LARKIN:
Spring 2003
________________________________________
DATE: 3-18-03
I.
Objectives
A.
Reorient
Ourselves after spring break
B.
Discuss
the formulation of the Verification Principle
C.
Lay
out the Positivist’s Argument for the Elimination of Metaphysics
II.
Discussion
The Verification Principle
III.
Lecture:
A.
Formulating
the Verification Principle
1.
Motivation for Principle
2.
In
principle vs. in practice formulation
3.
Trouble
with universal generalizations
4.
Trouble
with Existential Generalizations
5.
Trouble
with the notion of support
B.
Using
the Verification Principle
1.
Argument
Against Speculative Metaphysics
2.
Ethics
and Theology
IV.
Discussion:
Is Verification Principle Self-Defeating?
V.
Next
Time
A.
Topic:
Logical Positivism
B.
Reading: Ayer, “The Elimination of
Metaphysics”
C.
Reading Questions:
1.
What
do the logical positivists and Kant have in common? How do they differ?
2.
What
is the verification principle? Why/how
do universal claims cause trouble for the principle, and how does Ayer deal
with that problem?
3.
Explain
a couple of different ways Ayer uses the verification principle to critique the
problems of traditional philosophy?