VIRTUES237morally wrong), and religion (there is
an incorporeal God transcending space
and time) as they (ostensibly) did not
yield empirically verifiable claims. Critics
of the verification principle argued that
the principle is itself meaningless for
the principle is not itself about formal,
conceptual relations, nor does it in prin-
ciple yield empirically verifiable results.
It also seemed to some critics that the
principle would rule out important
domains of science (e.g., cosmological
theories about the big bang which might
be built on some evidence but fall short of
verification) and common sense (e.g., can
a third person verify the mental states of
another person?). See also LOGICAL
POSITIVISM.
VICES. Corrosive, bad states of character
leading to eventual self-destruction or
blameworthy injury to others. In moral
theory, “vices” refer to the motivations
and dispositions of agents that give rise to
immoral or wrong action. A vain person,
for example, is likely to act selfishly and
treat others unjustly if that advances her
fame. Contrast with VIRTUES.
VICO, GIOVANNI BATISTA (1668–
1744). An Italian philosopher of history
who held that human history proceeds
through stages in which we first are in an
age of gods and heroes, progress through
faith to a world of science, and then due
to some calamity we return to the age of
gods and heroes when the cycle begins
again. Vico famously claimed that human
beings principally know best that which
we make. Because we make history, his-
tory is our primary domain of knowledge.
His works include On the Method of the
Studies of Our Time (1709), On the Most
Ancient Knowledge of the Indians (1710),
Universal Right (3 vols., 1720–1722), and
Principles of a New Science (1725; 2nd rev.
ed., 1730; 3rd rev. ed., 1744).VIENNA CIRCLE (a.k.a. Wiener Kreis).
The name for a group of philosophers
who met in Vienna, Austria, from 1924
to 1936. The Vienna Circle was distin-
guished by a demanding, scientifically
oriented philosophy that sought to rule
out speculative metaphysics (as well as
traditional religion). Prominent members
included Moritz Schlick, Rudolf Carnap,
Herbert Feigl, and Otto Neurath. The
group fostered a movement called logical
positivism, popularized by A. J. Ayer in his
influential Language, Truth, and Logic
(1936) which argued for a noncognitive
view of religious and ethical beliefs. Such
beliefs are noncognitive insofar as they
are not such that they can be true or false.
See also VERIFICATION PRINCIPLE.VIRTUE THEORY. See ARETĒ.VIRTUES. Excellence traits of character
that motivate or dispose an agent to good
acts. Someone with courage is likely to act