Ingolf Max

Prof. Dr. phil. habil. Ingolf Max

March 1st until June 15th, 2026

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.