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Birth
Hans Reichenbach was born on September 26, 1891 in Hamburg Germany. -
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Birth and Death Dates
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Continued Education and MIlitary Service
Notably, Hans Reichenbach enrolled in college, starting in 1910 and 1916. He attended school in many different regions, including Stuttgart, Berlin, Munich, and Göttingen, before being drafted into the German Army. Following this brief period of collective armament, Reichenbach transitioned into a career in radio technology. Subsequently, the scholar shifted his focus to the field of Physics, in 1920. -
Doctoral Dissertation
Reichenbach wrote his doctoral dissertation (The Concept of Probability in the Mathematical Representation of Reality) predominantly on his own after the neo-Kantian Paul Natorp refused to welcome him as his pupil. After searching for alternative experts, his dissertation was ultimately endorsed by Paul Hensel, a philosopher, and Max Noether, a mathematician, in 1915 in Erlangen (Glymour and Eberhardt, 2021). -
Attended Einstein's Lectures
In Berlin, Reichenbach attended Einstein’s lectures which made a large impression, inaugurating a life-long friendship between the two men. The scholar authored several articles advocating for Einstein, especially in the context of the information reported on the solar eclipse of 1919, corroborating the predictions of the general theory of relativity (Glymour and Eberhardt, 2021). How the theory of general relativity was demonstrated -
Instructor of Physics
In 1920 Reichenbach was hired as an instructor in physics, and soon after named associate professor, at the Technische Hochschule in Stuttgart. The Theory of Relativity and A Priori Knowledge was listed as his habilitation in physics. -
Published Significant Essays
Reichenbach writes two brilliant essays, titled "The Physical Presuppositions of the Calculus of Probability", and "A Philosophical Critique of the Probability Calculus". -
Contributes Additional Literature
Reichenbach’s essay “The Causal Structure of the World” is an early attempt to expound the direction of time in terms of causal and probabilistic asymmetries. -
Began Teaching Natural Philosophy
In 1926, Reichenbach assumed a teaching position in “natural philosophy” at the University of Berlin, where he stayed until Hitler rose to power in 1933. -
Initiated Conversations on Scientific Philosophy
Reichenbach organized discussion groups on scientific philosophy. The prominent circle that developed out of the Society for Empirical Philosophy, became known as the Berlin Group. Furthermore, Reichenbach initiated the publication of the journal Erkenntnis as a conference for scientific philosophy. In addition, he was a frequent patron of well read essays and a routine radio speaker on scientific topics. -
Moved to Istanbul
With Hitler’s rise to power, the ideologies and methods of the Berlin Group and Vienna Circle were considered to be Jewish philosophy. Reichenbach, who was of Jewish heritage, was deemed a national socialist, correspondingly was considered undesirable. because of this he was removed from his university profession and from radio work. Given these points, he moved to Istanbul in 1933. -
Wrote "The Theory of Probability"
Reichenbach wrote a paper titled "The Theory of Probability." This essay was not well received, drawing harsh criticism from Karl Popper. Probability -
Moved To California
Under a five year contract which blocked Reichenbach from accepting a position at New York University, he remained in Turkey until 1938. After this, he moved to the University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA) with his family. -
Abandoned Foundationalism
By the 1930s, Reichenbach abandoned foundationalism completely and developed an epistemological position closer to pragmatism than to logical positivism. Reichenbach’s mature viewpoint, is presented in "Experience and Prediction" (1938). Foundationalism -
Suffers an Untimely Death
Reichenbach dies from a heart attack on April 9, 1953. -
Post Mortem Publications
After dying of a heart attack, Hans's work did not desist with him. Interestingly, after his death, two theories out of his closing research articles were completed and published for him. These pieces of literature included, "Nomological Statements and Admissible Operations" (1954), and "The Direction of Time" (1956). -
References
Glymour, Clark, and Frederick Eberhardt. “Hans Reichenbach.” Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy, Stanford University, 23 Mar. 2021, https://plato.stanford.edu/entries/reichenbach/. How an Eclipse Proved Einstein Right - Youtube. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vF4DENWd_ts. “Probability Part 1: Rules and Patterns: Crash ... - Youtube.” Crash Course, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OyddY7DlV58. “What Is Foundationalism?” YouTube, YouTube, 25 Oct. 2020, https://www.youtube.com/?gl=DE.