Religious Language 20th Century

Question 1

Compare Wittgenstein and Aquinas

Answer 1

• both address problems of religious language

- take a position that does not dismiss the possibility that religious language has meaning.

Question 2

Difference Aquinas-addressing problems of religious language

Answer 2

• Aquinas tackled issues in the thirteenth century of how religious language could be meaningful without making God seem too small.
• proposed thinking in terms of analogy
• took a cognitive approach to religious language, believing that religious language refers to factual truth.

Question 3

Wittgenstein- addressing problems with religious language

Answer 3

• Wittgenstein tackled issues in the twentieth century of whether religious language could be meaningful without being empirically verifiable.
• he proposed thinking is terms of religious games.
• took a non- cognitive approach to religious language- how it is used in context.

Question 4

Influence of non- cognitive approaches to religious language on the interpretation of sacred texts.
What has become popular in the twentieth century ?

Answer 4

Non-cognitive approaches to religious language

Question 5

Non-cognitive approaches to religious language suggests what?

Answer 5

-instead of interpreting texts- bible as factual, historical accounts- More helpful to understand them in other ways-tools for learning and coming to a decision about spiritual matters.

Question 6

Rudolf Bultmann suggested what ?

Answer 6

Demythologising the Bible- (eliminate all mythical elements from the bible)- he meant looking into past stories with magical or miraculous content and seeing the Bible as calling people to make a personal decision.

Question 7

Other thinkers suggested what about the bible?

Answer 7

Seeing the bible in other non cognitive ways, empathising the decisions and attitudes people might take in their lives.

Question 8

what books support non- cognitive approaches

Answer 8

‘As honest as God’ and ‘the myth of God incarnate’ caused controversy in their suggestions that ideas such as Jesus as God incarnate need not to Be understood as factual true.

Question 9

Cognitive approaches to what have continued to be popular?

Answer 9

Cognitive approaches to biblical texts have continued to be more popular amongst Christians that non- cognitive approaches.

Question 10

Cognitive use of language involves what?

Answer 10

Involves things that can be known and that can either be true or false.

Question 11

Non- cognitive use of language involves what?

Answer 11

They are not about things that can be known, but instead work in other ways- for example they might express emotions, ask questions, give commands or make associations.

Question 12

What is logical positivism ?

Answer 12

It began in the early twentieth century, with discussions amongst the Vienna circle .

Question 13

The Vienna circle wanted to clarify what ?

Answer 13

Wanted to clarify the kinds of statements that have meaning, and the kinds which only sound meaningful but are in fact ‘empty’

Question 14

Logical positivists presented what?

Answer 14

Presented a challenge to religious believers by claiming that religious language is not true nor false but meaningless.
Aj Ayer led the challenge in his book Language, truth and logic 1936

Question 15

Logical positivist- a proposition is only meaningful if what ?

Answer 15

If it is analytic or if it is capable of being tested using the five senses( empirical testing). The rule is known as the verification principle.

Question 16

Religious language is dismissed as meaningless by logical positivists, why?

Answer 16

Because claims such as ‘God made the world‘ cannot be tested empirically, and are not analytic.

Question 17

Many people reject the verification principle, why ?

Answer 17

Because it fails its own test- it cannot be tested for meaningfulness using the five senses.

Question 18

The verification principle classifies as what?

Answer 18

As meaningless a lot more than religious language- ethical statements, for example cannot be verified empirically.
Weak versions of the verification principle have been suggested.

Question 19

Who was Ludwig Wittgenstein?

Answer 19

Was a twentieth century philosopher who aimed to work out the limits of what can be known, conceptualised and expressed in language.
He explored ways in which language can have meaning.
Earlier work-inspired the Vienna circle .

Question 20

Wittgenstein thought that we could understand how language can be what?

Answer 20

How language can be meaningful if we think of it using the analogy of a game.

Question 21

Wittgenstein- language is meaningful to people when they use it for what ?

Answer 21

Language is meaningful to people who use it when they are participating in a ‘shared game’ such as chess or triangle driving .

Question 22

What is a ‘lebensform’ or ‘form of life’?

Answer 22

Is a context in which language might be used. Language has meaning in context, and people outside the context might not understand it so easily.
Within Lebensform there are rules for language usage and everyone understands them.

Question 23

Wittgenstein- propositions are not simply what?

Answer 23

Meaningful or meaningless to everyone, they can be meaningful to some but not to others. Meaning is subjective.

Question 24

Wittgenstein- religious language can therefore be what?

Answer 24

Can be meaningful to those who are in the Lebensform of religion, even are meaningless to those outside it.

Question 25

Later thinkers have adopted what?

Answer 25

Have adopted aspects of Wittgensteins thought to suggest that religious language could be non-cognitive.

Question 26

Analytic statement

Answer 26

Statement by definition it tells us how words are being used. It does not need any experience to support it.

Question 27

Synthetic statement

Answer 27

Adds something to our knowledge, and experience can be used to support it.