BEN ROGERS

Irreverent and electrifying, when A. J. Ayers epoch-making work was published in 1936 it shook the foundations of British philosophy, and made its author notorious. He argues that if you cannot prove a statement by scientific methods, or by experience, it is literally meaningless. In this sense, everything else morals, aesthetics, religion, philosphy itself becomes nonsensical. For example, to say that murder is wrong is a meaningless statement you are simply saying that you do not like it. Ayers shocking argument, known as Logical Positivism, was a direct challenge to orthodox morality. Yet it became a classic text, revitalizing British philosophy and setting it on an entirely new course.