Alternative to the FP : Bliks Flashcards
Who introduced the notion of a blik?
Hare
What did Hare claim about the way believer use religious language
They use it in a unique way
Does this mean they have meaning and why?
Yes
- because they make a significant difference to that person’s life, which can be empirically observed
- therefore the statements do have meaning
What is Hare’s argument about bliks
that we all have our own bliks with which we approach the world and make judgements about it
We all have unfalsifiable ways of framing our understanding of our experiences which help us do what
Find meaning in the world
What is the belief that everything happens in the world for a reason just as much a ‘blik’ as?
The belief that things happen according to the will of God or that everything was meant to be
Do both religious people and atheists have bliks?
Yes
What did Mitchell highlight
The fact that many religious believers do accept that their beliefs can be questioned but they will continue to believe them in the face of evidence to the contrary
What did Mitchell call these beliefs ?
‘significant articles of faith’
What is meant by significant articles of faith
the believer accepts to be open to serious challenge, but which, in the light of their personal experience they will not allow to falsify their belief
What is non-propositional faith?
Faith rooted in a relationship rather than simply accepting facts about God
What were the 3 ways in which Mitchell observed the believer can react when their assertions are challeneged
believers can treat them as
- provisional hypotheses to be discarded if experience tells against them
- vacuous formulae, to which experience makes no difference and which make no difference to life
- significant articles of faith, which face the full force of conflict and may be seriously challenged, but which are not easily abandoned
