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Books Related to Language, Truth and Logic A.J. Ayer - ISBN: 0141186046
Language is key - Rated
I read Ayer's obituary in the Telegraph and he seemed like an interesting man, so I bought this book.
As a teenage layperson, I found it VERY heavy-going, I kept a dictionary nearby to refer to and my copy is littered with notes to myself on word meanings. It was worth the perseverance to discover so much. His debunking of inexact, ambiguous metaphysics really helped me to make the switch from being a wooley agnostic to a fully confirmed atheist.
Say what you like about positive optimism, it's Ayer's use and insistance of the importance of accuracy of meaning and expression in communication that I responded to.
This book modified my outlook on life and I have given away and bought the book 4 times now.
pure genius - Rated
AJ Ayer is dead. Is there any philosopher in the world that would like to tell him otherwise?
Of Antiquarian Interest Only... - Rated
Ayer's book was indeed groundbreaking - it made Logical Positivism the new cool topic in English philosophy. However, it now needs to be read with a healthy dose of scepticism. Ayer's arguments on the Verification Principle have been shown to be deeply misguided and internally inconsistent. Moreover, sophisticated analysis of language has moved on from Ayer's dogmatic reductionism. Those interested in the development of logical philosophy may find it of interest, but even when published this book was already out of date (Compare it with Frege's writings of the late 19th century), and nowadays is more of an amusing "rant" than any serious examination of the topic.
Provocative and magnificent - Rated
Language, Truth and Logic was the book that got me into philosophy. It is a model of how we should write in the discipline - Ayer's prose is witty, fresh and crystal clear. Reading it is like being struck by a bolt from heaven - while Ayer wasn't expounding his own ideas, his is by far the best exposition of Logical Positivism and one of the best pieces of philosophical exposition ever written. Worth taking with a pinch of salt - Ayer was on the right lines, but in the final analysis this is too iconoclastic (as he himself eventually admitted). Still, if you want to read a book that will take you by the scruff of the neck, shake you vigorously and make you look at the world in a completely new way, then this is exactly what need.
Experience is seated at the head of the table in this work. - Rated
How can metaphysics be real if we cannot verify it? This is the maint question in which this book deals. Logic and experience are seen as providing the main area in which we should concentrate our philosophical efforts and many convincing arguments are employed. I feel this is can be argued at the expense of imagination, a property which can be implemented in some of our questions.
