Philosophical Essays PDF
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PHILOSOPHICAL ESSAYS By the same author • LANGUAGE, TRUTH AND LOGrC THE FOUNDATIONS OF EMPIRICAL KNOWLEDGE BRITISH EMPIRICAL PHILOSOPHERS (ED. WITH RAYMOND WINCH) THE PROBLEM OF KNOWLEDGE niE REVOLUTION IN PHILOSOPHY (WITH OTHERS) LOGICAL POSITIVISM (ED.) THE CONCEPT OF A PERSON AND OTHER ESSAYS THE ORIGINS OF PRAGMATISM RUSSELL AND MOORE: THE ANALYTICAL HERITAGE PROBABILITY AND EVIDENCE PHILOSOPHICAL ESSAYS A. J. AYER Fellow of New College and Wykeham Professor of Logic in the Uniuersiry of Oxford Fellow of the British Academy Palgrave Macmillan ISBN 978-0-333-01714-2 ISBN 978-1-349-00132-3 (eBook) DOI 10.1007/978-1-349-00132-3 This book is copyright in all countries which are signatories to the Berne Convention All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced or transmitted, in any form or by any means, without permission. First Edition 1954 Reprinted 1954, 1963 (twice), 1965, 1969, 1972 Publiskd by THE MACMILLAN PRESS LTD London and Basingstoke Associated companies in New Tork Toronto Dublin Melbourne Johannesburg and Madras SBN 333 01714 5 TO JULIAN AYER PREFACE WITH a few minor alterations, the essays which are collected in this volume are reprinted in their original form. Since many of the problems with which they deal are inter-connected, there is a certain amount of repetition, but I hope that it will not be thought excess ive. I do not think that there are any serious incon sistencies, though the short paper on ' The Identity of Indiscernibles' raises doubts about the thesis of the paper on ' Individuals ': this is, indeed, my reason for including it. While I have not reprinted anything that I now believe to be false, I should certainly not claim that all the questions treated had been satisfactorily disposed of. In particular, I think that there is still much work to be done on the subject of ' Basic Proposi tions ' and on that of ' Freedom and Necessity '. I am more confident about the results obtained in the essay on ' Statements about the Past " and I have used them in making yet another attack on the vexatious problem of ' One's Knowledge of Other Minds '. In both these cases I am much indebted, at least as regards the manner of approach, to the writings of Professor Wisdom. 0/ In the second edition of The Philosophy G. E. Moore, Professor Moore has written an addendum to his 'Reply to my Critics', in which he raises some strong objections to the criticisms that I make of certain of his views in my paper on 'The Terminology of Sense data '. I have added two long footnotes to this paper in vii viii PHILOSOPHICAL ESSAYS an attempt to rebut Professor Moore'~ argument, as weIl as the similar arguments which were used by Mr. Lewy in a note on the same subject in Mind, vol. Iv, no. 218. I t will be seen that three of these essays are con cerned with questions of logic, in a broad sense of the term, five with the theory of knowledge, one with ontology, and three with quest ions of moral philosophy. I have chosen to reprint them in this order, rather than in the chronological order in which they were published. The essays first appeared in the following books and periodicals : (I) 'Individuals', in Mind, vol. lxi, N .S., no. 244, 1952. (2) 'The Identity of Indiscernibles', in Proceedings 0/ the XIth International Congress 0/ Philosophy, vol. iii, 1953· 13) 'Negation', in The Journal 0/ Philosophy, vol. xlix, no. 26, 1952. (4) 'The Terminology of Sense-data', in Mind, vol. liv, N.S., no. 216, 1945. (5) 'Basic Propositions " in Philosophical Analysis; a collec tion of essays edited by Max Black. Cornell U niver sity Press, 1950. (6) 'Phenomenalism', in Proceedings 0/ the Aristotelian Society, 1947-48. 0/ (7) 'Statements about the Past', in Proceedings the Aristotelian Society, 1950-5 I . (8) 'One's Knowledge of Other Minds', in Theoria, vol. xix, 1953. (9) 'On What There Is', in Supplementary Proceedings 0/ the Aristotelian Society, 1951. (10) 'On the Analysis of Moral Judgements', in Horizon, vol. xx, no. 117, 1949. (II) 'The Principle of Utility', in Jeremy Bentham and the Law; a symposium edited by G. W. Keeton PREFACE ~ and G. Schwarzenberger. Stevens & Sons Ltd., 1948. ( 12 ) 'F reedom and N ecessity " in Polemic, no. 5, 1946. I have to thank the editors and publishers in ques tion for allowing these essays to be reprinted. A. J. AYER 2 WHITEHORSE STREET LONDON, W.l Oetober 1953 CONTENTS PAGE PREFACE Vll I. INDIVIDUALS I 2. THE IDENTITY OF INDISCERNIBLES 26 3· NEGATION 36 4· THE TERMINOLOGY OF SENSE-DATA 66 5· BASIC PRO POSITIONS 1°5 6. PHENOMENALISM 125 7· STATEMENTS ABOUT THE PAST 167 8. ONE'S KNOWLEDGE OF OTHER MINDS 191 9· ON WHAT THERE Is 215 10. ON THE ANALYSIS OF MORAL JUDGEMENTS 231 11. THE PRINCIPLE OF UTILITY 25° 12. FREEDOM AND NECESSITY 271 INDEX 285 xi
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