# Victor Kraft

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Austrian philosopher

Not to be confused with [Victor Kraft (photographer)](/source/Victor_Kraft_(photographer)).

Victor Kraft Born (1880-07-04)4 July 1880 Vienna, Austria-Hungary Died 3 January 1975(1975-01-03) (aged 94) Purkersdorf,[1] Austria Education University of Vienna University of Berlin Occupation Philosopher

Part of a series on Logical positivism Main article Vienna Circle Logical empiricism Topics Origins and context Intellectual background Empiricism Positivism Pragmatism Neo-Kantianism Analytic philosophy The debate between scientific realism and anti-realism Circles and movements Vienna Circle Berlin Circle Lwów–Warsaw school Unity of science movement International Encyclopedia of Unified Science Precursors David Hume Auguste Comte Ernst Mach Gottlob Frege Early Wittgenstein Charles Sanders Peirce William James Bertrand Russell Core ideas Verification principle Analytic–synthetic distinction Physicalism Unity of science Reductionism Critique of metaphysics Demarcation problem Philosophy of science Philosophy of language Key figures Moritz Schlick Rudolf Carnap Otto Neurath Hans Hahn Philipp Frank Friedrich Waismann Kurt Grelling Herbert Feigl Victor Kraft Hans Reichenbach Carl Gustav Hempel A. J. Ayer Development and criticism Logical empiricism "Two Dogmas of Empiricism" Falsifiability The Logic of Scientific Discovery The Structure of Scientific Revolutions Postpositivism Constructive empiricism Semantic anti-realism Related topics History of analytic philosophy Philosophy of science Scientific method Metaphilosophy Meaning v t e

**Victor Kraft** (Austrian German: [\[kraft\]](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Help:IPA/Standard_German); 4 July 1880 – 3 January 1975) [2] was an Austrian [philosopher](/source/Philosopher). He is best known for being a member of the [Vienna Circle](/source/Vienna_Circle).

## Early life and education

Kraft studied [philosophy](/source/Philosophy), geography and history at the [University of Vienna](/source/University_of_Vienna). He participated in the events of the university's Philosophical Society, as well as with private circles (especially [Oskar Ewald](/source/Oskar_Ewald), [Otto Weininger](/source/Otto_Weininger) and [Othmar Spann](/source/Othmar_Spann)). He received in 1903 his Ph.D. with a dissertation titled *The Knowledge of the External World* (*Die Erkenntnis der Außenwelt*). Then he moved to [Berlin](/source/Berlin) to continue his studies under [Georg Simmel](/source/Georg_Simmel), [Wilhelm Dilthey](/source/Wilhelm_Dilthey) and [Carl Stumpf](/source/Carl_Stumpf) at the [University of Berlin](/source/University_of_Berlin). Kraft started working in 1912 at the university's library, where he was a scientific civil servant ("[Beamter](/source/Beamter)") until 1939.[1][3] In 1914, he completed his [habilitation](/source/Habilitation) under [Adolf Stöhr](https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Adolf_St%C3%B6hr&action=edit&redlink=1) with his book *The Concept of World and the Concept of Knowledge* (*Weltbegriff und Erkenntnisbegriff*). Kraft attend regularly the [Vienna Circle](/source/Vienna_Circle) until its dissolution, and at the same time was also a member of the Gomperz Circle and had contacts to the so-called periphery of the Vienna Circle (e.g., [Karl Popper](/source/Karl_Popper)). Victor Kraft received the title of associate professor for theoretical philosophy in 1924.

## Academic career

After the *[Anschluss](/source/Anschluss)*, Kraft was forced to leave his librarian position because of his wife's [Jewish](/source/Jewish) background. He lost his [habilitation](/source/Habilitation) as university teacher as well. Kraft continued his philosophical research with great difficulties as "inner emigrant" during the [Nazi](/source/Nazi) regime.

He regained his post at the university library in 1945, and became Generalstaatsbibliothekar (national librarian) in 1947. In this year he was also appointed associate professor for philosophy. Three years later he became full professor and co-director of the school of philosophy. He retired from his post in 1952. Kraft kept his research and publishing until his death. The [Kraft Circle](/source/Kraft_Circle), which he chaired between 1949 and 1952/3, was named after him, and it was during this period that he supervised the dissertation of [Paul Feyerabend](/source/Paul_Feyerabend) and [Ingeborg Bachmann](/source/Ingeborg_Bachmann).[4]

### Philosophical work

Among the [logical positivists](/source/Logical_positivism), Kraft represents a unique standing point: he wrote about a non-sensualist [empiricism](/source/Empiricism) with a hypothetical-deductive structure. Before the First World War (and after it together with the Vienna Circle members) he dedicated most of his lectures and publications to promote scientific philosophy. He also made important contributions to the establishment of ethics as science and wrote about the theory of geography and the philosophy of history.

## References

1. ^ [***a***](#cite_ref-Wien_1-0) [***b***](#cite_ref-Wien_1-1) [Article](https://web.archive.org/web/20160304132710/https://www.wien.gv.at/wiki/index.php/Viktor_Kraft) at Wien Geschichte Wiki

1. **[^](#cite_ref-2)** Russell, Bertrand; Köllner, Peter (1997). [*Last Philosophical Testament: 1943-68*](https://books.google.com/books?id=r1jBN5iehKsC&dq=viktor+kraft+1975&pg=PA719). Psychology Press. [ISBN](/source/ISBN_(identifier)) [978-0-415-09409-2](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Special:BookSources/978-0-415-09409-2).

1. **[^](#cite_ref-3)** ["Viktor Kraft – Wien Geschichte Wiki"](https://web.archive.org/web/20171114145141/https://www.wien.gv.at/wiki/index.php/Viktor_Kraft). 2017-11-14. Archived from [the original](https://www.wien.gv.at/wiki/index.php/Viktor_Kraft) on 2017-11-14. Retrieved 2019-01-03.

1. **[^](#cite_ref-4)** [Karl Sigmund](/source/Karl_Sigmund), *Exact Thinking in Demented Times: The Vienna Circle and the Epic Quest for the Foundations of Science*, Hachette UK, 2017.

## Further reading

- [Feyerabend, Paul](/source/Paul_Feyerabend): *Erkenntnislehre*, by Viktor Kraft [Review], in: *The British Journal for the Philosophy of Science*, Vol. XIII, 1962/63, p. 319-323.

- [Radler, Jan](https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Jan_Radler&action=edit&redlink=1): *Victor Krafts konstruktiver Empirismus. Eine historische und philosophische Untersuchung*, Berlin: Logos 2006 [in German].

- [Stadler, Friedrich](/source/Friedrich_Stadler): *The Vienna Circle. Studies in the Origins, Development, and Influence of Logical Empiricism*.

- [Topitsch, Ernst](https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Ernst_Topitsch&action=edit&redlink=1): "Introduction", in: Victor Kraft, *Foundations for a Scientific Analysis of Value*, ed. by [Henk Mulder](https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Henk_Mulder&action=edit&redlink=1), Dordrecht-Boston-London 1981 [Vienna Circle Collection, Vol. 15].

- [Vollbrecht, Oliver](https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Oliver_Vollbrecht&action=edit&redlink=1): *Victor Kraft: rationale Normenbegründung und logischer Empirismus: Eine philosophische Studie*, Munich: [Herbert Utz Verlag](https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Herbert_Utz_Verlag&action=edit&redlink=1) 2004 [in German]. — [Front matter](http://www.utzverlag.de/buecher/40344dbl.pdf) [Archived](https://web.archive.org/web/20160304035045/http://www.utzverlag.de/buecher/40344dbl.pdf) 2016-03-04 at the [Wayback Machine](/source/Wayback_Machine)

## External links

- [Victor Kraft](https://www.iep.utm.edu/kraft/) Internet Encyclopedia of Philosophy (2012)

- [Nachlass](https://www.uibk.ac.at/brenner-archiv/archiv/kraft.html) at [Innsbruck University](/source/Innsbruck_University)

- [Biography](https://homepage.ruhr-uni-bochum.de/Hauke.Hoth/kraft), mainly based on the obituary: Kainz, Friedrich (1976). "Viktor Kraft [Nachruf]". *Almanach für das Jahr 1975*. [Österreichische Akademie der Wissenschaften](/source/%C3%96sterreichische_Akademie_der_Wissenschaften): 519–557.

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