Language, Truth, and Logic

The 1936 published journal " Language, Truth and Logic ( Language, Truth and Logic )" by Alfred Jules Ayer treated a number of central philosophical question complexes on the basis of logical empiricism. The work is still regarded as one of his most important writings program. It focuses on the critique of metaphysics, which disregards the rules of meaningful language use.

Content

Ayers main interest is the property of metaphysical statements. He distinguishes between sentences, statements and propositions. A statement is "what sentences express " (14 ), the Joint translatable into each of two sets ( 11f. ). Statements can be meaningful or meaningless. Propositions are meaningful statements. They are characterized in that they can be verified at least in principle. This property can have analytical and empirical statements. The principle of verification can be determined by Ayer defined as follows:

Analytic propositions relate " to the structure of language " (92) and their traditional by convention rules. Empirical propositions have " a real or possible perception " on content ( 17) and are, therefore, at least in principle verifiable. Metaphysical statements are now Ayer neither analytical nor empirical propositions; they pretend that they are " on a the limits of all possible sense experience transcendent 'reality' " refer (42). Ayer does not deny that metaphysical statements may relate to inner feelings; but the reference to a " transcendent beings " do their verification principle impossible:

For Ayer, the psychological basis of metaphysical statements is looking at the to " superstition ", " each word or phrase which may be the grammatical subject of a sentence, must somewhere a really existent correspond " (55). Ayer cites as examples the concept of "nothing" and the reality of " general ideas " (55). The therapeutic agents offered by Ayer, the logical analysis of sentences dar. These have the " conversion of sentences about material things in sentences about perceptual content " to the target ( 83). So, for example, was " The symbol, table ' in terms of certain symbols defined [ ..] that represent perceptual content - though not explicitly, but in their use " (82).

Logical and mathematical statements have the status of necessary and universal truth, since they can be refuted by any sensory experience by Ayer. Ayer, this " need " to some extent on psychological reasons back:

Empirical propositions are Ayer always hypothetical; they can be " proved necessary and universally valid " never (94). One exception is the so-called " Basispropositionen " Represent are characterized by " that they refer only to a single content of experience " (15). You will just verified by the " occurrence of the experience on which alone they relate ."

With regard to ethical issues Ayer represents a emotivism. Moral principles can be, therefore, neither an analytical nor as an empirical propositions. They serve rather to the expression of feelings or attitudes of the speaker and should not give rise to other feelings, so as to trigger actions: