Positivism

Logical Positivism, developed by the Vienna Circle in the 1920s and 30s, held that only statements verifiable by experience or true by definition are meaningful. Metaphysics, theology, and much of traditional philosophy were dismissed as nonsense. Though the verification principle proved difficult to defend, positivism's insistence on empirical rigour and its influence on philosophy of science, language, and logic shaped twentieth-century thought profoundly.