A. J. Ayer

Article abstract: Ayer introduced the Austrian philosophy of logical positivism to the English-speaking world and continued the British empiricist and skeptical tradition of John Locke, George Berkeley, and David Hume. His contributions were primarily to the field of epistemology.

Early Life

Alfred Jules Ayer’s father came from the French area of Switzerland and his mother from Belgium, although she was raised in England. The couple was residing in London when their only child was born in 1910. Ayer spent much of his early life in solitude, enjoying...

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