When1: 1936
When2: 1973
Who: Alfred Jules Ayer [Ayer, Alfred Jules]
What: philosopher
Where: Britain
works\ Language, Truth and Logic [1936]; Foundations of Empirical Knowledge [1940]; Problem of Knowledge [1956]; Concept of a Person [1963]; Central Questions of Philosophy [1973]
Detail: He lived 1910 to 1989, was Logical Positivist or Logical Atomist, and developed verification principle.
Epistemology
The idea that people know object properties directly without representations or mental substitutes {naive realism, Ayer} is false. The idea that people can detect patterns in objects, thoughts or behavior, and memories {reductionism, Ayer} is false. The idea that people can go from evidence to conclusions {induction, Ayer} is false. What is left is just to describe how people use evidence to reach conclusions [Ayer, 1963].
Ethics
Moral judgments are meaningless problems. Ethics needs psychological, not ethical, theory.
Metaphysics
Metaphysics has meaningless statements and problems. All utterances about nature of God are nonsensical.
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Date Modified: 2022.0224