Keelefilosoofia raamat
trick question. 3
Objection 5
Erwin (1970) offers an argument to show that every statement is verifiable,
trivially and in much the same way. Suppose we are presented with a funny-
looking machine that turns out to be a marvelous predictor. Namely, when
one codes a declarative sentence onto a punch card and inserts it into a slot
in the machine, the machine whirrs and clunks and lights up either "TRUE"
or "FALSE"; moreover, so far as we are able to check, the machine is miracu-
lously always right.
Now consider an arbitrarily chosen string of words, S. The following set
of experiences would suffice to raise S's probability to a drastic degree:
1 We code S onto a punch card.
2 We feed the card into our machine.
3 The machine lights up "TRUE."
(And remember that the machine has never once been wrong.) Thus, there
exists a possible set of experiences that would confirm S, even if S is intui-
tively gibberish
annaabi.ee 
