Position
Verificationism
A sentence is cognitively meaningful if and only if it is analytic or empirically verifiable.
Classification
- Position level
- specific
- Domains
- Philosophy of Language
Overview
Verificationism is a theory of meaningfulness: it offers a criterion for which sentences have cognitive significance. It does not say what semantic content a meaningful sentence has or what facts give it that content.
Position on
Held by traditions
- Logical Positivism
Question scope: Cognitive Meaningfulness
Incompatible positions
- Confirmability Criterion
Question scope: Cognitive Meaningfulness
References
- Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy, Theories of Meaning
- A. J. Ayer, Language, Truth and Logic (1936), ch. 1