Ochendo: An African Journal of Innovative Studies

This article focuses on an evaluation of verification principle as articulated by A. J. Ayer. Ayer is a prominent member of contemporary philosophical movement known as logical positivism. Verification principle is the basic principle of logical positivism. Ayer articulated and developed the verification principle, and made distinctions between practical verifiability and verifiability in principle as well as strong verifiability and weak verifiability. The basic questions that are scholarly indispensable in this article are: What actually is verification principle as articulated by Ayer? What is the criterion or yardstick for distinguishing meaningful statements from meaningless statements? What is the philosophical background of Ayer’s verification principle? What are the problems associated with Ayer’s verification principle? These questions and other related ones are the basic concern of this article. Employing analytical and critical methods, this article examines Ayer’s verification principle. The researcher discovered that there are problems associated with verification principle, and as such it is not completely acceptable as the criterion for the determination of meaningfulness or meaninglessness of statements. The article argues that despite such problems, A. J. Ayer made significant contributions towards the advancement of knowledge in contemporary philosophy of science through his innovations in the articulation of verification principle.

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