Work · Analytic Philosophy
The Elimination of Metaphysics Through Logical Analysis of Language
“The nothing nothings” as a textbook example of a pseudo-statement.
Introduction
Carnap published the essay in 1932 in Erkenntnis, the journal of the Vienna Circle. Modern logic, he argues, shows metaphysical sentences to be meaningless: either they contain words without criteria of application, such as “principle” or “God” in their metaphysical use, or they combine meaningful words in ways that violate logical syntax. His main example is a series of sentences from Heidegger’s inaugural lecture. Metaphysics, Carnap suggests, expresses an attitude towards life, as art does – metaphysicians are musicians without musical ability. The essay became the classic statement of the logical empiricist critique of metaphysics and a symbol of the later divide between “analytic” and “continental” philosophy.
Connections
Criticizes
- What Is Metaphysics?1929 · Martin Heidegger
More works by Rudolf Carnap
Appears in
- Journey ‘The Linguistic Turn’ · Stop 4 of 10
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