Why did A.J. Ayer remain interested in philosophical theorizing despite the influence of ordinary language analysis?

A.J. Ayer remained committed to philosophical theorizing because he did not share the hostility toward it that characterized the ordinary language analysis movement led by philosophers such as Gilbert Ryle and J.L. Austin at Oxford.1

While Ayer supported the Oxford philosophers' emphasis on careful conceptual analysis and understood their weariness with metaphysical speculation, he maintained a loyalty to the philosophical outlook of Bertrand Russell, the early Ludwig Wittgenstein, and the logical positivists. Furthermore, he admired the work of American philosophers like W.V.O. Quine, who continued to build upon the foundations established by the positivists. Throughout his career, Ayer remained convinced of the core tenets of empiricism—specifically that knowledge of the world is derived from sense experience—and he continued to produce influential work that sought to address significant philosophical problems, such as those explored in his book The Problem of Knowledge.12