Religious language

Question 1

what does cognitive mean ?

Answer 1

deals with factual statements that can be proved true or false.

Question 2

What does noon-cognitive mean ?

Answer 2

Religious terms/statements that are not factually true but can be understood in other terms such as symbolic statements.

Question 3

who developed the verification principle ?

Answer 3

the vienna circle (logical positivists)

Question 4

what principles did the vienna circle apply to language ?

Answer 4

science and mathmatics

Question 5

what did they argue that language had to be based on ?

Answer 5

experience

Question 6

what are analytic statements ?

Answer 6

true by definition i.e. a circle is round. they contain their own verification.

Question 7

what are mathematical statements ?

Answer 7

true by the laws of mathematics i.e. 2+2=4

Question 8

what are synthetic statements ?

Answer 8

statements that can be verified or falsified by empirical testing. i.e. all swans are white.

Question 9

what did the vienna circle conclude from this ?

Answer 9

that religious language was meaningless because it does not fit into any of the categories.

Question 10

what book did A.J. Ayer write ?

Answer 10

language, truth and logic.

Question 11

what did Ayer believe ?

Answer 11

the truth of a statement lies in its verification, the term God is metaphysical, therefore any statement about God is meaningless.

Question 12

name three criticisms

Answer 12

statements that express opinions or emotions have meaning
ethical and moral statements are not empirically verifiable but have meaning
laws of science have meaning but are not always verified.

Question 13

define the falsification principle

Answer 13

the reverse to the verification principle,as it looks at what is needed to prove something false rather than verify.

Question 14

Who supported the falsification principle ?

Answer 14

Anthony Flew

Question 15

what did Flew believe about language ?

Answer 15

it has to be open to challenge to be meaningful.

Question 16

what did Flew believe about religious believers ?

Answer 16

religious believers often do not allow evidence against their belief and instead except vague answers.

Question 17

what did Flew conclude about religious language?

Answer 17

Religious language is meaningless because believers did not allow for their beliefs about God to be proved false.

Question 18

what is a criticism of falsification principle ?

Answer 18

Religious language can be meaningful because it expresses an intention to follow a certain code of conduct.

Question 19

what is the via negativa ?

Answer 19

the truth about God can be discovered by speaking negatively about him. the way to find out what God is like to talk about him negatively first - the principle of negation.

Question 20

name two criticisms to the via negativa

Answer 20

believers always want to speak positively about God

it does not allow for god to be descried in factual terms.

Question 21

what are the different types of language ?

Answer 21

univocal, equivocal and analogical

Question 22

define univocal ?

Answer 22

words that mean the same as they normally would.

Question 23

define equivocal ?

Answer 23

words used for God have a different meaning when used for humans.

Question 24

define analogical ?

Answer 24

allows people to speak meaningfully about God, by using human terms to describe God.

Question 25

what are the to forms of analogy ?

Answer 25

analogy of proportionality and analogy of attribution

Question 26

what is analogy of proportionality ?

Answer 26

all good qualities being infinitely to god, in proportion to humans

Question 27

what is analogy of attribution ?

Answer 27

God is the cause of all good things in humans and therefore gods attributions are at a higher level than our own.

Question 28

what does symbolic language include ?

Answer 28

metaphors,similes, signs and myths

Question 29

what is a symbol ?

Answer 29

something that identifies the things that it is referring to and participates in the meaning of the concept.

Question 30

who supported symbolic language

Answer 30

Paul Tillich

Question 31

what did Paul Tillich claim ?

Answer 31

symbols where a positive way of expressing the nature of God, in a way which people can easily understand.

Question 32

what are myths ?

Answer 32

myths are stories that are formed out of symbols that tell us something beyond literal description.

Question 33

name 2 criticisms of symbols and myths

Answer 33

symbolic objects may become the focus of worship

Rudolph Bultmann- religious language should be demythologised.