1376. Factual v. empirical falsification

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Whether a statement can be factually falsified is one question; whether it can be empirically falsified, another.

No metaphysical statement can be empirically falsified. And no strictly metaphysical statement can be factually falsified. But some broadly metaphysical statements -- namely, those having to do with human existence -- can be factually falsified, even though, like all other metaphysical statements, they cannot be empirically falsified.

No metaphysical statement is an empirical statement, and no empirical statement is a metaphysical statement. No strictly metaphysical statement is a factual statement, and no factual statement is a strictly metaphysical statement. But some broadly metaphysical statements -- namely, those having to do with human existence -- are factual statements, and some factual statements are broadly metaphysical statements.

31 October 1998