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- Description
About this Course
About the Course
In this course, Dr Arif Ahmed (University of Cambridge) explores the empirical verification principle. In the first module, we introduce the philosophical context in which verificationism arose. In the second module, we review the impact of verificationism on metaphysics, ethics, and mathematics. In the third module, we examine Ayer’s modifications of the verification principle, before turning to further criticisms of verificationism in the fourth module. In the fifth module, we go beyond the syllabus to look at Quine’s two dogmas of empiricism, and examine how much of logical positivism survives Quine’s critique.
About the Lecturer
Dr Arif Ahmed is Reader in Philosophy at the University of Cambridge. He writes mainly on decision theory, but also has an interest in religion and has debated the subject against William Lane Craig, Tariq Ramadan, Rowan Williams and others. Some of his recent publications include (as editor) Wittgenstein's Philosophical Investigations: A Critical Guide (2010), Evidence, Decision and Causality (2014) and (as editor) Classical Philosophical Arguments: Newcomb's Problem (2018).