1902 – 1988
Herbert Feigl (1902–1988) was an Austrian-American philosopher and founding member of the Vienna Circle who became one of the leading figures of logical empiricism in the United States. He is best known for his work on the philosophy of mind, particularly his defense of the psychophysical identity theory, and for his careful analyses of the concept of meaning within empiricist frameworks. He founded the Minnesota Center for Philosophy of Science, a major institutional home for philosophy of science in the postwar era.
Defended the mind-body identity theory in the landmark essay 'The "Mental" and the "Physical"' (1958)
Distinguished between epistemic (confirmability) and semantic (cognitive significance) senses of 'meaning' in empiricism
Co-founded the Minnesota Center for Philosophy of Science, institutionalizing philosophy of science in the U.S.
Contributed to the Vienna Circle's program of unified science and the clarification of scientific language
Edited influential anthologies that shaped Anglo-American philosophy of science curricula