logical positivism

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noun

a philosophical movement that stresses the function of philosophy as a method of criticizing and analyzing science and that rejects all transcendental metaphysics, statements of fact being held to be meaningful only if they have verifiable consequences in experience and in statements of logic, mathematics, or philosophy itself, and with such statements of fact deriving their validity from the rules of language.

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Also called logical empiricism .

Origin of logical positivism

First recorded in 1930–35

OTHER WORDS FROM logical positivism

logical positivist, noun

Words nearby logical positivism

logical form, logically, logically possible, logical operation, logical operator, logical positivism, logical sum, logical syntax, logical truth, logic array, logic bomb

How to use logical positivism in a sentence

Following this line of reasoning to its logical conclusion, the way to achieve world peace is to give everyone atomic bombs.
Santa Fails One More Time|P. J. O’Rourke|December 27, 2014|DAILY BEAST
Taken to its logical conclusion, the “not me” judgment can lead us to regard other human beings as not human at all!
Ferguson, Immigration, and ‘Us Vs. Them’|Gene Robinson|November 27, 2014|DAILY BEAST
If the certainty of the wisdom of uncertainty is itself uncertain, the force of the definition crumbles by logical standards.
The Birth of the Novel|Nick Romeo|November 27, 2014|DAILY BEAST
The declaration of war against ISIS, then, would seem to be a logical next step.
Rand Paul Declares War on ISIS—and Allows Boots on the Ground|Olivia Nuzzi|November 24, 2014|DAILY BEAST

If you were emotionalized, you saw him clearly as the Fuhrer, but anyone who was reasonable and logical was seen as the enemy.
The Godfather of Right-Wing Radio|Caitlin Dickson|November 23, 2014|DAILY BEAST
Pedantic, unimaginative and presumptuous, Theobald was the logical choice for a Dunce King in 1728.
A Letter from Mr. Cibber to Mr. Pope|Colley Cibber
Aunt Ri was a privileged character, but her logical method of questioning was inconvenient.
Ramona|Helen Hunt Jackson
Probably, he did not discover this consciously for himself: the result, in any case, was logical and obvious.
The Wave|Algernon Blackwood
The logical, thorough reasoning behind the content of the Declaration is easily apparent.
Hallowed Heritage: The Life of Virginia|Dorothy M. Torpey
Some of it, I knew, he discarded because it didn't sound logical, but other parts seemed to make an impression on him.
Hooded Detective, Volume III No. 2, January, 1942|Various

British Dictionary definitions for logical positivism

logical positivism

noun

a philosophical theory that holds to be meaningful only those propositions that can be analysed by the tools of logic into elementary propositions that are either tautological or are empirically verifiable. It therefore rejects metaphysics, theology, and sometimes ethics as meaningless

Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012