Otto Neurath 1882 – 1945
Otto Neurath was an Austrian sociologist, economist, and philosopher of science and one of the leading members of the Vienna Circle. A committed socialist and engineer of public information, he developed the Isotype system of pictorial statistics to make scientific knowledge accessible to a mass public. His philosophical writings rejected the foundationalist ambitions of much logical empiricism in favor of a coherentist picture famously captured in his image of sailors who must rebuild their ship on the open sea. After fleeing the Anschluss he lived in the Netherlands and England.
Key facts
- Nationality
- Austrian
- Era
- Contemporary
- Movements
- Analytic
Selected quotes
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Attributed to Otto Neurath:
“We are like sailors who have to rebuild their ship on the open sea.”
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Attributed to Otto Neurath:
“The unity of science is the unity of our daily lives.”
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Attributed to Otto Neurath:
“Statistics are the foundation of social science.”
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Attributed to Otto Neurath:
“Visual education makes knowledge accessible to all.”
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Attributed to Otto Neurath:
“Philosophy must be practiced as a public, cooperative activity.”