The Philosophers on the Market Square. Philosophical Modernism from Vienna to Uppsala Victoria Höög Department of Philosophy, Lund University
[email protected] ABSTRACT: The logical empiricists in Vienna and their Swedish counterparts in Uppsala shared a scientific ethos that underlined the philosophical academics as representatives for universalism, disinterest, professional loyalty, organized scepticism and public interest. Rudolf Carnap, Axel Hägerström and Ingemar Hedenius regarded themselves as intellectuals, offering their philosophical tools to society. However, when the scientific ethos was articulated by Robert Merton in 1942, the circumstances had drastically changed. The European tradition was left behind. However, the claim is that neither the professionalism, nor the specialized epistemology in analytical philosophy necessarily alienated the philosopher from the public. The gap occurred when the epistemology ceased to be cultural meaningful, as a part of the spirit of the time. The modernistic spirit promoted the ethos of intellectuality. In the 1960s a new ethos took over: the philosophers as purely academic professional experts, in US and Sweden. The image of the academic philosopher is a well established cliché. The philosopher - mostly a he 1 - lives a professional life occupied by deep thoughts, undisturbed by the busy world around. For most lay people, philosophy represents the core thoughts about the existential meaning of life. The philosopher is the true sage, an image dating back to Socrates. For more initiated persons, the philosopher is a professional expert, performing his subject in a highly specialized manner, sometimes with the help of a formalistic language and mathematical formulas. According to this view, understanding present academic philosophy requires professional training.