Religious Language 20th Century

Question 1

What is a cognitive statement

Answer 1

A factual statement that can be true or flase

Question 2

What is a non cognitive statement

Answer 2

A statement that does not describe facts, and cannot be said to be true or false

Question 3

Who was Wittgenstein

Answer 3

20th century Austrian philosopher

Question 4

What did Wittgenstein say about religious language

Answer 4

Language games theory may permit religious language to be deemed meaningful but not cognitive

Question 5

What is the language games theory about

Answer 5

How groups of people, when they are all engaged in the same activity, can use words with a meaning they might not have in a different context

Question 6

What does Wittgenstein’s analogy of the game show

Answer 6

Rules may seem unreasonable but of you want to play the game, you have to accept the rules that have been agreed on by everyone else

Question 7

what is fideism

Answer 7

the idea that faith and reason are hostile to each other and faith is superior at arriving at particular truths

Question 8

who are the logical positivists

Answer 8

group of philosophers who met in Vienna in the 1920s and 1930s, were also mathematicians and scientists, also known as the vienna circle

Question 9

what did the logical positivists argue was the role of philosophers and scientists

Answer 9

philosophers job is to sort out statements into thpse worthy of investiggation and those empty of meaning, scientists job is to invesitate whether they are true or false

Question 10

what does the verification principle state

Answer 10

a statement is only meaningful if it is analytic (true by definition) or synthetic (verified by experience)

Question 11

what is the strong version of the verification principle

Answer 11

suported by logical positivists
a synthetic statement is only meaningful if it can be conclusively verified by immediate direct sense experience
considers religious language meaningless

Question 12

what is the weak version of the verification principle

Answer 12

supported by AJ Ayer
synthetic statements are meaningful if they can be verified in principle (can show what would be required to verify it)
debateable whether religious language is meaninful in this case

Question 13

how would john hick use the weak verification principle to show that religious language is meaningful

Answer 13

eschatological verification
the idea that religious language can be verified in the afterlife

Question 14

who was anthony flew

Answer 14

atheist for most of his life, well known for arguments against theism

Question 15

what did Flew say about whether religious stetements are genuine assertions

Answer 15

they are not genuine assertions because they are unfalsifiable, as believers will never allow them to be disproved instead they make qualifications

Question 16

what did flew say about whether religious language is meaningful

Answer 16

did not comment

Question 17

what did Flew say about how believers intend their statements to be understood

Answer 17

believers intend religious statements to be understood as genuine assertions

Question 18

what is meant by a genuine assertion

Answer 18

a truth claim

Question 19

what was flews parable

Answer 19

parable of the gardener

Question 20

explain the parable of the gardener

Answer 20

explorers find a clearing in jungle
disagree on whether there is a gardener, so set up multiple tests to investigate
after each test, the explorer who believers there is a gardener qualifies his original statement saying ‘he must be invisible, intangible, insensible’

Question 21

what does Flew aim to show with the parable of the gardener

Answer 21

asks the question ‘what would have to occur or to have occurred to constitute for you a disproof of the love of, or of the existence of God?’
argues that for believers, the answer to this is ‘nothing’ meaning belief cant be falsified and therefore is not a genuine assertion

Question 22

who was Hare

Answer 22

Christian, influenced by wittgenstein

Question 23

what did Hare say about whether religious statements were genuine assertions

Answer 23

religious statements are not genuine assertions as they are unfalsifiable because they are bliks (groundless beliefs)

Question 24

what did Hare say about whether religious language is meaningful

Answer 24

it is meaningful as it significantly affects a persons worldview

Question 25

what did Hare say about how believers intend their statements to be understood

Answer 25

believers do not intend their religious statements to be genuine assertions

Question 26

what was Hares parable

Answer 26

parable of the student

Question 27

explain the parable of the student

Answer 27

lunatic student believes all dons want to kill him, no matter how many dons he meets he is still unconvinced as he says even the nicest dons are just putting on an act

Question 28

who was basil mitchell

Answer 28

christian best known for defence of his theistic beliefs

Question 29

what did Mitchell say about whether religious statements are genuine assertions

Answer 29

said that they are genuine assertions as they are falsifiable as religious believers acknowledge challenges to faith but they are not conclusively falsifiable because believers trust their faith

Question 30

what did Mitchell say about whether religious language is meaningful

Answer 30

it is

Question 31

what did Mitchell say about how believers intend their statements to be understood

Answer 31

believers intend their language to be understood as genuine assertions

Question 32

what was Mitchells parable

Answer 32

parable of the stranger

Question 33

explain the parable of the stranger

Answer 33

partisan (member of resistance) meets a stranger who says he is on the side of the resistance
stranger is sometimes seen helping the other side
partisan still trusts the stranger is on the side of the resistance