Verificationism: Its History and Prospects

Cheryl J. Misak

Psychology Press, 1995 - Philosophy - 254 pages

Verificationism is the first comprehensive history of a concept that dominated philosophy and scientific methodology between the 1930s and the 1960s. The verificationist principle - the concept that a belief with no connection to experience is spurious - is the most sophisticated version of empiricism. More flexible ideas of verification are now being rehabilitated by a number of philosophers.
C.J. Misak surveys the precursors, the main proponents and the rehabilitators. Unlike traditional studies, she follows verificationist theory beyond the demise of positivism to examine its reappearance in the work of modern philosophers. Most interestingly, she argues that despite feminism's strenuous opposition to positivism, verificationist thought is at the heart of much of contemporary feminist philosophy.
Verificationism is an excellent assessment of a major and influential system of thought.

Contents

• THE LOGICAL POSITIVISTS AND: 58
• PEIRCE AND THE PRAGMATIC MAXIM: 97
• WHAT IS IT TO UNDERSTAND A SENTENCE?: 128
• SOME FURTHER SUGGESTIONS: 163
• Conclusion: 201
• References: 226
• Name index: 246

About the author

C. J.Misak is Associate Professor of Philosophy at the University of Toronto; she is the author of Truth and the End of Inquiry.

Bibliographic information

• Title: Verificationism: Its History and Prospects; Philosophical issues in science
• Author: Cheryl J. Misak
• Publisher: Psychology Press, 1995
• ISBN: 0415125987, 9780415125987
• Length: 254 pages
• Subjects: Philosophy / General; Philosophy / Metaphysics; Philosophy / Movements / Empiricism