Verification Principle and Criticisms

Verification Principle

-Created by the logical positivists at the Vienna Circle in the 1920’s, using Wittgenstein’s ideas of Language games but completely changed.

-A. J. Ayer in his book Language, Truth and Logic, he suggests that ‘the criterion we use to test the genuineness of apparent statements of fact is the criterion of verifiability’

- For Ayer if a statement is not verifiable, it is either meaningless or a tautology. Meaningless for Ayer means ‘not factually significant’

- When people say ‘ God loves me’ is “the sentence expressing it may be emotionally significant to him: but is not literally significant”

Edition 1 of Language, Truth and Logic Verifications

- Practical Verifiability- Something that could be test in reality

- Verifiability in Principle- Something that is likely to be verifiable but technology doesn’t allow us at present to verify it.

- Strong Verification- Anything that can be verified conclusively by observation and experience.

- Weak Verification- Statements that can be shown to be probable by observation and experience

- This is the way verification should work as the strong  sense has ‘no possible application’ 

Edition 1 of Language, Truth and Logic Application

-When Verification Principle (V.P) is applied to religious claims they are meaningless as they are not supported by sense experience observation that…