Between Turkey and America: Hans Reichenbach's Epistemology of Uncertainty

Abstract

In this article, I aim to shed light on the context of elaboration and reception of Hans Reichenbach's epistemology in the mid-1930s by examining his dialogue with American philosophy and psychology during his stay in Istanbul, which coincides with the preparation of Experience and Prediction (1938). Reichenbach's interactions with American philosophers predate 1933, but his transatlantic orientation intensified considerably during his stay in Turkey, which was also marked by extensive exchanges with scholars based in France and other European countries. This reorientation can be explained, but only in part, by his efforts to organize transatlantic emigration for his students, colleagues, and himself. Retracing the academic exchanges in the field of philosophy and psychology between the Republic of Turkey and American institutions during the 1920s, I argue that Reichenbach found in Turkey a fertile ground for the development of his philosophical views in a transatlantic perspective, including the discussion of currents positively received in Turkey such as positivism and pragmatism but also behaviorism and Gestalt psychology.