Abstract

"Testability and Meaning" is one of Carnap's best-known works. It has been usually seen as one of the main sources of the received view of the philosophy of science, and it is normally read in the hght of the tradition it originated. Nevertheless, this reading detaches the text from the philosophical project to which it belongs. This paper aims to situate Camap's article in its proper philosophical place, which is found in the programme initiated in the Logische Syntax, a programme which essentially remained alive throughout the rest of Camap's career. The paper shows how this view opens up a natural way of understanding Carnap's important article in a different light, more interesting and coherent.