Gustav Bergmann (1906-1987) was, arguably, the greatest ontologist of the twentieth century in pursuing the fundamental questions of first philosophy as deeply as any philosopher of any time. In 2006 and 2007, international conferences devoted solely to Bergmann's work were held at the University of Iowa in the USA, Université de Provence in France, and Università degli Studi Roma Tre in Italy. The papers in this volume were presented at the first of these conferences, in Iowa City, where Bergmann taught for nearly four decades after escaping from Europe, following the dissolution of the Vienna Circle of which he had been the youngest member. There are nine philosophical papers, reminiscences of three of his students, and a complete bibliography of his published writings.

Auteur
Erwin Tegtmeier Professor of philosophy at the University of Mannheim. His areas of research are ontology, theory of knowledge, philosophy of science, philosophy of time and early phenomenology. Laird Addis is Professor Emeritus of Philosophy at the University of Iowa. He has published numerous articles and books in philosophy of mind, metaphysics, philosophy of the social sciences, and philosophy of music. Greg Jesson is completing his Ph.D. degree at the University of Iowa with a dissertation on Husserl and the ontology of knowledge. His research interests include philosophy of mind, metaphysics, history of philosophy, and phenomenology.