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Jan 8, 1905
Hempel was born in Oranienburg, Germany on Jan 8, 1905 -
Logical Empiricism
Led mainly by Hempel, the movement's central thesis was the verification principle. Coming out of the Berlin and Vienna Circles, The verification principle states that only statements verificable through direct observation or logical proof are meaningful. -
The Raven Paradox
Presented by Hempel, the paradox raises a question on what evidence should or should not be included. Using a logical form of reasoning, saying if something is a raven, then it is black, is the same as if something is not black, then it is not a raven. The paradox begins when looking at something like a red ball. Because a red ball is neither black nor a raven it would actually support the claim that all ravens are black. Watch a short video here (www.youtube.com/watch?v=7ipA3c6b-yY) -
Studies in the Logic of Confirmation
Published in the journal of Philosophy of Science, Hempel's gave an explanation to the logic of confirmation. His essay explained that a scientific fact is a deduction of a statement that describes the fact or theory, and that the premises are scientific laws and the paradigms. For a scientific explanation to be acceptable, the premises must be true. Hempel, Carl G. “Studies in the Logic of Confirmation (I.).” Mind, vol. 54, no. 213, 1945, pp. 1–26. JSTOR, www.jstor.org/stable/2250886. -
The Death of Neopositivism
Thomas Kuhn's book, The Structure of Scientific Revolutions, was published in 1962, the book dramatically shifted the paradigm in the philosophy field. The idea of Logical Empiricism that later turned into Neopositivism, was dead. By the 1960's neopositivism was "dead, or as dead as a philosophical movement ever becomes." Shapere, Dudley. “The Structure of Scientific Revolutions.” The Philosophical Review, vol. 73, no. 3, 1964, pp. 383–394. JSTOR, www.jstor.org/stable/2183664. -
Nov. 9th, 1997
Hempel died after a productive career in Princeton, New Jersey.
