Getting started

Logical positivists basic tenet seems quite uncontreversial : "The meaning of a statement is its method of verification". It even seems better than just uncontroversial. At first one is tempted (seduced ?). It really seems they are on to something.

Historically, it seems to have happened like that : for a time, people were interested, excited. This new theory looked so promising. Then the whole project collapsed and was torn to pieces in the mainstream philosophical comunity.

The purpose of this blog is to lead and inquiry into why this happened and how it happened : who said what and why did they won. But, above all, I would like to capture what in logical positivism's origins, aims and outlook led it to failure. No one is interested in logical positivism any longer, as such, but the deep undercurrent in our culture of which it was a manifestation is not dead. Understanding logical positivism's demise may help us, I think, to better understand some our deepest intellectual roots and thus help us be wiser.