1881 – 1954
Hugo Dingler (1881–1954) was a German philosopher of science and mathematics who developed a thoroughgoing conventionalism about the foundations of geometry and physics. He argued that foundational principles—including metric geometry—are not empirical discoveries but voluntary stipulations made to render science possible. His work, though marginal in the Anglophone world, influenced later German constructivism, particularly the Erlangen School.
Defended a strict conventionalism about geometry, arguing metric axioms are neither true nor false but regulative stipulations
Developed an operationalist account of physical measurement grounded in idealized constructive procedures
Articulated a methodological constructivism that prefigured the Erlangen School of Paul Lorenzen
Authored foundational works on the philosophy of physics, including Das Experiment (1928)
Criticized both formalism and empiricism in the foundations of mathematics from a constructivist standpoint