Changes

[[A. J. Ayer]] introduced logical positivism to the Anglophone world after he visited Vienna.  He is best known for his book, [[Language, Truth, and Logic]], first published in 1936.   

[[A. J. Ayer]] introduced logical positivism to the Anglophone world after he visited Vienna.  He is best known for his book, [[Language, Truth, and Logic]], first published in 1936.   

===Verifiability Criterion of Meaning===

==Verifiability Criterion of Meaning==

Logical positivists, in the tradition of Hume, Kant, and several other thinkers, divided propositions into two groups, namely, the [[analytic]] and the [[synthetic]].  They called "analytic" those propositions belonging to pure logic.  They considered such statements to be tautological, and therefore not to say anything significant about the world.  That is not to say, however, that the logical positivists considered analytical propositions to be useless; rather, analytic statements were considered to be useful in relating ideas to one another and in understanding the workings of language.   

Logical positivists, in the tradition of Hume, Kant, and several other thinkers, divided propositions into two groups, namely, the [[analytic]] and the [[synthetic]].  They called "analytic" those propositions belonging to pure logic.  They considered such statements to be tautological, and therefore not to say anything significant about the world.  That is not to say, however, that the logical positivists considered analytical propositions to be useless; rather, analytic statements were considered to be useful in relating ideas to one another and in understanding the workings of language.   

It is important to note here that most logical positivists did not contend that such "babbling" was without any communicative value; rather, it can perhaps less abrasively be described as cognitively meaningless, factually empty, devoid of truth-aptitude.  In other words, while sentences that did not meet the criterion did not express truths or falsehoods, they could still be expressive of the emotions of the speaker.

It is important to note here that most logical positivists did not contend that such "babbling" was without any communicative value; rather, it can perhaps less abrasively be described as cognitively meaningless, factually empty, devoid of truth-aptitude.  In other words, while sentences that did not meet the criterion did not express truths or falsehoods, they could still be expressive of the emotions of the speaker.

===Theology and ethics===

==Theology and ethics==

Applying the criterion to philosophy, logical positivists labeled as [[metaphysics]] any inquiry that depended on meaningless propositions.  In particular, they believed that theology and ethics are essentially metaphysical fields of inquiry.  To them, ethical statements (such as "Killing is wrong") and theological statements (e.g. "God exists" or "The soul is immortal") could not be verified or falsified by any conceivable observation, so they were neither true nor false, instead being cognitively meaningless.   

Applying the criterion to philosophy, logical positivists labeled as [[metaphysics]] any inquiry that depended on meaningless propositions.  In particular, they believed that theology and ethics are essentially metaphysical fields of inquiry.  To them, ethical statements (such as "Killing is wrong") and theological statements (e.g. "God exists" or "The soul is immortal") could not be verified or falsified by any conceivable observation, so they were neither true nor false, instead being cognitively meaningless.   

Most logical positivists believed that ethical propositions are expressions of emotion, attempts to evoke certain emotions in others, or attempts to induce certain behavior in others.  For example, to many logical positivists, including A. J. Ayer, sentences such as "Killing is wrong" mean roughly the same as  "Killing, yuck!", "Boo to killing!", or "Let us all feel bad about the thought of killing".  Such a position regarding ethical statements, called [[emotivism]], is not an ethical position, but a meta-ethical one.  It is a subspecies of [[moral non-cognitivism]].   

Most logical positivists believed that ethical propositions are expressions of emotion, attempts to evoke certain emotions in others, or attempts to induce certain behavior in others.  For example, to many logical positivists, including A. J. Ayer, sentences such as "Killing is wrong" mean roughly the same as  "Killing, yuck!", "Boo to killing!", or "Let us all feel bad about the thought of killing".  Such a position regarding ethical statements, called [[emotivism]], is not an ethical position, but a meta-ethical one.  It is a subspecies of [[moral non-cognitivism]].   

===Logical positivism today===

==Logical positivism today==

Logical positivism is no longer held explicitly by academics.  However, it has had a profound influence on the modern [[philosophy of science]], [[philosophy of mind]], and [[philosophy of language]].   

Logical positivism is no longer held explicitly by academics.  However, it has had a profound influence on the modern [[philosophy of science]], [[philosophy of mind]], and [[philosophy of language]].   

===Sources===

==Sources==

(1) Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy:  http://plato.stanford.edu/entries/vienna-circle/

(1) Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy:  http://plato.stanford.edu/entries/vienna-circle/