Prof. Dr. phil. habil. Ingolf Max
March 1st until June 15th, 2026
Affiliation: Universität Leipzig
Research for a study about:
Studies on the Multiplicity of the Determination of Logical Forms by Rudolf Carnap
The determination of logical forms is a precondition for the successful formulation of any theory. This applies equally to theories that are formulated purely syntactically (e.g., uninterpreted axiomatic systems in Hilbert's and Church’s sense), semantic forms of representation (model theories, algebraic semantics, etc.), or even the designs of formal pragmatics. Over the course of his life, Rudolf Carnap went from a specific understanding of logical syntax to the provision of his semantics of state-descriptions for modal/intensional contexts and inductive logics, and finally to proposals of logical forms for concepts to get formal pragmatics. Carnap was an extremely creative logician who immediately adopted the innovations of his colleagues and enriched them with his own findings. He was always aware that entering a new field of research requires fixing appropriate logical forms.
This path can be traced not only in his works published during his lifetime, but especially with reference to his estate, which is continuously being made accessible not only in printed form but also digitally, primarily via the Virtual Archive of Logical Empiricism (VALEP, https://valep.vc.univie.ac.at). My studies at the Institute of Vienna Circle are embedded in a comprehensive presentation of the complex network of numerous formal proposals that Carnap developed throughout his career. This concerns both their formal-theoretical significance and their philosophical relevance. The results will be placed in the context of my research on the creation of logical forms by Gottlob Frege, Charles S. Peirce, David Hilbert, and Arthur N. Prior, as well as the predominantly philosophically oriented considerations of Moritz Schlick and Ludwig Wittgenstein.
Lecture
Some Remarks on Carnap's Ingenuity in Creating Logical Forms
IVC Philosophy of Science Colloquium
Date: April 23, 2026
Time: 4.45 pm -6.15 pm CET
Venue: Lecture Hall 3C, NIG Universitätsstraße 7, 3rd floor, NIG/ Neues Institutsgebäude, Universitätsstraße 7, 1010 Vienna
Abstract:
Carnap's logical-philosophical oeuvre is characterized by his remarkable creativity in inventing and using new logical forms. This applies to all areas of semiotics: from syntax via semantics through to pragmatics. In my talk, I will consider some paradigmatic cases: (a) basic structures in his Quasizerlegung/Quasianalyse (quasi-decomposition/quasi-analysis), (b) the concept of state descriptions inspired by Leibniz and Wittgenstein to get a semantics for intensional contexts, and (c) the proposal to use certain n-ary predicates with n ≥ 3 as basic patterns of concepts of formal pragmatics. Every decision for a logical form is philosophically motivated and, in Carnap's case, always made with the aim of constructing a logical theory.
Report
The IVC provided an extremely fertile environment for deepening my investigations of Rudolf Carnap’s ingenuity in creating logical forms within the context of a general philosophy of signs and in comparison with selected approaches by other thinkers. Various aspects of Carnap’s logic and philosophy were explored in several inspiring presentations by other colleagues: Pedro Del Valle-Inclán (IVC Fellow, Scuola Normale Superiore Pisa): “Carnap's Problem: Rules, Models, and Meaning”; Romy Vekony (IVC Fellow, Florida State University): “To Speak of Abstract Objects”; the presentation of the academy project “Rudolf Carnap Digital (RCD)” by Christian Damböck, Philipp Leon Bauer & Caterina del Sordo; Pierre Wagner (University of Paris 1 Panthéon-Sorbonne): “Carnap on Definition” (webinar “Reconstructing Carnap”).
I benefited greatly from the many other lectures that took place in four series: (1) Logic Café (on Mondays), (2) IVC-Reading Group (usually biweekly on Wednesdays), (3) Philosophy of Science Colloquium - IVC Fellowship Talks (on Thursdays) & (4) Lecture Series HOPOS / HPS (on Fridays) as well as from my participation at the Conference “The Formal Turn: Formalism in Mathematics and Logic at the Turn of the 20th Century”. During this conference I started a fruitful discussion with Dirk Schlimm (McGill University, Montreal). His investigations into the philosophical aspects of logical and mathematical notation are closely linked to my research program on logical forms.
On April 23rd, 2026, preliminary results have been presented in my lecture “Some Remarks on Carnap's Ingenuity in Creating Logical Forms” as part of the series “Philosophy of Science Colloquium - IVC Fellowship Talks”.
I will continue the cooperation with many colleagues of the Institute Vienna Circle, the Society Vienna Circe as well as the Austrian Academy of Sciences. Only to mention a few: Friedrich Stadler, Christian Damböck, Philipp Leon Bauer & Christoph Limbeck-Lilienau.
Report 2
A more detailed overview
1. Further Aspects of Cooperation in Vienna
· Supporting the edition project „Moritz Schlick – Philosophie der Natur, Kultur, Politik und Geschichte. Ausgewählte Schriften aus dem Nachlass“, hrsg. von Friedrich Stadler und Bastian Stoppelkamp (= Veröffentlichungen des Instituts Wiener Kreis, Band 35).
· Detailed discussion with Philipp Leon Bauer about his PhD-Project with a focus on “Aspects of the principle of economy in logic”.
· Inspiring discussions with Lona Gaikis (current IVC Fellow) on the philosophy of signs in the work by Susanne K. Langer.
2. Visited talks and discussions in philosophical series & conferences
2.1 Logic Café (on Mondays, 4:45 p.m., https://logik-cafe.univie.ac.at/)
· March 16th, 2026: Gil Sagi (University of Haifa), “Engineering mathematical concepts”
2.2 IVC-Reading Group (usually biweekly on Wednesdays)
· March 4th, 2026: Joshua Eisenthal (2022): “Models and Multiplicities”
· March 18th, 2026: Christoph Schuringa (2025) “A Social History of Analytic Philosophy” (Introduction, chapters 5 & 8)
· April 1st, 2026: Willard Van Orman Quine (1943/47): “Reference and Modality”
· April 15th, 2026: Amie Thomasson (2025): “The Explanatory Conception of Metaphysics” (chapter 2)
· April 29th, 2026: Amie Thomasson (2025): “The Explanatory Conception of Metaphysics” (chapter 3 & 4)
· May 13th, 2026: Susanne K. Langer (1930): “The Practice of Philosophy” (chapter 5 “The Logical Basis of Meaning”) & Giulia Felappi (2017) “Susanne Langer and the Woeful World of Facts”
2.3 Philosophy of Science Colloquium - IVC Fellowship Talks (on Thursdays, https://wienerkreis.univie.ac.at/news-events/philosophy-of-science-colloquium-ivc-fellowship-talks/summerterm-2026/)
· March 19th, 2026: Julian Toader (IVC): “Conservatism as a Norm of Scientific Practice”
· April 16th: Alice Di Noto (IVC Fellow, University of Trento): “The Notion of ‘Functional A Priori’ in Arthur Pap's Philosophy of Science”
· April 23rd: 2026: My own talk “Some Remarks on Carnap's Ingenuity in Creating Logical Forms”
· May 7th, 2026: Matteo Collodel (IVC): “Popper's Problem of Incommensurability”
· May 21st., 2026 Romy Vekony (IVC Fellow, Florida State University): “To Speak of Abstract Objects”
· May 28th, 2026: Pedro Del Valle-Inclán (IVC Fellow, Scuola Normale Superiore Pisa): “Carnap's Problem: Rules, Models, and Meaning”
· June 11th, 2026: Kosmas Brousalis (IVC Fellow, University of Athens): “Confronting Tensions within Epistemic Structural Realism: Lessons from the Logical Positivist Tradition”
2.4 Lecture Series HOPOS / HPS (on Fridays)
· March 20th, 2026: Günther Sandner (Uni Wien): “Isotype - Reflections on an Exhibition”
· March 27th, 2026: Miguel de la Riva (Uni Wien): „Zur Rezeption von Ludwik Flecks
‚Entstehung und Entwicklung einer wissenschaftlichen Tatsache‘ (1935)”
· April 10th, 2026: Lucas Baccarat Silva Negro de Campos (Université de Genève): “Third-Person Methodology and Physicalism: Richard Avenarius and Otto Neurath”
· April 24th, 2026: Christian Damböck (ÖAW): On the Project “Rudolf Carnap Digital (RCD)” (https://valep.vc.univie.ac.at/valepPlus/project/1), Philipp Leon Bauer (ÖAW): Carnap on the Principle of Economy & Del Sordo (ÖAW): Reception of the “Aufbau” & Phenomenology
· May 8th, 2026: Martin Strauss (Uni Wien & EHESS, Paris): “Sociologizing the A Priori. Kantianism and the Sociology of Knowledge in French and German-Speaking Academic Fields, 19th-20th Century”
· May 22nd, 2026: Olimpia Malatesta (University of Bologna): “Ecological Planning and Economic Rationalities”
2.5 Webinar “Reconstructing Carnap” (online, usually once a month on Wednesdays, organized in collaboration with Carnap in Context IV (ÖAW, FWF Grant PAT7905424) and Rudolf Carnap Digital, MCMP, LMU Munich.
https://valep.vc.univie.ac.at/files/External/2026_Reconstructing_Carnap-original.pdf)
· June 3rd, 2026: Pierre Wagner (University of Paris 1 Panthéon-Sorbonne): Carnap on Definition
2.6 Conference: The Formal Turn: Formalism in Mathematics and Logic at the Turn of the 20th Century, June 8th – 10th
· June 8th: Talks by Dirk Schlimm (McGill University), Rachel Boddy (University of Paris 1 Panthéon-Sorbonne, IHPST), Joan Bertran-San-Millán (Complutense University of Madrid), Mirja Hartimo (University of Helsinki), Iulian Toader (University of Vienna) & Christoph Limbeck-Lilienau (Institute Vienna Circle, University of Vienna
· June 9th: Talks by Paola Cantù (Aix-Marseille Université), David Waszek (École Normale Supérieure, Paris), Richard Lawrence (University of Vienna), Tabea Rohr (Friedrich Schiller University Jena), Moritz Bodner (University of Vienna) & Richard Zach (University of Calgary)