Logical positivism
A movement seeking scientific philosophy through empirical verification.
Logical positivism, also known as logical empiricism or neo-positivism, was a philosophical movement in the empiricist tradition that sought to formulate a scientific philosophy. Its proponents aimed to make philosophical discourse as authoritative and meaningful as empirical science. The movement emerged in the late 1920s among philosophers, scientists, and mathematicians in the Vienna Circle and Berlin Circle, flourishing in several European centers through the 1930s.
- born
- Late 1920s
- died
- By the 1960s
- field
- Philosophy, philosophy of science
- nationality
- German, Austrian, later English-speaking world
- known_for
- Verifiability criterion of meaning, rejection of metaphysics and theology as cognitively meaningless
Lore & Background
Logical positivism established its theoretical foundations in the empiricism of David Hume, Auguste Comte, and Ernst Mach, along with the positivism of Comte and Mach, defining its exemplar of science in Einstein's general theory of relativity. Ludwig Wittgenstein's Tractatus Logico-Philosophicus provided theoretical foundations for the verifiability principle, introducing philosophy as 'critique of language' and distinguishing between intelligible and nonsensical discourse. The Vienna Circle was led principally by Moritz Schlick, while the Berlin Circle was pre-eminent with Hans Reichenbach. A central thesis endorsed by some logical positivists (e.g., Schlick) and rejected by others (e.g., Carnap and Neurath) was the verification principle, according to which a statement is cognitively meaningful only if it can be verified through empirical observation or if it is a tautology. This criterion rejected statements of metaphysics, theology, ethics, and aesthetics as cognitively meaningless. Early in the movement, Carnap, Hahn, Neurath, and others recognized that the verifiability criterion was too stringent, rejecting universal statements vital to scientific hypothesis. A radical left wing led by Neurath and Carnap proposed revisions to weaken the criterion, while a conservative right wing led by Schlick and Waismann sought to classify universal statements as analytic truths.
Reader's Guide
Logical positivism's significance lies in its ambitious attempt to overhaul philosophy by mimicking the structure and process of empirical science, though it became erroneously stereotyped as an agenda to regulate the scientific process. By the 1950s, problems identified within its central tenets became seen as intractable, drawing escalating criticism from leading philosophers including Willard Van Orman Quine, Karl Popper, and even from within the movement from Carl Hempel. These problems remained unresolved, precipitating the movement's eventual decline and abandonment by the 1960s.
Did You Know?
- The verifiability criterion was endorsed by some logical positivists (e.g., Schlick) and rejected by others (e.g., Carnap and Neurath).
- Logical positivists were influenced by Percy Bridgman's operationalism, whereby a concept is not knowable unless it can be measured experimentally.
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