This book sets out to dispense with useless enquiry and to articulate the powers that philosophy has and which it doesn't have. Language, Truth, and Logic has 2482 ratings and 59 reviews. This work introduced logical positivism to the English-speaking world in a clear, vigorous, and persuasive style. Be the first to ask a question about Language, Truth, and Logic. Historically, this is an important work for the English-and American-speaking worlds because it largely brought the thinking of the Vienna Circle to public attention. As such, it's a great read and of interest to anyone intrigued by philosophy of language. 6 hours 43 minutes The front cover of the second edition of Language, Truth and Logic carried this statement in capital letters: ‘THE CLASSIC TEXT WHICH FOUNDED LOGICAL POSITIVISM – AND MODERN BRITISH PHILOSOPHY.’ LANGUAGE, TRUTH AND LOGIC. verificationism. It was one of the books which was suggested for my first college philosophy course, though I never read it then. �*@*��cx Classic introduction to objectives and methods of schools of empiricism and linguistic analysis, especially of the logical positivism derived from the Vienna Circle. The whole book is pretty simple: it is a phenomenalist account of empiricism in which sense data is all that exists, but adds to traditional empiricist accounts the idea that a priori truths are not subject to empirical verification not because empiricism is limited, but that a-priori truths tell us nothing new. A read of this book made it immediately clear why it's a foundational text of the positivist movement. Logical positivism has taken a series of blows in the intervening time, including Gödel's Theorem and the uncertainty unleashed by modern physics, and more recently by our increased understanding of neuroscience. CHAPTER I THE ELIMINATION OF METAPHYSICS TH E traditional disputes of philosophers are, for the most part, as unwarranted as they are unfruitful. Philoso. After spending a short period at the University of Vienna, he became Lecturer in Philosophy at His father was a Swiss Calvinist and his mother was of Dutch-Jewish ancestry. His scientific logical positivism in regards to science seems to be a lot weaker than Karl Popper's falsification. If they can't, then they were probably metaphysical problems to begin with so are probably not worth worrying about. Ayer's fame was established with the publication of his first book, Language, Truth and Logic, in 1936. Metaphysics, theology, aesthetics, and much of ethics is cognitively meaningless. There is still much that I would agree with in this synopsis, and more where I would say that Ayer has a point. mk Logical positivism, while massively influential, is widely regarded as a failure, and this is the manifesto of that failed movement. Totally enjoyed. Alfred Ayer - Language, Truth and Logic by Alfred Ayer. I can't really remember the content of this particular book, only its. As it is, you're probably better off not bothering. Topics: elimination of metaphysics, function of philosophy, nature of philosophical analysis, the a priori, truth & probability, critique of ethics & theology, self & the common world etc. This is the crucial innovation of the logical positivists, that a statement like 2+2=4 doesn't need to be continually proved by experience or shows that there is non-empirical knowledge. This book defines, explains, and argues for the verification principle of logical positivism, as it relates to the use of objectives and methods in determining truths and probabilities. According to Ayer, analytic statements are tautologies. and their descendants and relations in the Analytic tradition, and I found them generally much better than this book. It’s interesting to see exactly how it’s supposed to work, and also to get the theory of what philosophy is supposed to be doing (namely, clarifying issues). Refresh and try again. For that reason, unless you are a serious student of philosophy, there's not much point in reading Language, Truth, and Logic, especially given that Ayer's own principle of verification has been more or less completely replaced in the scientific community by Popper's principle of falsification. Dogmatic? Sadly, for a book whose purpose is to lay to rest a lot of philosophical nonsense, it's pretty turgid itself much of the time. His reje. Article name The Library of Congress card catalog lists it as "Language, truth, and logic". In the preface (to the first edition) Ayer gives his argument in a nutshell. AYER @ PENGUIN BOOKS. Renaissance Truth and the Latin Language Turn 0199249873, 9780199249879. The treatise explains how the principle of verifiability may be applied to the problems and aims of philosophy. In the book, Ayer defines, explains, and argues for the verification principle of logical positivism, sometimes referred to as the criterion of significance or criterion of meaning. The arguments (and, especially, the rhetorical maneuvers) provided by this book have crucially contributed to the linguistic turn in 20th century thought, which was a philosophical approach aimed at reducing metaphysical questions to questions about the proper use of symbolism. … This is a good summary in highly readable and relatively concise prose of logical-empiricism, one of the main philosophies of the 20th century and the main movement of early analytic philosophy. Language, Truth and Logic Volume 10 of Donald F. Koch American Philosophy Collection Volume 10 of Dover books on literature, philosophy, history, religion Dover books on philosophy and psychology Dover books on philosophy Pelican book: Authors: Alfred Jules Ayer, Alfred Jules Ayer, Sir, Jules Alfred Ayer: Edition: 2, unabridged, reprint: Publisher Goodreads helps you keep track of books you want to read. It is not the sort of book that would be written by a philosopher at 56 or even 36. endstream endobj 146 0 obj <>stream Regarding a metaphysical assertion, he writes “that there is a non-empirical world of values, or that men have immortal souls, or that there is a transcendent god is neither true nor false but literally senseless.” Truth and knowledge are statements that can be validated by experience. "Language, Truth & Logic" is the quintessential explanation of the "verifibility criterion of meaning" --the cornerstone of logical positivism, which, in turn, is, arguably the foundation of Western scientific enquiry just as the Russell/Whitehead "Principia Mathematica" sought to ground mathematics upon a foundation of pure logic. h�24�P0P04�T0R045P07U�����wJ,Nu��+���M-�u��I�w�K�O��K���s�+΄�K�J*R�C��!��鵳�4ȳ$1'3�� �>9G Sadly, for a book whose purpose is to lay to rest a lot of philosophical nonsense, it's pretty turgid itself much of the time. This linguistic reification procedure, in Ayer's estimation, basically generates the entire subject matter of metaphysics. As such, it's a great read and of interest to an. %%EOF That's about as good a bitchslap as any. Some people fall in love. Language, Truth, and Logic by A.J. Ayer (1910–89) in his manifesto Language, Truth and Logic (1936), became influential in British philosophy. Ayer is an ambitious student of philosophy and his aim, like many young writers, is to overthrow the entire system of philosophy. This is supposedly inspired by Wittgenstein's Tractatus. Ayer attended Eton College and studied philosophy and Greek at Oxford University. There he impressed hispeers with his intelligence and competitiveness, the latter traitmanifesting itself in the way he played … The Verification principle of logical positivism is well-known by now -- as is the inherent contradiction of the Verification principle. I have, however, read many other books since by the Logical Positivists (Schlick, Neurath, etc.) A work that usefully lays out some of the key arguments for seeing the status of metaphysical knowledge as being crucially dependent on the theory of meaning. If you’re the sort of person who would dismiss the theory based solely on the fact that the verification principle itself would fail the verification principle, it’s worth reading at least the first chapter or two (and certainly the introduction). Ayer’s Language, Truth, and Logic, which was published in 1936 and responsible for bringing Logical Positivist ideas from the European continent to the English-speaking world. Like all philosophy, it's probably better read as someone else's summary than in the original. Overall this was a pretty dry read, but I respect the balls of Ayer to go up against Descartes, Hume and many others as a confident young philosopher (who incidentally disavowed the theories of this book as an old man). A read of this book made it immediately clear why it's a foundational text of the positivist movement. Classic introduction to objectives and methods of schools of empiricism and linguistic analysis, especially of the logical positivism derived from the Vienna Circle. Yes. LANGUAGE, TRUTH AND LOGIC Language, Truth, and Logic is a 1936 work of philosophy by Alfred Jules Ayer. Metaphysics, theology, aesthetics, and much of ethics is cognitively meaningless. H��T]OQ�+��&v��ߛJi,.m|jZD�Q�m��p���Z��i�sΞ3���!$�@D6��ňl����A���pR�a���+ $�,�s���gp��8��Ayoz�~g���m��@���І�p�Q$V�r8*?����z2h��6��l�������d�����f5�p||�j�v.f��;��;��5{�N��V=�F�x'�m����v��?��F�l�؏������CZ3,Jl�`=��̑z��קr�jaO�CJ���>�s�_6�d�%�x��E{�Ԉ��"z�&K�U� c���`*�Rg^-'Y*ʛjh� FC����d���{#M��qG�⾈�V]e����d��(/cy�uT���{�0�=G7��jQ���r�Ɛ�y��n�C�9i�$0$d��tv�O��FVs�P�9�7���TyU!�U��q��g�������\��Zn.�ʦKJ����h6�3�/�ˇg��܌@�Vq&q�Ҭno'ד�M�d�}z��(�첚��a� 151 0 obj <>stream h�b```a``�``d`�� Ȁ �L�@Y63e���}�&� Welcome back. They always tend to say that you look at the past in 20/20, and this book has been looked as a failure of the empirical, taking out of metaphysics, positivism of the early 20th century in western Europe and Americas. But at 26 you can still convince yourself that your position is right even as all of the great philosophers of history are wrong (or at least mislead and mistaken). I still own most of these books, they are probably in storage at my sister's place back in Sweden after my mother died and the house I grew up in was sold. It defines, explains, and argues for the verification principle of logical positivism, sometimes referred to as the "criterion of significance" or "criterion of meaning". god hates gays). The best, say, 20 pages cobbled together and made a touch more accessible would be pretty great. Ayer's thought is strikingly clear and his logic is incisive, dealing the metaphysical idols a mighty blow. LANGUAGE, TRUTH AND LOGIC A.j. Statements can be analytic taulologies (i. Ayer attempts to show that all philosophic problems can be solved by logical positivism. Circle and the logical empiricists to the attention of the English-speaking world. Historically, this is an important work for the English-and American-speaking worlds because it largely brought the thinking of the Vienna Circle to public attention. Logical positivism, while massively influential, is widely regarded as a failure, and this is the manifesto of that failed movement. DOVER BOOKS ON WESTERN PHILOSOPHY AGRIPPA’S OCCULT PHILOSOPHY: NATURAL MAGIC, Cornelius Agrippa. My high rating here comes not from the fact that I agree with Ayer -- I certainly do not -- but that he's written an important, meaningful book. t�ˢ'�H����η_t;�)���iXIE��*���I��l��A��॒�:dI��݄d��D�=��������dd�&�L�GW(ы��Ӟ�� �t~& Language, Truth and Logic is an audacious book, written when Ayer was 26. June 1st 1952 Logical positivism has taken a series of blows in the intervening time, including Gödel's Theorem and the uncertainty unleashed by modern physics, and more recently by our increased understanding of neuroscience. endstream endobj 142 0 obj <>>>/Metadata 63 0 R/Pages 137 0 R/Type/Catalog>> endobj 143 0 obj <>/ProcSet[/PDF/Text/ImageB]/XObject<>>>/Rotate 0/Type/Page>> endobj 144 0 obj <>stream endstream endobj startxref In 1910, Sir Alfred Jules Ayer was born in London into a wealthy family. I agree with this book in everything I can recall from it. %PDF-1.7 %���� A. J. Ayer's Language, Truth, and Logic had been responsible for introducing the Vienna Circle's ideas, developed within a Germanophone framework, to an Anglophone readership. This is the essence of Ayer's (in)famous "elimination" of metaphysics: he follows the early Wittgenstein in seeing metaphysical problems as the result of a pathological misuse of language. 147 0 obj <>/Filter/FlateDecode/ID[<9C406A02A9CDCA4EA5711B644718B1B0><0CE9DC61EA5B0448B3F5F4D282A2366B>]/Index[141 11]/Info 140 0 R/Length 52/Prev 1074143/Root 142 0 R/Size 152/Type/XRef/W[1 2 1]>>stream This is the classic This is the crucial innovatio. Language, Truth and Logic, a work of philosophy by Alfred Jules Ayer, published in 1936. The relationship of language to logic concerns us because we wish to know whether and how language can relate truth, which is properly the domain of logic. Ayer, Language, Truth and Logic OSWALD HANFLING When, in 1979, A. J. Ayer was asked for an evaluation of his youthful Language, Truth and Logic (LTL), he replied: 'I suppose the most important of the defects was that nearly all of it was false'.' I still own most of these books, they are probably in storage at my sister's place back in Sweden after my mother died and the house I grew up in was sold. I’ll be talking about the final readings for my Introduction to Philosophy course, three chapters from A.J. Philosophy’s function, rather, is to excise speculative (metaphysics) and a priori truths from language and to prepare assertions of truth (propositions) for scientific validation (verification). Ayer was knighted in 1970. Clear, concise, deeply thought provoking and a modern philosophical approach to reconcile philosophy with science. There is still much that I would agree with in this synopsis, and more where I would say that Ayer has a point. Anyway: it's a young philospher's brash dismissal of many of his forebears and peers, and at times is quite interesting, clear and entertaining. It was one of the books which was suggested for my first college philosophy course, though I never read it then. Included among his many works are, “To predict tomorrow's weather, I need not take into account the state of mind of the Emperor of Manchukuo.”, “It is now generally admitted, at any rate by philosophers, that the existence of a being having the attributes which define the god of any non-animistic religion cannot be demonstratively proved... [A]ll utterances about the nature of God are nonsensical.”, The Robot’s Rebellion: Finding Meaning in the Age of Darwin, Seeing like a State: How Certain Schemes to Improve the Human Condition Have Failed. 1 Sir Alfred Ayer was born in 1910 and educated as King’s Scholar at Klein and as a classical scholar at Christ Church, Oxford. He takes up many of the same topics of Wittgenstein on language, although Ayer is much more comprehensible and much, much more boring. Ayer attempts to show that all philosophic problems can be solved by logical positivism. subject to the critique that the principle of verification is not subject to verification (nor however is popper's falsification doctrine self-reflexive, of course). This is a famous text in the history of logical positivism, which gained populary in English universites sometime after its origin in the German speaking intellectual world. If they can't, then they were probably metaphysical problems to begin with so are probably not worth worrying about. Inevitably, this migration from one context to another resulted in Alfred Jules Ayer was born in London on October 29, 1910. Other criticisms have been provided by Wittgenstein and William James. While these figures of the. the theory of relativity) or statements can be metaphysical nonsense (i.e. You will never look at the world the same way ever again after reading it. Truth and probability -- Critique of ethics and theology -- The self and the common world -- Solutions of outstanding philosophical disputes Mr. Ayer sets up specific tests by which you can easily evaluate statements of ideas. Even though the whole movement of 'logical positivism' came to some sort of close in the 50's and beyond, the leg work done by the logical positivists and early analytic philosophers are however still very much relevant to pressing issues in analytic philosophy. Every month our team sorts through... Classic introduction to objectives & methods of schools of empiricism & linguistic analysis, especially of the logical positivism derived from the Vienna Circle. He takes up many of the same topics of Wittgenstein on language, although Ayer is much more comprehensible and much, much more boring. Was it more meaningful to say they must prove it by pointing their little telescope where they said the planet would be or that their theory must be capable of being disproved? � � @ &. The writing is very lucid, with elegant prose - typical of turn-of-the-century British writing. From 1946 to 1959, he taught philosophy at University College London. After reading Ayer, I can see that it was a self-caricature – if most English speaking philosophers owed their first knowledge of Logical Positivism to Ayer and this book in particular, I can understand why they rejected it without much ceremony. What was Ayer would consider most of what I say and what most people say to be literally nonsense and he means that literally. Ayer's thought is strikingly clear and his logic is incisive, dealing the metaphysical idols a mighty blow. A=A, the author of Hamlet wrote Hamlet, water is H20, etc) or synthetic, empirical arguments which would require positive proof from the senses (i.e. But I can see why this movement was immensely popular - and also why it's essentially "dead, or dead as any philosophical movement can be. We’d love your help. yaknow. Regarding a metaphysical assertion, he writes “that there is a non-empirical world of values, or that men have immortal souls, or that there is a transcendent god is neither true nor false but literally senseless.” Truth and knowledge are statements that can be validated by experience. Even the table of contents of this book with its summary headings by page is a model of good presentation and organisation. This is a famous text in the history of logical positivism, which gained populary in English universites sometime after its origin in the German speaking intellectual world. To see what your friends thought of this book, A work that usefully lays out some of the key arguments for seeing the status of metaphysical knowledge as being crucially dependent on the theory of meaning. A. J. Ayer’s Language, Truth, and Logic was the first systematic presentation in English of the doctrines of logical positivism. h�bbd``b`�$�@�/ �pH0�?o0012Ȁ�!�F� ��� 0 Absolutely. Introduction to Language, Truth and Logic by Ayer Round about 1920 a gang of philosophers including Rudolph Carnap and Kurt Godel started meeting in Vienna. Pretentious? It changed me and I think it will change others too. Some people love books. And I mean, the very concept of analytic vs. synthetic propositions on which the book is based was undercut by Quine... and Ayer, honest man that he was, owned up to this. 0 Most scientists would probably say it doesn't matter and it's all just philosophical semantics, but it's still interesting to nerds. ALFRED J U L E S AYER Grate Professor of the Philosqbhy of Mind and Logic at University College, London. There are no discussion topics on this book yet. Moral judgments, however, do not fit comfortably into either category. LANGUAGE, TRUTH AND LOGIC by ALFRED JULES AYER Grote Professor of the Philosophy of Mind and Logic at University College, London DOVER PUBLICATIONS, INC. NEW YORK . And some people love books about falling in love. Polemical? The room was painted yellow and faced south. Ayer is an ambitious student of philosophy and his aim, like many young writers, is to overthrow the entire system of philosophy. The arguments (and, especially, the rhetorical maneuvers) provided by this book have crucially contributed to the linguistic turn in 20th century thought, which was a philosophical approach aimed at reducing metaphysical questions to questions about the proper use of symbolism. In the preface (to the first edition) Ayer gives his argument in a nutshell. 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