Otto Neurath made unity of science, physicalism, and the social character of knowledge central to logical empiricism while resisting foundational certainty.
Intellectual setting
Neurath combined philosophical work with socialist planning, museum education, and international projects for unified science.
Key ideas
Boat metaphor
Inquiry revises its claims from within a shared web of statements rather than rebuilding knowledge from an external foundation.
Unity of science
Publicly checkable language should connect natural and social inquiry without reducing their practical complexity.
Legacy
His anti-foundational and social conception of science remains a major alternative within the logical-empiricist movement.