le. Other philosophers use the term "protocol" purely as a syntactical designation for a certain assemblage of words. "...One attaches such special significance to the word observation because there is no error involved in constructing sentences of a peculiar type and dignifying them with the title of Protokollsaetze, but it is arbitrary and misleading." (5) In other words, protocol propositions are not meaningful, but they are a basis for the foundation of knowledge.The quest for knowledge and certainty fits what we discussed with epistemology. Descartes shares the same desire for certainty in his life as do Ayer and Schlick. Kant's reasoning that all knowledge comes into us through sensory experience applies to Schlick's thoughts about protocol statements being ultimately determined by our experience and perception. The views of Ayer and Schlick interact heavily. The protocol proposition is similar to the idea of the protocol statement, because a statement is most often not objective nor true. Both philosophers start from the same place, which is to establish certainty in what they believe, such as Descartes did, and they arrive at the same conclusion, which is that meaningful speech is polluted with opinion and uncertainty, but that this is the way in which humans get their knowledge. Descartes discusses the ways in which people get their perceptions, ideas, and the "knowledge" they hold for true, which is through sensory experience, and this is what Ayer and Schlick say. The two differ slightly in the way that Schlick bases all statements on conforming to the protocol statement, but Ayer takes a more objective approach when he discusses the differences between basic propositions and protocol propositions. Both philosophers recognise that protocol statements are based on a structure of words which are restricted in their usage, and that they cannot communicate an idea effectively. They also both recognise that one may bel...
