Verification and Analyticity

Language, Truth and Logic

By: A. J. Ayer

Tagapag-ulat:
MARIDEL D. LARAZO
DIANA J. CERALDE
JENNILYN C. BAUTISTA
Language, Truth and Logic is
a 1936 book about 
meaning by the philosopher 
Alfred Jules Ayer,
in which the author
defines, explains, and argues
for the verification principle
of logical positivism,
sometimes referred to as
the criterion of significance 
or criterion of meaning.
Ayer explains how the
 principle of verifiability 
may be applied to
the problems of philosophy.
 Language, Truth and Logic
 brought some of the ideas
of the Vienna Circle and the
 logical empiricists to the attention
of the English-speaking world.
 Analyticity
According to Ayer, analytic statements are
tautologies. A tautology is a statement that
is necessarily true, true by definition,
and true under any conditions. A tautology
is a repetition of the meaning of a
statement, using different words or
symbols.
Verification
Verificationist theory of meaning
 (also called the verifiability principle),
according to which an utterance
is meaningful only if it expresses
a proposition the truth or
falsehood of which can be
(at least in principle) through
experience.
 Types of verification
1. Strong (fully conclusive) and
weak (probable) verification
2. Practical and Theoretical
verifiability
3. Literal and factual meaning
 Metaphysics attacked
Ayer rejects the metaphysical
thesis that philosophy can give us
knowledge of a transcendent reality. He
dismisses metaphysical arguments,
calling them nonsense,
and saying that they cannot be
empirically verified. He argues
that metaphysical statements have no
literal meaning, and that
they cannot be subjected to
criteria of truth or falsehood.
According to Ayer, no proposition
concerning "matters of fact" can ever
be shown to be necessarily true,
because there is always a possibility
that it may be refuted by further
empirical testing. Logical certainty is
possible only for analytic observations,
which are tautologies, and not for
empirical observations concerning
"matters of fact."
 Truth as validation
Ayer defines truth as the criterion by
which empirical propositions are
validated. To say that a proposition is
true is simply to assert it, and to say
that a proposition is false is simply to
assert a contradictory proposition.
Thus, truth and falsehood are simply
signs of assertion or denial of
empirically verifiable propositions.
Maraming salamat po
sa inyong pakikinig.