potential after the second World War. In Belgium, through the activity of Leo Apostel, it re-acquired some of its interbellum political agenda.

ISBN:9783030803636

Jaar van publicatie:2022

Toegankelijkheid:Open