Friedrich Waismann (1896-1959) was one of the most gifted students and
collaborators of Moritz Schlick. Accepted as a discussion partner by
Wittgenstein from 1927 on, he functioned as spokesman for the latter's
ideas in the Schlick Circle, until Wittgenstein's contact with this most
faithful interpreter was broken off in 1935 and not renewed when exile
took Waismann to Cambridge. Nonetheless, at Oxford, where he went in
1939, and eventually became Reader in Philosophy of Mathematics
(changing later to Philosophy of Science), Waismann made important and
independent contributions to analytic philosophy and philosophy of
science (for example in relation to probability, causality and
linguistic analysis). The full extent of these only became evident later
when the larger (unpublished) part of his writings could be studied. His
first posthumous work The Principles of Linguistic Philosophy (1965, 2nd
edn.1997; German 1976) and his earlier Einführung in das mathematische
Denken (1936) have recently proved of fresh interest to the scientific
community. This late flowering and new understanding of Waismann's
position is connected with the fact that he somewhat unfairly fell under
the shadow of Wittgenstein, his mentor and predecessor. Central to this
book about a life and work familiar to few is unpublished and unknown
works on causality and probability. These are commented on in this
volume, which will also include a publication of new or previously
scattered material and an overview of Waismann's life.
