Under the verification criterion, a sentence is meaningful if it contributes to entailing an observable conclusion that cannot be derived without it

But this is obviously unacceptable and (as with its predecessor) it is properties of logical entailment that cause the problem. To borrow Ayer’s own example (given in the second edition of his 1936 [1952]), from “The Absolute is lazy” together with “If the Absolute is lazy, then this is white”, it follows that “This is white”, and this does not follow from the conditional premise alone. Hence, contrary to every bone in the logical empiricist’s body, “The Absolute is lazy” is meaningful. The argu