Positivism and the Law of Non-Contradiction
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Why does "logical positivism" violate the law of non-contradiction?
This question is being discussed in class next week, and I'm having difficulty understanding what exactly it is referring to as well as what the key talking points/issues are surrounding this question..
Some specific (and simple) examples would probably help me greatly.
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Solution Summary
The questions provides advice and discussion on the topic of logical positivism and the law of non-contradiction, specifically how the positivism violates the law of non-contradiction. It explains concepts and aims to help students in tackling these concepts in preparation of class discussion. Examples are included. A word version of the solution is attached for easy printing. References are listed to allow room for further research.
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Dear Student,
Hi and thank you for using Brainmass. I understand your worry about the topic. There are varied empirical and positivist viewpoints and this could get quite confusing. But you are quite right in taking stock of each (i.e. logical positivism) so as to be able to differentiate which from which. But I'd like to give you a hint - in my postgraduate studies, a professor of mine in Sociological philosophies lectured that all these viewpoints share more than they differentiate and dependent on use, one becomes more viable than the other. In science, there is really no one single truth, just applied truth or verisimilitude (relative truth). But truth is at the heart of positivism and empiricism and they are the root behind the philosophies that arose during the Enlightenment. Now, let us discuss logical positivism as applied and seen in the social sciences.
Logical Positivism
At the simplest definition, logical positivism is a philosophical paradigm (school of thought) that utilises the notion of verifiability from empiricism/positivism that arose around the utilization of the scientific method and the utilization of the principles of rationalism via the use of analytic truth via ascertaining the truth or falsity of a statement. In other words, if the statements or claims can be verified ...
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- MPhil/PhD (IP), Open University, Milton Keynes, UK
- MA, Open University, Milton Keynes, UK
- Certificate, Geva Ulpan (via Universita Tel Aviv)
- BA, University of the Philippines
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