Verification: The Hysteron Proteron Argument
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.15173/jhap.v6i6.3233Abstract
This paper investigates the strange case of an argument that was directed against a positivist verification principle. We find an early occurrence of the argument in a talk by the phenomenologist Roman Ingarden at the 1934 International Congress of Philosophy in Prague, where Carnap and Neurath were present and contributed short rejoinders. We discuss the underlying presuppositons of the argument, and we evaluate whether the attempts by Carnap (especially) actually succeed in answering this argument. We think they don’t, and offer instead a few sociological thoughts about why the argument seems to have disappeared from the profession’s evaluaton of the positivist criterion of verifiability.
References
Ayer, A. J., 1936. Language, Truth and Logic, 1st ed. London: Victor Gollancz.
———, 1946. Language, Truth and Logic, 2nd ed. New York: Oxford University Press.
———, ed., 1959a. Logical Positivism. Glencoe, IL: Free Press.
———, 1959b. “Bibliography of Logical Positivism.” In Ayer (1959a), pp. 381–455.
———, 1992. “Intellectual Autobiography of A. J. Ayer.” In Hahn (1992), pp. 3–53.
Bach, Emmon, 1986. “Natural Language Metaphysics.” In Logic, Methodology, and Philosophy of Science, vol. VII, edited by R. Barcan Marcus, G. J. W. Dorn and P. Weingartner, pp. 573–95. Amsterdam: North-Holland.
Benson, Arthur, 1963. “Bibliography of the Writings of Rudolf Carnap.” In Schilpp (1963), pp. 1017–70.
Berlin, Isaiah, 1939. “Verification.” Proceedings of the Aristotelian Society 39: 225–48.
———, 1973. “Austin and the Early Beginnings of Oxford Philosophy.” In Essays on J. L. Austin, edited by I. Berlin, pp. 1–16. Oxford: Oxford University Press.
Carnap, Rudolf, 1931–1932. “Überwindung der Metaphysik durch Logische Analyse der Sprache.” Erkenntnis 2: 219–41. Translated as “The Elimination of Metaphysics Through Logical Analysis of Language,” by A. Pap; reprinted in Ayer (1959a), pp. 60–81.
———, 1934a. Logische Syntax der Sprache. Vienna: Springer-Verlag. Translated into English as Logical Syntax of Language, by A. Smeaton. Chicago: Open Court, 1937.
———, 1934b. “On the Character of Philosophic Problems,” translated by W. M. Malisoff. Philosophy of Science 1: 5–19.
———, 1936. “Discussion.” In Actes du huitième Congrès internationale de Philosophie à Prague 1934, p. 244. Prague: Comité d’organization du Congrès. Translated with Ingarden (1936), this volume, pp. 5–6.
———, 1936–1937. “Testability and Meaning.” Philosophy of Science 3/4: 419–71; 1–40.
———, 1950. “Empiricism, Semantics, and Ontology.” Revue Internationale de Philosophie 4: 20–40. Reprinted as a Supplement to Meaning and Necessity, 2nd ed. Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 1956.
———, 1956. “The Methodological Use of Theoretical Concepts.” In Minnesota Studies in the Philosophy of Science, vol. I, edited by H. Feigl and M. Scriven, pp. 38–56. Minneapolis: University of Minnesota Press.
Church, Alonzo, 1949. Review of Ayer (1946). Journal of Symbolic Logic 14: 52–53.
Ewing, A. C., 1937. “Meaninglessness.” Mind 46: 347–64.
Friedman, Michael, 1999. Reconsidering Logical Positivism. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.
———, 2000. A Parting of the Ways: Carnap, Cassirer, and Heidegger. Chicago: Open Court.
Gordon, David, 1996. The Philosophical Origins of Austrian Economics. Auburn, AL: Ludwig von Mises Institute. https://mises.org/library/philosophical-origins- austrian-economics-1, accessed 26 March 2018.
Hahn, Lewis E., ed., 1992. The Philosophy of A. J. Ayer. La Salle, IL: Open Court.
Heidegger, Martin, 1929. “Was ist Metaphysik?” Inaugural lecture to faculties of the University of Freiburg, 24 July 1929. Translated into English as “What is Metaphysics?” in Martin Heidegger: Basic Writings, 2nd ed., edited by D. F. Krell, pp. 93–110. New York: Harper Collins, 1993.
Hempel, Carl, 1935. “On the Logical Positivists’ Theory of Truth.” Analysis 2: 49–59.
Husserl, Edmund, 1913. Ideas Pertaining to a Pure Phenomenology and to a Phenomenological Philosophy, book I, translated by F. Kersten. The Hague: Nijhoff, 1983.
Ingarden, Roman, 1931. Das literarische Kunstwerk. Halle: Niemeyer. 2nd ed., 1959. Translated into English as The Literary Work of Art, by George Grabowicz. Evanston, IL: Northwestern University Press, 1973.
———, 1936. “Der logistische Versuch einer Neugestaltung der Philosophie: Eine Kritische Bemerkung.” In Actes du huitième Congrès internationale de Philosophie à Prague 1934, pp. 203–08. Prague: Comité d’organization du Congrès. Translated as “The Logical Attempt at a New Formulation of Philosophy: A Critical Remark,” by Bernard Linsky. Journal for the History of Analytical Philosophy 6 (2018): 1–6. (This volume.)
———, 1935. “L’essai logistique d’une refonte de la philosophie.” Revue Philosophique 120: 137–59.
Kalish, Donald and Richard Montague, 1964. Logic: Techniques of Formal Reasoning. New York: Harcourt, Brace & World. Second edition by Donald Kalish, Richard Montague and Gary Mar, 1980.
Kraft, Victor, 1953. The Vienna Circle: The Origin of Neo-Positivism, translated by A. Pap. New York: The Philosophical Library.
Küng, Guido, 1982. “Roman Ingarden (1893–1970): Ontological Phenomenology.” In The Phenomenological Movement, 3rd revised ed., edited by H. Spiegelberg, pp. 223–33. The Hague: Nijhoff.
Lazerowitz, Morris, 1938. “Meaninglessness and Conventional Use.” Analysis 5: 33–42.
———, 1939. “Strong and Weak Verifiability.” Mind 48: 202–13.
Lewis, C. I., 1929. Mind and the World Order: Outline of a Theory of Knowledge. New York: Scribners.
———, 1934. “Experience and Meaning.” Philosophical Review 43: 125–46. Reprinted in Lewis (1970), pp. 258–76.
———, 1941. “Logical Positivism and Pragmatism.” Revue Internationale de Philosophie. Journal ceased publication in 1940 due to German invasion; article not published until Lewis (1970), pp. 92–112.
———, 1970. Collected Papers of Clarence Irving Lewis, edited by J. Goheen and J. Mothershed Jr. Stanford: Stanford University Press.
Lewis, David, 1988. “Statements Partly About Observation.” Philosophical Papers 17: 1–31.
Limbeck-Lilienau, Christoph, 2012. “Carnap’s Encounter with Pragmatism.” In Rudolf Carnap and the Legacy of Logical Empiricism (Vienna Circle Institute Yearbook, vol. 16), edited by R. Creath, pp. 89–111. Dordrecht: Springer.
Lycan, William, 2008. Philosophy of Language: A Contemporary Introduction, 2nd ed. New York: Routledge.
MacDonald, Margaret, 1934. “Verification and Understanding.” Proceedings of the Aristotelian Society 34: 143–56.
Montague, Richard, 1970. “Universal Grammar.” Theoria 36: 373–98.
Naess, Arne, 1938. ‘Truth’ as Conceived by those who are not Professional Philosophers. Oslo: Kommisjon Hos Jacob Dybwad.
———, 1953. Interpretation and Preciseness: A Contribution to the Theory of Communication. Oslo: Kommisjon Hos Jacob Dybwad.
———, 1954. An Empirical Study of the Expressions ‘True,’ ‘Perfectly Certain’ and ‘Extremely Probable’. Oslo: Kommisjon Hos Jacob Dybwad.
Neurath, Otto, 1936. “Discussion.” In Actes du huitième Congrès internationale de Philosophie à Prague 1934, pp. 244–45. Prague: Comité d’organization du Congrès. Translated with Ingarden (1936), this volume, p. 6.
New World Encyclopedia, 2015. “Roman Ingarden.” http://www.newworldencyclopedia.org/p/index.php?title=Roman_Ingarden&oldid=989477, accessed 2 October 2016.
Petzäll, Åke and Sven Åhman, 1931. Logistischer Positivismus. Versuch einer Darstellung und Würdigung der philosophischen Grundanschauungen des sog. Wiener Kreises der wissenschaftlichen Weltauffassung, translated by Sven Åhman. Gothenberg: Göteborgs Högskolas årsskrift.
Ramsey, Frank, 1923. Review of Tractatus Logico-Philosophicus by Ludwig Wittgenstein. Mind 32: 465–78.
———, 1990. Philosophical Papers, edited by D. H. Mellor. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.
———, 1991. On Truth: Original Manuscript Materials (1927–1929), edited by N. Rescher and U. Majer. Dordrecht: Kluwer.
Rumfitt, Ian, 2011. “Ramsey on Truth and Meaning.” In Episteme, etc.: Essays in Honour of Jonathan Barnes, edited by B. Morison and K. Ierodiakonou, pp. 213–45. Oxford: Clarendon Press.
Russell, Bertrand, 1936. Review of Ayer (1936). The London Mercury 33: 541–43.
Ryle, Gilbert, 1937. “Categories.” Proceedings of the Aristotelian Society 38: 189–206.
Sainsbury, R. M., 2001. “Two Ways to Smoke a Cigarette.” Ratio 14: 386–406.
Schilpp, P. A., ed., 1963. The Philosophy of Rudolf Carnap. La Salle, IL: Open Court.
Schlick, Moritz, 1936. “Meaning and Verification.” Philosophical Review 4: 339–69.
Shaw, James R., 2009. “Nonsense, Truth, and Ineffability.” PhD Thesis, Harvard University.
Simons, Peter, 2005. “Ingarden and the Ontology of Dependence.” In Existence, Culture, and Persons: The Ontology of Roman Ingarden, edited by A. Chrudzimski, pp. 39–53. Frankfurt: Ontos Verlag.
Smart, J. J. C., 1953. “A Note on Categories.” British Journal for the Philosophy of Science 4: 227–28.
Soames, Scott, 2004. Philosophical Analysis in the Twentieth Century, 2 vols. Princeton, NJ: Princeton University Press.
Stadler, Friedrich, 2001. The Vienna Circle: Studies in the Origins, Development, and Influence of Logical Empiricism. Vienna: Springer.
Stevenson, Charles L., 1944. Ethics and Language. New Haven: Yale University Press.
Tennessen, Herman, 1949. “The Fight Against Revelation in Semantical Studies.” Synthese 8: 225–34.
Thomasson, Amie, 2012. “Roman Ingarden.” In The Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy, http://plato.stanford.edu/archives/fall2012/entries/ingarden/, accessed 16 March 2018.
Weinberg, Julius, 1936. An Examination of Logical Positivism. London: Kegan Paul. Reprinted London: Routledge, 2000.
Woleński, Jan, 2011. “The Verifiability Principle: Variations on Ingarden’s Criticism.” In Essays on Logic and Its Applications in Philosophy, edited by Jan Woleński, pp. 313–23, 331–51. Frankfurt: Peter Lang.
Zabłudowski, Andrzej, 1966. “Sprawdzalność a znaczenie.” Studia Filozoficzne 4: 9–44.
———, 1946. Language, Truth and Logic, 2nd ed. New York: Oxford University Press.
———, ed., 1959a. Logical Positivism. Glencoe, IL: Free Press.
———, 1959b. “Bibliography of Logical Positivism.” In Ayer (1959a), pp. 381–455.
———, 1992. “Intellectual Autobiography of A. J. Ayer.” In Hahn (1992), pp. 3–53.
Bach, Emmon, 1986. “Natural Language Metaphysics.” In Logic, Methodology, and Philosophy of Science, vol. VII, edited by R. Barcan Marcus, G. J. W. Dorn and P. Weingartner, pp. 573–95. Amsterdam: North-Holland.
Benson, Arthur, 1963. “Bibliography of the Writings of Rudolf Carnap.” In Schilpp (1963), pp. 1017–70.
Berlin, Isaiah, 1939. “Verification.” Proceedings of the Aristotelian Society 39: 225–48.
———, 1973. “Austin and the Early Beginnings of Oxford Philosophy.” In Essays on J. L. Austin, edited by I. Berlin, pp. 1–16. Oxford: Oxford University Press.
Carnap, Rudolf, 1931–1932. “Überwindung der Metaphysik durch Logische Analyse der Sprache.” Erkenntnis 2: 219–41. Translated as “The Elimination of Metaphysics Through Logical Analysis of Language,” by A. Pap; reprinted in Ayer (1959a), pp. 60–81.
———, 1934a. Logische Syntax der Sprache. Vienna: Springer-Verlag. Translated into English as Logical Syntax of Language, by A. Smeaton. Chicago: Open Court, 1937.
———, 1934b. “On the Character of Philosophic Problems,” translated by W. M. Malisoff. Philosophy of Science 1: 5–19.
———, 1936. “Discussion.” In Actes du huitième Congrès internationale de Philosophie à Prague 1934, p. 244. Prague: Comité d’organization du Congrès. Translated with Ingarden (1936), this volume, pp. 5–6.
———, 1936–1937. “Testability and Meaning.” Philosophy of Science 3/4: 419–71; 1–40.
———, 1950. “Empiricism, Semantics, and Ontology.” Revue Internationale de Philosophie 4: 20–40. Reprinted as a Supplement to Meaning and Necessity, 2nd ed. Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 1956.
———, 1956. “The Methodological Use of Theoretical Concepts.” In Minnesota Studies in the Philosophy of Science, vol. I, edited by H. Feigl and M. Scriven, pp. 38–56. Minneapolis: University of Minnesota Press.
Church, Alonzo, 1949. Review of Ayer (1946). Journal of Symbolic Logic 14: 52–53.
Ewing, A. C., 1937. “Meaninglessness.” Mind 46: 347–64.
Friedman, Michael, 1999. Reconsidering Logical Positivism. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.
———, 2000. A Parting of the Ways: Carnap, Cassirer, and Heidegger. Chicago: Open Court.
Gordon, David, 1996. The Philosophical Origins of Austrian Economics. Auburn, AL: Ludwig von Mises Institute. https://mises.org/library/philosophical-origins- austrian-economics-1, accessed 26 March 2018.
Hahn, Lewis E., ed., 1992. The Philosophy of A. J. Ayer. La Salle, IL: Open Court.
Heidegger, Martin, 1929. “Was ist Metaphysik?” Inaugural lecture to faculties of the University of Freiburg, 24 July 1929. Translated into English as “What is Metaphysics?” in Martin Heidegger: Basic Writings, 2nd ed., edited by D. F. Krell, pp. 93–110. New York: Harper Collins, 1993.
Hempel, Carl, 1935. “On the Logical Positivists’ Theory of Truth.” Analysis 2: 49–59.
Husserl, Edmund, 1913. Ideas Pertaining to a Pure Phenomenology and to a Phenomenological Philosophy, book I, translated by F. Kersten. The Hague: Nijhoff, 1983.
Ingarden, Roman, 1931. Das literarische Kunstwerk. Halle: Niemeyer. 2nd ed., 1959. Translated into English as The Literary Work of Art, by George Grabowicz. Evanston, IL: Northwestern University Press, 1973.
———, 1936. “Der logistische Versuch einer Neugestaltung der Philosophie: Eine Kritische Bemerkung.” In Actes du huitième Congrès internationale de Philosophie à Prague 1934, pp. 203–08. Prague: Comité d’organization du Congrès. Translated as “The Logical Attempt at a New Formulation of Philosophy: A Critical Remark,” by Bernard Linsky. Journal for the History of Analytical Philosophy 6 (2018): 1–6. (This volume.)
———, 1935. “L’essai logistique d’une refonte de la philosophie.” Revue Philosophique 120: 137–59.
Kalish, Donald and Richard Montague, 1964. Logic: Techniques of Formal Reasoning. New York: Harcourt, Brace & World. Second edition by Donald Kalish, Richard Montague and Gary Mar, 1980.
Kraft, Victor, 1953. The Vienna Circle: The Origin of Neo-Positivism, translated by A. Pap. New York: The Philosophical Library.
Küng, Guido, 1982. “Roman Ingarden (1893–1970): Ontological Phenomenology.” In The Phenomenological Movement, 3rd revised ed., edited by H. Spiegelberg, pp. 223–33. The Hague: Nijhoff.
Lazerowitz, Morris, 1938. “Meaninglessness and Conventional Use.” Analysis 5: 33–42.
———, 1939. “Strong and Weak Verifiability.” Mind 48: 202–13.
Lewis, C. I., 1929. Mind and the World Order: Outline of a Theory of Knowledge. New York: Scribners.
———, 1934. “Experience and Meaning.” Philosophical Review 43: 125–46. Reprinted in Lewis (1970), pp. 258–76.
———, 1941. “Logical Positivism and Pragmatism.” Revue Internationale de Philosophie. Journal ceased publication in 1940 due to German invasion; article not published until Lewis (1970), pp. 92–112.
———, 1970. Collected Papers of Clarence Irving Lewis, edited by J. Goheen and J. Mothershed Jr. Stanford: Stanford University Press.
Lewis, David, 1988. “Statements Partly About Observation.” Philosophical Papers 17: 1–31.
Limbeck-Lilienau, Christoph, 2012. “Carnap’s Encounter with Pragmatism.” In Rudolf Carnap and the Legacy of Logical Empiricism (Vienna Circle Institute Yearbook, vol. 16), edited by R. Creath, pp. 89–111. Dordrecht: Springer.
Lycan, William, 2008. Philosophy of Language: A Contemporary Introduction, 2nd ed. New York: Routledge.
MacDonald, Margaret, 1934. “Verification and Understanding.” Proceedings of the Aristotelian Society 34: 143–56.
Montague, Richard, 1970. “Universal Grammar.” Theoria 36: 373–98.
Naess, Arne, 1938. ‘Truth’ as Conceived by those who are not Professional Philosophers. Oslo: Kommisjon Hos Jacob Dybwad.
———, 1953. Interpretation and Preciseness: A Contribution to the Theory of Communication. Oslo: Kommisjon Hos Jacob Dybwad.
———, 1954. An Empirical Study of the Expressions ‘True,’ ‘Perfectly Certain’ and ‘Extremely Probable’. Oslo: Kommisjon Hos Jacob Dybwad.
Neurath, Otto, 1936. “Discussion.” In Actes du huitième Congrès internationale de Philosophie à Prague 1934, pp. 244–45. Prague: Comité d’organization du Congrès. Translated with Ingarden (1936), this volume, p. 6.
New World Encyclopedia, 2015. “Roman Ingarden.” http://www.newworldencyclopedia.org/p/index.php?title=Roman_Ingarden&oldid=989477, accessed 2 October 2016.
Petzäll, Åke and Sven Åhman, 1931. Logistischer Positivismus. Versuch einer Darstellung und Würdigung der philosophischen Grundanschauungen des sog. Wiener Kreises der wissenschaftlichen Weltauffassung, translated by Sven Åhman. Gothenberg: Göteborgs Högskolas årsskrift.
Ramsey, Frank, 1923. Review of Tractatus Logico-Philosophicus by Ludwig Wittgenstein. Mind 32: 465–78.
———, 1990. Philosophical Papers, edited by D. H. Mellor. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.
———, 1991. On Truth: Original Manuscript Materials (1927–1929), edited by N. Rescher and U. Majer. Dordrecht: Kluwer.
Rumfitt, Ian, 2011. “Ramsey on Truth and Meaning.” In Episteme, etc.: Essays in Honour of Jonathan Barnes, edited by B. Morison and K. Ierodiakonou, pp. 213–45. Oxford: Clarendon Press.
Russell, Bertrand, 1936. Review of Ayer (1936). The London Mercury 33: 541–43.
Ryle, Gilbert, 1937. “Categories.” Proceedings of the Aristotelian Society 38: 189–206.
Sainsbury, R. M., 2001. “Two Ways to Smoke a Cigarette.” Ratio 14: 386–406.
Schilpp, P. A., ed., 1963. The Philosophy of Rudolf Carnap. La Salle, IL: Open Court.
Schlick, Moritz, 1936. “Meaning and Verification.” Philosophical Review 4: 339–69.
Shaw, James R., 2009. “Nonsense, Truth, and Ineffability.” PhD Thesis, Harvard University.
Simons, Peter, 2005. “Ingarden and the Ontology of Dependence.” In Existence, Culture, and Persons: The Ontology of Roman Ingarden, edited by A. Chrudzimski, pp. 39–53. Frankfurt: Ontos Verlag.
Smart, J. J. C., 1953. “A Note on Categories.” British Journal for the Philosophy of Science 4: 227–28.
Soames, Scott, 2004. Philosophical Analysis in the Twentieth Century, 2 vols. Princeton, NJ: Princeton University Press.
Stadler, Friedrich, 2001. The Vienna Circle: Studies in the Origins, Development, and Influence of Logical Empiricism. Vienna: Springer.
Stevenson, Charles L., 1944. Ethics and Language. New Haven: Yale University Press.
Tennessen, Herman, 1949. “The Fight Against Revelation in Semantical Studies.” Synthese 8: 225–34.
Thomasson, Amie, 2012. “Roman Ingarden.” In The Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy, http://plato.stanford.edu/archives/fall2012/entries/ingarden/, accessed 16 March 2018.
Weinberg, Julius, 1936. An Examination of Logical Positivism. London: Kegan Paul. Reprinted London: Routledge, 2000.
Woleński, Jan, 2011. “The Verifiability Principle: Variations on Ingarden’s Criticism.” In Essays on Logic and Its Applications in Philosophy, edited by Jan Woleński, pp. 313–23, 331–51. Frankfurt: Peter Lang.
Zabłudowski, Andrzej, 1966. “Sprawdzalność a znaczenie.” Studia Filozoficzne 4: 9–44.
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