Religious language

Question 1

Cognitive language

Answer 1

Language that is considered to be factual.
statements that can be proven true or false

Question 2

Non-cognitive language

Answer 2

language that doesn’t convey factual info.
cannot be proven true or false
feelings/emotions

Question 3

Verification principle

Answer 3

the idea that the meaning of a statements lies in its verification.

any statement that cannot be verified is meaningless

principle is associated with logical positivists

Question 4

Logical positivists

Answer 4

Obsessed with science and how science can explain everything
they thought philosphy should proceed the same way as science

Question 5

Moritz Schlick

Answer 5

“the meaning of a proposition is the method of verification”.

Question 6

Analytic propositions (a prior and deductive)

Answer 6

knowledge is gained through logical reasoning.
it is a contradiction to deny an analytical truth. to refer to a married bachelor for example.

analytical propositions are also known as tautologies

Question 7

A. J. Ayer

Answer 7

Popularised the verification principle

he argued that the steps taken to verify a proposition are what makes it meaningful

Question 8

Weaknesses of verification principle

Answer 8

1. Verification principle is itself not verifiable. we cannot verify whether every non-cognitive statement is meaningless.
2. History is unverifiable.
3. some experiences are not verifiable to everyone
4. Science sometimes theorises unobservable entities- many astrophysicists believe that around 26.8% of the universe is comprised of “dark matter”. A substance completely undetectable, but necessary to explain the behaviour of matter we can detect.

Question 9

Anthony Flew and what he says about religion

Answer 9

Associated with the falsification principle as he applied it to religion.

flew attack all religious language and say it cannot be meaningful since there is no way to falsify it.

Question 10

Falsification principle

Answer 10

A rule that states that the meaningfulness of a statement lies in the method of falsification.

any statement that cannot be falsified is meaningless.

for example, statements about God

Question 11

Verifiable in practise vs principle

Answer 11

Practise- able to verified in the moment
principle- in theory, there is a way to verify it, but something prohibits this test.

Question 12

what does Ayer say about God

Answer 12

He does not necessarily say that God does not exist. he simply states that since no statement about God can be verified, there is no point talking about it.

he says atheists and theists waffle the same amount about God.

Question 13

Karl Popper

Answer 13

Inventor of the falsification principle
he wanted to know why science is progressing and philosophy is not.

he does not talk about religion.

Question 14

What does Anthony Flew say about religious claims?

Answer 14

Religious believers will never allow any evidence to disprove their claim

for example, Christians hold the belief that “god has a plan” no matter what evidence is offered against it.

Question 15

“Death by a thousand qualifications”

Answer 15

Every time a believers view is challenged, they modify their assertion slightly. this happens to the point that the original assertion is gone and there is no more assertion to belief.

Question 16

Parable of the Gardener (condensed)

Answer 16

2 explorers find a clearing
Believer says there is a gardener
other explorer disagrees
try to catch him but dont
believer claims that gardener cannot be sensed

other explore says what is the difference between a gardener who cannot be sensed or seen, and no gardener at all?

Question 17

Example of difference between verification and falsification

Answer 17

Jesus Rose again:
verification: most of history is just as unverifiable as this. verification doesn’t work for historical events

falsification: find his body and conclude that he did not resurrect

Question 18

strengths of verification principle

Answer 18

1. Looks at the science and the scientific method, since it demands observation of the world empirically.
2. it forces philosophers of religion to consider the nature of religious language. it has produced tons of careful analysis of religious language.

Question 19

R.M. Hare:

Answer 19

He responds to Flew. Flew says that christians do not allow anything to change their beliefs. hare asked, isn’t that what everyone does?

he calls these unwavering beliefs “blicks”

this applies to Atheists as much as Christians

Question 20

Hick’s Eschatological verification

Answer 20

Hick says that Christian statements about the afterlife and god are verifiable. you just need to die to find out.

Hick also gives the parable of the celestial city

Question 21

Parable of the celestial city

Answer 21

two people on a road.
one believes there is a city on the end of the road, the other does not. they cannot verify until they reach the end of the city.

they do have the means of verification, they just cannot carry them out.

hick explains this is the same as christian beliefs about the afterlife.

However, Hick says no Christian beliefs about the afterlife are falsifiable as no one can come back.

Question 22

Mitchell

Answer 22

He wanted to show that religious statements have meaning despite being unfalsifiable and unverifiable.

Mitchell says that believers also make a prior commitment to trust in God based on faith, and for this reason do not allow evidence to undermine their faith.

Mitchell agrees that bliks exist but he holds that a believer will allow a gradual accumulation of evidence to overturn or remove a blik.

Question 23

Strengths of falsification principle

Answer 23

It challenges religion’s important factual claims. For example, there is a God, God is love. Flew seems to show that these claims are empty, because all the evidence against such claims is ignored by the believer.

Question 24

Weaknesses of the falsification principle

Answer 24

Falisification is not falsifiable itself.

Falsification attempts to confine “meaningfulness” to factual propositions, but there is a whole realm of human experience that cannot be confined in this way.

Question 25

Language games

Answer 25

The name given by Ludwig Wittgenstein to his claim that the uses of language are governed by rules.

similar to how games are governed by rules

Question 26

Cognitivist

Answer 26

someone who believes that statements about religions are cognitive

Question 27

Wittgenstein’s example of each activity using its own language

Answer 27

toolbox. the items in a toolbox are all tools but each have different functions

Question 28

Why does Wittgenstein say learning a language is similar to learning a game

Answer 28

we understand how and when to use particular words by seeing them used

Example for this:
chess piece. possible to learn what piece is a called a king, but dont understand how it moves until you play

Question 29

Aquinas’ 3 ways in which words can be used

Answer 29

univocally
equivocally
analogically

Question 30

univocal words

Answer 30

the word means the exact same thing every time you use it

Question 31

equivocal words

Answer 31

has two or more completely different meanings
examples: bat, stick, set

Question 32

Analogical words

Answer 32

when a word has two similar meanings
examples: step, hot

Question 33

analogy of proposition

Answer 33

All adjectives must be amplified infinitely when applied to God.

God is love. saying this is not enough since the human term of love is inadequate when applied to God.

Question 34

analogy of attribution

Answer 34

Example: if you go to a bakery and the bread you get is excellent, you make an assumption that the baker is good

God created the world, The world has good, God must be good.

Question 35

Via Negativa

Answer 35

Latin for ‘negative way’.
Also known as the apophatic way.
a theology that attempts to find out what God is by saying all the things he isn’t.

Question 36

Via positiva

Answer 36

known as the kataphatic way. a theology that attempts to describe God through affirmation

Question 37

Weaknesses of Via negativa

Answer 37

Does not work for someone who knows nothing of God
process of elimination works if you have some info

human language is inadequate when trying to describe God

Flew said that if we try to explain God as invisible and unsense-able, there is no different between God and nothing

Question 38

symbol (definition)

Answer 38

things that are used in place of other things to represent something

Question 39

functions that symbols have

Answer 39

Identifying the concept they are conveying
Example: water in baptism to convey concept of cleansing sin

sharing in some way in the meaning of that concept
example: baptism shares the sacrifice of Jesus to remove sin

Question 40

Mystic

Answer 40

a person who achieves mystical experience

Question 41

ineffable

Answer 41

Too intense, great or sacred to be described through words.

Question 42

why is religious language seen as symbolic

Answer 42

Symbolic language draws ordinary experience and religious ideas together. Love