Blackwell Reference Online

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The distinctive contribution of Otto Neurath to sociology, philosophy, and a wide range of other fields has been largely obscured since World War II, when his own work was rapidly eclipsed by criticisms and revisions. Hayek, in his Road to Serfdom (1944), presented Neurath as a naïve advocate of social and economic planning, Horace Kallen saw in Neurath's Unity of Science movement a coercive tendency akin to totalitarianism, and Adorno and Horkheimer's critique of instrumental reason targeted Neurath and the Vienna Circle, of which he was a key member. After Neurath's sudden and untimely death, the Unity of Science movement lost sight of Neurath's emphasis on the social and human sciences; the Vienna Circle became increasingly associated with the ideas of Rudolf Carnap, who survived him; and in the English-speaking countries, Neurath's work was principally remembered through A. J. Ayer's popularization and critique of logical positivism. During his lifetime, Neurath was influential and controversial. After a brief spell teaching political economy, he became a museum director, secretary for the Viennese Settlement and Allotment Garden Association, and heavily involved in civic work in Red Vienna. At the Museum of Society and Economy, he focused on civic research and communication. There, he developed a method of picture statistics called Isotype, in collaboration with a team that ... log in or subscribe to read full text