ABSTRACT
Most logical empiricists stayed away from value theory and related issues. The reason is often held to be the movement’s purported commitment to noncognitivism. Some critics even allege that the logical empiricists were caught in a paradox. How could they be noncognitivists and at the same time visibly engage in moral, social, and political activities? The chapter addresses the central claims of noncognitivism as well as this seeming paradox. The first part deals with how noncognitivism relates to the logical empiricist’s verifiability principle of meaningfulness. The second part lays out their individual positions. Rudolf Carnap, Alfred J. Ayer, Hans Reichenbach, Friedrich Waismann, and Otto Neurath are well known for their noncognitivist stance, but the contributions of Moritz Schlick and Victor Kraft seem to challenge this consensus.
