The exhibition, which has already been displayed in Vienna and Prague, will be open in the forthcoming month at the University of Warsaw. The University of Warsaw Library building will accommodate copies of photographs, letters and other documents that deal with the main representatives of the Vienna Circle, their life, achievements and scientific interests. The exhibition is accompanied with lectures by scientists from the universities of Vienna and Warsaw.
The Vienna Circle is a group of philosophers, scientists and mathematicians that was formed in the 1920s. Its founders were: Moritz Schlick (a philosopher), Hans Hahn (a mathematician) and Otto Neurath (a politician and sociologist). The group members used to meet regularly in Vienna to investigate scientific language and scientific methodology. The philosophical movement associated with the Circle has been called variously logical positivism, logical empiricism, scientific empiricism, neopositivism, and the unity of science movement.
The exhibition presents the philosophical work of the Vienna Circle in a way that is more accessible and understandable for a broad audience. In the cultural and historical aspect, the exhibition not only shows the philosophy of the Circle but also reveals other people whose minds influenced the Circle and those who bore the impact of the Vienna philosophers. Anyone interested in the exhibition will have an opportunity to learn more about scientific connections between the Vienna Circle and the Lvov-Warsaw School, as well as the circumstances underlying its philosophical destruction.
The exhibition is free to visitors until 28 February. The exhibition’s showrooms are located in the University of Warsaw Library, the ground-floor of the main building.
Online lectures
The exhibition “The Vienna Circle. Exact Thinking in Demented Times” was open on 28th January. The opening ceremony was preceded by lectures transmitted via the UW YouTube profile:
- 10.15-10.45 − Prof. Friedrich Stadler “The Vienna Circle and the Lvov-Warsaw School – Two Kindred Philosophical Currents Between the Wars”;
- 10.45-11.15 − Prof. Anna Brożek ”The Lvov-Warsaw School and the Vienna Circle. Two Projects for Philosophy”;
- 11.15-11.45 − Prof. Karl Sigmund “The mathematicians of the Vienna Circle and their ties with Poland”;
- 11.45-12.15 − Prof. Joanna Osiejewicz “Open texture and the living instrument doctrine. Influence of the Vienna Circle on the application of law in Europe”;
- 12.30 – Opening Ceremony “The Vienna Circle. Exact Thinking in Demented Times”.
The exhibition is organised within the CENTRAL Network (Central European Network for Teaching and Research in Academic Liaison), which includes five Central European universities: the University of Warsaw, Humboldt University (Berlin), the University of Vienna, Charles University (Prague) and Eötvös Loránd University – ELTE (Budapest). Under the CENTRAL partnership, diverse research and outreach activities are conducted in all fields.
