The Journal of Unified Science (Erkenntnis), 1939-1940, Vol. VIII, nos. 1-3; 4; 5-6 (complete final volume of the first series)
The Hague: W. P. Van Stockum & Zoon, 1939-1940. Wraps. 6 numbers bound in three issues. Bound in publisher's pale green printed softcovers, very good, light discoloration and mellowing to spine color, nos. 4 & 5-6 have many pages unopened and uncut. The complete Vol. VIII before the war effectively shut the journal down, not to be revived until the 1970s. No. 1-3 has several important works: Max Black, “Relations between Logical Positivism and the Cambridge School of Analysis,” pp. 24–35. This paper is still cited in histories of analytic philosophy, because it compares the Vienna Circle with the Moore–Wittgenstein tradition at Cambridge. Hans Reichenbach, “Über die semantische und die Objekt-Auffassung von Wahrscheinlichkeitsausdrücken,” pp. 50–68. Charles W. Morris, “Esthetics and the Theory of Signs,” pp. 131–150. This is a foundational paper in semiotic aesthetics. Hilda Geiringer, “Über die Wahrscheinlichkeit von Hypothesen,” pp. 151 ff. Geiringer was a mathematician and the collaborator, later the wife, of Richard von Mises. Louis Rougier, “La relativité de la logique,” pp. 193–217. No. 4 has Jørgen Jørgensen, “Reflexions on Logic and Language,” pp. 218–228, and Reichenbach, “Bemerkungen zur Hypothesenwahrscheinlichkeit,” pp. 256–260, a reply to Geiringer’s paper in No. 1–3, plus Rougier and Heilbronn & Kooswig, "Principia genetica." No. 5-6 has Friedrich Waismann, “Was ist logische Analyse?” pp. 265–289, by Wittgenstein’s close collaborator in the Vienna Circle, Erwin Finlay Freundlich, “Über den gegenwärtigen Stand der empirischen Begründung der allg. Relativitätstheorie,” pp. 290–313, a lecture given at Utrecht in 1938. Freundlich was the astronomer behind the early attempts to test general relativity by observation. Geiringer, “Zu ‘Bemerkungen zur Hypothesenwahrscheinlichkeit,’” pp. 352–353. Her rejoinder means the Geiringer–Reichenbach exchange runs across all three parts, and Karl Dürr, “Die mathematische Logik des Arnold Geulincx,” pp. 361–368. Plus other papers. All are uncommon in the trade. Very good. Item #h46439
Price: $125.00