Thomas Oberdan, Protocols, truth and convention

Thomas Uebel

pp. 310-313

in: Werner Depauli Schimanovich, Eckehart Köhler, Friedrich Stadler (eds), The foundational debate, Berlin, Springer, 1995

Abstract

The Vienna Circle's debate about the linguistic form and epistemological import of scientific data statements—cor protocol sentence debate (PSD)—has long been viewed as a prime example of neopositivist folly. Thomas Oberdan's study is explicitly revisionist: "the lessons that have been drawn from the controversy are of questionable value since they are founded on shallow conceptions of the opinions and viewpoints that figured decisively in the ensuing clash." Rightly deploring this fact "since many of the issues addressed [in that debate] appear at the forefront of philosophical discussions today" (1), Oberdan provides an analysis of the PSD that succeeds in bringing alive issues of lasting interest.