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Birth of Schlick
Schlick was born in Berlin, Germany to Ernst Albert Schlick and Agnes Arndt. The Schlicks were a middle class family, Moritz's father was a factory manager. He grew up reading Descartes, Schopenhauer, and Nietzsche. -
Higher Education
Schlick studied Physics at the University of Heidelberg before transferring to Lausanne. At the University of Berlin, he studied under Max Planck as his doctoral advisor and received his PhD in Physics in 1904. After a year working in experimental physics in Göttingen, Schlick moved to Zurich, where he studied Philosophy. -
Teaching & Papers
Schlick started teaching at Rostock in 1910, where he wrote "The Nature of Truth According to Modern Logic". In 1915, Schlick published a paper in response to Einstein's theory of relativity and he later wrote "Space and Time in Contemporary Physics". The latter also viewed the theory of relativity, applying geometric conventionalism pioneered by Henri Poincaré. -
The Vienna Circle
Schlick became the Chair of Naturphilosophie at the University of Vienna. There, he led meetings on the Philosophy of Science with a group of notable scientists, philosophers, and mathematicians that became known as the Vienna Circle of Logical Empiricism. Its members reviewed many notable papers. After the inspiring publication of Schlick’s “Problems of Ethics”, the Vienna Circle would collaborate on The Scientific View of the World: The Vienna Circle.
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"General Theory of Knowledge"
In 1925, Schlick published his final edition of "General Theory of Knowledge". It was against "synthetic a priori" knowledge, which is the idea that something can be true even if it isn't proven. -
"Problems of Ethics"
From 1926 to 1930, he worked on "Problems of Ethics", where he began to define positivism. In his lifelong stance against metaphysical logic, Schlick argued that metaphysics proposed impossible perfect concepts which any real, imperfect person should obviously argue against. -
Assassination & Legacy
Schlick was shot by Johann Nelböck, a former student, on a staircase in the University of Vienna.
Schlick stood against metaphysical reasoning in science and philosophy throughout his career; it was upon this subject that many of his later papers were based. For this, Schlick is credited as the father of logical positivism.