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logical positivist

logical positivist

1 9.8
A person who believes only ideas you can test by experience or logic have meaning
  • noun
  • /ˈlɒdʒɪkəl ˈpɒzɪtɪvɪst/
  • Specialized
translation icon : positivista lógico
  • I am not aware of a single logical positivist (or logical empiricist) text that supports this claim.

And then philosophy handles the leftovers like AJ Air and other logical positivists of that time.

Examples

  • Logical positivists make no strong claims about the relationship of science to progress except to assert that scientific progress thrives under freedom and that political freedom is related to the open-mindedness that is also involved in analytic investigations allowing for falsifiability.

    Academic text (1990)
  • This is the point missed by the logical positivists who wanted to go straight from the observations to the meaning.

    Blog text (31)
  • The logical positivists may well have believed physics to be of more fundamental importance than biology, but the latter science nevertheless belonged to the pantheon.

    Blog text (16)
  • The most absolute claim to truth is that advanced by the logical positivists, who tend to deny that assertions of knowledge based on softer criteria have any merit (cell 3).

    Academic text (1990)
  • Given that for the logical positivists (in contrast to Popper) "metaphysical" was a term of opprobrium, it is unlikely that any of them would have embraced this formulation.

    Blog text (16)
  • Logical positivists argue that only statements verifiable through observation or logical proof hold meaning.

  • The logical positivist stance emphasizes that metaphysical claims are often considered meaningless in philosophy.

  • According to logical positivists, scientific statements gain their significance from their ability to be tested and verified.

Synonyms

positivist
vslogical positivist
  • Formal
1 9.3

A person who believes only facts that can be seen or measured count as knowledge

insists that only observations or logical proof make statements meaningful

Surface Forms

Morphology

logical + positivist

The phrase combines 'logical' (relating to reasoning) with 'positivist' (one who insists on empirical evidence), so a B1 learner who knows both constituents can infer it denotes a positivist who emphasizes logic or verification. However, it is also a technical label for a specific philosophical movement with doctrinal nuances beyond the simple combination, so the full meaning is not entirely predictable from the parts.

Etymology

Logical positivist combines logical (about clear proof) and positivist (about positive, factual claims). Imagine a person who accepts only things they can see or prove step by step and calls other talk 'meaningless'. That's why a logical positivist is someone who thinks only 'verifiable' statements matter.