Paul Oppenheim (June 17, 1885 – June 22, 1977) was a German chemist, philosopher, independent scholar and industrialist.
Biography
Oppenheim was born in Frankfurt am Main. After studying natural sciences and chemistry at the University of Freiburg, he earned his doctorate in chemistry and philosophy. He was active in the chemical industry (IG Farben) until 1933, when he emigrated to Brussels. His father, the Frankfurt gem dealer Nathan Moritz Oppenheim (1848–1933), and his mother took their life together in 1933. In 1939, Oppenheim and his family emigrated to the US, where he worked as a private scholar in Princeton. He and his wife Gabrielle Oppenheim-Errera hosted Sunday luncheons there for intellectuals and artists. Albert Einstein was his great friend and they took regular Sunday morning walks together.
After the beginning of Nazi rule in Germany, he gave several persecuted scientists such as Carl Gustav Hempel and Kurt Grelling financial resources and assistance to escape from Germany.
He published with Hempel and Grelling on philosophy and philosophy of science, including Gestalt psychology. Oppenheim is co-founder of the so-called Hempel-Oppenheim schema (Deductive-nomological model) .
