vp evaluation

• strengths

  • it is a straightforward principle, focusing on facts that can be directly or indirectly verified
  • it aligns with a scientific approach in its insistence on empirical support if any statements are to be meaningful
  • Ayer points to the need to be clear in one's use of language
• weaknesses

  • just because it is straightforward does not make it right
  • it also does not ring true to many people who are convinced that human responses to the world in terms of ethics, philosophy + ethics are important + have meaning
  • it makes the assumption that science tells us everything of importance about the world
  • Ayer's criticism of religious claims is not true of all religious arguments
  • VP in itself is meaningless, since it is not empirically verifiable