Logical Positivism
A statement lacking both analytic status and empirical testability has no cognitive meaning.
What it claims
Logical positivism, associated with the Vienna Circle, distinguishes analytic statements, including logic and mathematics on its characteristic account, from synthetic statements answerable to experience. It rejects a distinct source of metaphysical knowledge independent of experience. Verificationist formulations connect cognitive meaning with a method of verification or empirical confirmation.
Nearby positions
Goes together with
Key thinkers
Rudolf Carnap · A. J. Ayer · Moritz Schlick · Otto Neurath · Carl Hempel