Well according to the philosophical idea of logical positivism the answer is very little .
Logical positivists emerged during the 1920s form a group known as the Vienna circle. Heavily influenced by the writings of Ludwig Wittgenstein, Bertrand Russel and the work of Albert Einstein on general and special relativity. A.J Ayer set out the principles of logical positivism in his 1936 book language, truth and logic.
(which is currently on its way to may house off amazon )
The Vienna circle was made up of many forward thinking philosophers (most of whom who were also scientifically trained), mathematicians, social scientists and physicists. One of the key influences of the circle was the destruction wrought by world war one, having witnessed such events. These people were all committed to rebuilding society in way that they deemed proper. The circle focused on the question of how we know what we know.
Interestingly almost all the of the Vienna circle are said to have been socialist and live a area known as 'red Vienna'.
The Verification Principle and Religious Language
'If a statement is neither analytically nor empirically true verifiable then it says nothing about reality and is therefore meaningless'
A.J. Ayer
The verification principle stated that if we cannot ever prove a statement to be true then it is meaningless.
When applied to religious language and the question of if we can meaningfully talk about God the verification principle states that religious language is meaningless. This is a result of our inability to ever prove Gods existence empirically or analytically (although theists such as Anselm would argue otherwise )
The verification principle is NOT saying that God does/doesn't exist but rather it is saying that views on theism, atheism or being agnostic have no other meaning than personal importance. This is much like the view of Wittgenstein and language games, to him when people say that 'God does/doesn't exist' all they are saying is that they are playing different language games and debate on the subject is meaningless.
Types of Verification
Strong Verification
This is when a there is no doubt that a metaphysical statement is meaningful. For example a triangle has three sides
Weak Verification
When there is no absolute proof but there is a strong likely hood of truth. ( Surely this is subjective ? who decides how likely something is to be true)
Practical Variability
Refers to statements that can be tested in reality. The significance of this is that practical verification allows science to be meaningful. despite the subjectivity of our experience of reality.
For example it is possible to test the effect of pH on enzyme activity note however it is harder to test whether life exists on other planets.
So What Can We Know ?
According to the verification principle the only statements that we can hold to be meaningful are those which are analytically true or those that can be tested empirically . Statements which we know a-priori are meaningful as they are true by definition (tautologys) for example 'the circle is round'.
(responses to logical positivism coming soon)
(just cleaning up some bits )
would also like to share this link to a bbc podcast on logical positivism.
Start time : 2:43 Tuesday the 11th of November
Finish :
Record Playing: 'The 59 sound' The Gaslight Anthem
Location: My room
Excellent overview, Ed - well done. Thanks for the link to the podcast; it's really useful.
ReplyDeleteYou mention that the majority of the Vienna Circle were said to be socialist. Do you think this has any bearing on their theories? For example, verification requires the repeatability of tests - in other words, it must be something that the whole community can agree on, rather than simply the individual. As you note, they reject religious experience as evidence precisely because it revolves around the individual (often) and cannot be repeated by others. Just a thought!