One of the most underappreciated 20 th century philosophers is Rudolf Carnap. I’ve always been fascinated and very much influenced by his works (especially “Empiricism, Semantics, and Ontology”), although they have been overshadowed by the works of Wittgenstein and Quine, and his philosophical project has been described as a failure. I am just excited about David Chalmer’s new book, entitled Constructing the World , that attempts to bring to light and, at the same time, develop the valuable philosophical insights in Carnap’s Aufbau . I just hope that, with Michael Friedman’s Reconsidering Logical Positivism , Chalmer’s book will trigger a significant resurgence of interest in the works of Carnap. I think that Carnap deserves deep appreciation from the philosophical community.
Philosophy, Theology, and Politics