Inherent Problems Of Religious Language Flashcards
What does the term ‘religious language’ refer to?
Statements or claims made about God or gods.
Donovan describes it as “The way words, often quite ordinary ones, are used in some form of context of religious belief”. The problem of religious language considers whether it is possible to talk about God meaningfully, as concepts of God being incorporeal, infinite and timeless make it difficult to describe God.
What is the inherent problem of religious language?
Some philosophers believe that religious language is inherently problematic because our communication depends on language, and our language is based on experience. However, in order for language to be meaningful we must be able to relate to what we are being told and have experience to build our understanding.
Why do some philosophers believe that religious language is inherently problematic?
The vast majority of everyday communication is regarding the physical world but, there are other forms of communication such as meta-physical statements which refer to language that is beyond our understanding.
What does David Hume say about meta-physical statements?
For David Hume, such language is dismissed as it is considered invaluable in the empirical world, or “can contain nothing but sophistry and illusion”.
What does Aquinas state about words used to describe God?
Indeed, the same can be said for the religious language used to express the ‘Ultimate’ or ‘God’ within a religion. For example, God is seen to be transcendent, or according to Buddhist nirvana, impossible to express, as Aquinas states “It seems no word can be used literally of God”.
What contradiction arises in Abrahamic religions regarding God?
It could be argued that religion contradicts itself since Abrahamic religions describe God as ‘infinite’, yet how can finite beings speak about God? God is generally conceived as infinite and timeless therefore ordinary language cannot always apply to that entity, which raises the question as to whether God can be meaningfully spoken about, this causes problems for religious belief since the ability to describe God is important in religious life.
What does Simone Weil suggest about her understanding of God?
French philosopher Simone Weil in her work ‘Waiting for God’, suggests she was certain of God’s love and conscious that she could not describe him.
What impact does the secularization of society have on religious language, according to Sallie McFague?
This is supported by Sallie McFague who states the secularisation of society has meant that the experience of God is uncommon and potentially unnecessary, thus religious language is idolatrous and irrelevant.
What makes religious language about physical objects more understandable?
A further inherent problem of religious language is that the majority of our communication is about the physical world. To describe physical objects with religious connotations such as places of worship, collections of sacred writings etc. In all such cases, the language is understandable and relatable because it deals with the observable and experienced empirical world.
What is the challenge when religious language describes divinities?
However, once the religious language goes on to describe the divinities that are worshipped in such buildings or the teachings relating to an afterlife that may be contained within those sacred writings or even how the ritual actions being performed can purify an individual’s soul, then suddenly what is being communicated may not be either understandable or relatable.
What does Pseudo Dionysius suggest about understanding God?
Support for this comes from Pseudo Dionysius who states that we should state what God isn’t in order to come closer to understanding God. Positive terms may be misleading as they are rooted in our language.
What is an inherent problem of religious language regarding shared experience?
An inherent problem of religious language is that it is not a shared experience. When talking about the traditional conceptions of God, there is no common or shared experience universally applicable to those with a faith commitment or those without. Our language is based on our experiences which are time limited, thus to talk about things beyond our experience means to move away from that which can be known. Talking about things beyond time means using abstract language that can’t be verified through experience. For example, a Hindu experiencing darshan during puja or a Christian feeling the Holy Spirit during worship are deeply personal and spiritual experiences. These can’t be proven or tested, so philosophers often say they can’t be verified and fall outside empirical understanding.
What are the two main forms of language philosophers divide into?
Philosophers considering how language is used, generally divide it into two main forms; cognitive language which can be either true or false and thus is empirically verifiable, and non-cognitive which refers to language which cannot be shown to be true or false by empirical means as it is based on opinions, attitudes and feelings.
What does cognitive religious language refer to?
When religious language is used in a cognitive sense, it is referring to statements which purport the ability to determine that God exists as an external reality that can be shown to be true via empirically verifiable means. For example the cosmological argument when the series of causes and effects are linked to the concept of their being an initial first cause, that theistic philosophers claim to be God.
According to A.J. Ayer, what is the criterion for testing the genuineness of statements?
In contrast, religious language can also be considered non- cognitive as, according to several religious philosophers, it is making claims about a believer’s attitude towards the world around them, based on their religiously held beliefs. Logical positivists such as A.J Ayer state “The criterion which we use to test the genuineness of statements is the criterion of verifiability” therefore due to the non cognitive nature of religious language, it can be viewed as meaningless as they are statements which lay outside of logical reasoning and empirical evidence.
Fill in the blank: Religious language can be viewed as _______ since it is based on opinions, attitudes, and feelings.
non-cognitive
