Religious language Flashcards
Cognitive language
Language that is considered to be factual.
statements that can be proven true or false
Non-cognitive language
language that doesn’t convey factual info.
cannot be proven true or false
feelings/emotions
Verification principle
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
Logical positivists
Obsessed with science and how science can explain everything
they thought philosphy should proceed the same way as science
Moritz Schlick
“the meaning of a proposition is the method of verification”.
Analytic propositions (a prior and deductive)
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
A. J. Ayer
Popularised the verification principle
he argued that the steps taken to verify a proposition are what makes it meaningful
Weaknesses of verification principle
- Verification principle is itself not verifiable. we cannot verify whether every non-cognitive statement is meaningless.
- History is unverifiable.
- some experiences are not verifiable to everyone
- 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.
Anthony Flew and what he says about religion
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.
Falsification principle
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
Verifiable in practise vs principle
Practise- able to verified in the moment
principle- in theory, there is a way to verify it, but something prohibits this test.
what does Ayer say about God
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.
Karl Popper
Inventor of the falsification principle
he wanted to know why science is progressing and philosophy is not.
he does not talk about religion.
What does Anthony Flew say about religious claims?
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.
“Death by a thousand qualifications”
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.
Parable of the Gardener (condensed)
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?
Example of difference between verification and falsification
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
strengths of verification principle
- Looks at the science and the scientific method, since it demands observation of the world empirically.
- it forces philosophers of religion to consider the nature of religious language. it has produced tons of careful analysis of religious language.
R.M. Hare:
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
Hick’s Eschatological verification
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
Parable of the celestial city
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.
Mitchell
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.
Strengths of falsification principle
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.
Weaknesses of the falsification principle
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.
Language games
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
Cognitivist
someone who believes that statements about religions are cognitive
Wittgenstein’s example of each activity using its own language
toolbox. the items in a toolbox are all tools but each have different functions
Why does Wittgenstein say learning a language is similar to learning a game
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
Aquinas’ 3 ways in which words can be used
univocally
equivocally
analogically
univocal words
the word means the exact same thing every time you use it
equivocal words
has two or more completely different meanings
examples: bat, stick, set
Analogical words
when a word has two similar meanings
examples: step, hot
analogy of proposition
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.
analogy of attribution
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.
Via Negativa
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.
Via positiva
known as the kataphatic way. a theology that attempts to describe God through affirmation
Weaknesses of Via negativa
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
symbol (definition)
things that are used in place of other things to represent something
functions that symbols have
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
Mystic
a person who achieves mystical experience
ineffable
Too intense, great or sacred to be described through words.
why is religious language seen as symbolic
Symbolic language draws ordinary experience and religious ideas together. Love
