General Theory of Knowledge

First published in Germany in 1918, this acutely reasoned treatise attacks many of philosophy’s contemporary sacred cows, including the concept of metaphysics and Kant’s arguments for synthetic a priori knowledge. The book expounds most of the doctrines that would later be identified with the “classical period” of the Vienna Circle. Unlike many of his peers, Schlick displays a detailed and sensitive knowledge of the traditions he criticizes, displayed here in the chief work of this pioneering Viennese philosopher.