Logical Positivism

This book is a good set of articles of the members of logical positivism. Ayer is only the editor and the writer of the introduction.People interrested in logical positivism should find this interresting. Also people interrested in philosophy of science.Do not expect a long history or description of logical positivism in this book!

This interesting collection of articles put together by one of the key persons of the Logical Positivist/Empiricist movement is arranged under six different sub-sections based on their subject matter: "Logical Atomism", "Philosophy, Metaphysics and Meaning", "Logic and Mathematics", "Knowledge and Truth", "Ethics and Sociology" and "Analytical Philosophy". This together with professor Ayers introduction brings structure to an otherwise unguided presentation of works by some of the leading Logical positivists of the 20th century. If you want to get acquainted with the Logical Positivists for the first time this should probably be used as supplementary reading rather than your main literature. The most readable presentation of the ideas of Logical Positivism I have come across is the classic  Language, Truth and Logic  by Ayer, which also is an important text historically since it was largely responsible for the popularization of the ideas of Logical Positivism to the English speaking world. It could be read by an interested layperson.With that said, there is definitely something to be gained from this collection if you want a more thorough understanding of one of the most important philosophical movements of modern times. But since the commentary of the text is minimal (just Ayers introduction) you will have to put in extra work to really get a feel for the dialectic of the debate. In these articles I encountered more diversity and "messiness" in the movement than what I could gather from the usual condensed presentation you get of Logical Positivism. The diversity and internal discussion of the movement make many of the articles have an interesting air of "work in progress" rather than a presentation of finalized doctrines and proofs. This together with the very strong rejection of metaphysics the Logical Positivists pursued makes for very interesting reading.

This book is an anthology of texts by several authors of logical postivism. It has to be noted that the editor himself, A.J. Ayer, is a main figure in the contemporary philosophical movement known logical positivism or logical empiricism. Although the hisotrical introduction is very brief, the selection is extremly good and gives a thorough picture of the movement.Ayer also considers important to include some texts regarded as analytic philosophy but not universaly considered to be "logical postivism" (Ayer does). One may find, among such authors, Russell and Austin. These texts are indeed welcomed, but do not take for granted that these authors match completely the positivist program, or that this book will give you a general idea of analytic philosophy.It is worth to mention that although (the first) Wittgenstein was close for a while to the Vienna Circle and is considered by many a logical postivist, no text written by him is included. The editor considers impossible to do justice to Wittgenstein with an excerpt from his only two books. However, if you're interested in Wittgenstein some articles fromt his anthology might be helpful to understand the theory forwarded in the Tractatus.Some texts are more programatic than academic, and even the academic texts include a good deal of a general account or a defense of logical positvism; which makes this book very useful for for someone who is just beginning to study logical postivism (Which was my case, as a graduate student).Also, many articles make use of symbolic logic, but it should be noted that it is for breif moments and that they are still understandable if one is unable to make sense of these logic parts.The articles tend to be brief, which also makes this book good for a teacher looking for reading material to include in a syllabus.

To this day, the strength of logical positivism still shows through its lasting influence on its successors and through the continuous and widespread zeal to criticize the movement.As such, Ayer’s 1959 compilation still represents an essential read. Its choice of essays on the subject is unmatched and near-perfect. It provides the reader with one of the best possible overviews of the logical positivists’ movement.