Gustav Bergmann

Gustav Bergmann (May 4, 1906 - April 21, 1987) was a ontologist born in Vienna, Austria. He studied at the University of Vienna and attended meetings of the Vienna Circle during his time in Europe. In his time in the United States, he was a professor of philosophy and psychology at the University of Iowa where he taught and studied until his death in 1987.

Biography

Bergmann studied at the University of Vienna and earned his Ph.D. in mathematics in 1928. He worked with Albert Einstein and Gustav's own doctorate advisor on assisting Einstein's work in physics in 1931. Also during his time studying for his doctorate, he was invited to join the meetings of the Vienna Circle. It was with these meetings that Gustav became in league with Logical Positivism. A couple years after receiving his Ph.D., Gustav reentered the university in Vienna to acquire a law degree in 1935, a time when Nazi Germany had become threatening to Bergmann. After working as a lawyer for 3 years he left Austria and traveled to the United States in 1938.

In the US in the early 1940s, Bergmann became an assistant professor of the Philosophy and Psychology departments of The University of Iowa. By 1950, Gustav had become a full professor at the university. He retired in 1974, but continued to teach in psychology and actively study philosophy at the university up till his death in 1987.

List of main works

* "The Metaphysics of Logical Positivism" New York: Longmans, Green & Co. 1954. Second edition: Madison, University of Wisconsin Press, 1967.
* "Philosophy of Science" Madison: University of Wisconsin Press 1957.
* "Meaning and Existence" Madison: University of Wisconsin Press 1959.
* "Logic and Reality" Madison: University of Wisconsin Press 1964.
* "Realism: A Critique of Brentano and Meinong" Madison: University of Wisconsin Press 1967.
* "New Foundations of Ontology" Madison: University of Wisconsin Press 1992. Edited by William Heald.

External links

* [http://www.philosophypages.com/ph/berg.htm Philosophy Pages - Bergmann]
* [http://www.hist-analytic.org/Bergmannintro.html Professor Hochberg on Bergmann]
* [http://www.formalontology.it/bergmanng.htm Ontological Realism of Gustav Bergmann]

See also

* Logical Positivism
* Ontology

References & Further Reading

* Heald, William. From "Books at Iowa" 56 (April 1987). http://www.lib.uiowa.edu/spec-coll/Bai/heald.htm
* Butchvarov, Panayot, "Bergmann and Wittgenstein on Generality," Metaphysica, Vol. 7, No. 1, April 2006, pp. 123-145.
* "The Ontological Turn: Studies in the Philosophy of Gustav Bergmann" Edited by Gram Moltke S. and Klemke Elmer D. Iowa City: University of Iowa Press 1974.