Religious Language Flashcards
What does Religious Language refer to?
Religious language talks about religious and spiritual concepts such as God and the afterlife (things outside our senses)
What is the study of religious language concerned with?
Working out whether religious language is meaningful.
What is cognitive language?
Cognitive language can be shown to be ‘true’ or ‘false’ as it is concerned with facts.
What is non-cognitive language?
Language that cannot be shown to be ‘true’ or ‘false’
What are the two main problems with religious language?
- How can words be used to accurately describe God?
2. Is religious language meaningless?
What do logical positivists claim?
That statements about God have no meaning because they do not relate to facts.
What was the Vienna circle?
A group of philosophers, including Rudolf Carnap, Moritz Shlick, Otto Neurath, and Friedrich Waisman.
Who was the Vienna circle inspired by?
Ludwig Wittgenstein
What came from the Vienna circle?
The logical positivist movement.
What did the logical positivists come up with?
The verification principle
What do logical positivists believe?
That some statements are meaningful and some statements are meaningless.
What does the strong verification principle say?
A statement is only meaningful if:
- It is a tautology
- It is able to be verified by sense experience.
What did Freidrich Waismann say in regards to the verification principle?
“A statement which cannot be conclusively verified cannot be verified at all. It is simply devoid of any meaning.”
What was Ludwig Wittgenstein’s first theory?
In Tractatus Logico-philosophicas he wrote that the only language that had meaning was the language of science; language that referred to empirical reality. “Whereof we do not know, thereof we cannot speak.”
What does the verification principle say about non-cognitive statements?
That they are meaningless, as they are not a tautology and cannot be verified with sense experience.
What are the two main problems with the strong verification principle?
- You cannot make statements about history, as such statements cannot be verified by sense experience.
- Richard Swinburne pointed out that universal statements cannot be verified. E.G. “All ravens are black”
Who created the weak verification principle?
A.J Ayer
What did A J Ayer draw a distinction between?
Verifiable in practice; you can observe it through sense experience.
Verifiable in principle; we know how it could be verified, but in practice we are unable to do so.
What does the weak verification principle say?
A statement is only meaningful if:
- . It is a tautology (or)
- It is verifiable in principle
Why is the verification principle criticised by being unverifiable?
Many thinkers have objected to the verification principle as it is itself unverifiable. It is not a tautology and cannot be verified empirically.
How did A J Ayer respond to the criticism that verification was unverifiable?
He argued that the verification principle only applied to statements or propositions, not to whole theories.
How did Keith Ward criticise the weak verification principle?
He stated that it excluded nothing, as all experienced could be considered ‘verifiable in principle’ and therefore meaningful. He argued that the existence of god could be verified in principle since “If I were God I would be able to check the truth of my own existence.”
How did A J Ayer respond to the criticism that the verification principle excluded nothing?
He later admitted (the central questions of philosophy, 1973) that his criteria for verification was inadequate because it allowed all statements to be classed as meaningful.”
Why does John Hick argue that the verification principle does not render religious statements meaningless?
Because God could be verified at the end of time. He calls this eschatological verification.
What analogy does John Hick give to explain eschatological verification?
He gave the example of two men walking down the same road. One believed it lead to the celestial city. The believer’s statements can be verified at the end of the journey (the afterlife)
What is the problem with eschatological verification?
The difficulty with this approach is that you cannot disproof it, for if there is no celestial city, no life after death, no God, then there will be no one to know the falsity of this belief.
What is the problem with the weak verification in regards to historical statements?
Some religious statements are also historical statements. This could therefore be considered to be ‘verifiable in principle’ as at one time it could have been verified by sense experience.
What did logical positivists draw a distinction between?
A statement that was meaningful and a statement that was true (or false).
What are the main problems with the verification principle?
- It excludes many areas of knowledge e.g. historical statements
- Swinburne argued that it excludes universal statements
- Claims made by advances in science would be meaningless
- It would make the symptoms of people experience psychological problems meaningless
- it would dismiss statements as meaningless, even if they have meaning for us.
What is the evidence problem with the verification principle?
It is not clear what sort of evidence could count in the verification assessment. While A J Ayer rejects accounts or religious experiences, others have suggested that there is evidence that such experience happen and are caused by God.
How can some statements be meaningful but unverifiable?
Swinburne gave the examples of toys that come out of the cupboard only at night. It is meaningful but unverifiable by sense experience.
- Schrodinger’s cat
What is the main problem of the verification principle, which Ayer himself agreed with?
The theory could not be adjusted so that scientific and historical statements were seen as meaningful but religious statements were not.
What did A J Ayer mean when he said that a statement was meaningless?
He meant it was not factually significant. He was not denying that people make other types of statements that are important to them.
What did Ayer call the statement being tested?
Putative proposition.
Why did Ayer argue that weak verification should be used?
He argued that weak verification should be used as opposed to strong verification, as strong verification “had no possible application.”
Why did Ayer argue we couldn’t make meaningful statements about metaphysical ideas?
Because we can have no knowledge of things beyond experience gained through our senses.
What is an ‘observation statement’?
A statement which records an actual or possible observation.
What is a direct verification?
A statement that is verifiable through observation.
What is indirect verification?
A statement that is not directly verifiable or analytic, but can be verified if other directly verifiable evidence could support it.
What question does falsification address?
When is a statement scientific as opposed to any other type of statement?
What example for working out scientific statements did Karl Popper give?
He argued that Einstein’s theory of gravity was scientific because it was potentially falsifiable, because it could be tested against empirical observations of the universe. Astrology on the other hand is unscientific because the prophecies are too vague, so can’t be tested nor falsified.
What did John Wisdom’s garden analogy say?
The two people observing the garden are both making reasonable statements, but neither can be verified. This suggests that the existence or nature of God is a matter that is outside the scope of traditional methods of scientific enquiry.
How does Pseudo Dionysius support the Via Negativa?
He claims that making positive statements about God results in an anthropomorphic idea of God. This limits God.
How does the 12th Century Jewish Philosopher Maimonides support the Via Negative?
It can be seen as more respective, as making positive statements about God is improper and disrespectful as it brings God down to a human level.
What are the strengths of the via negative?
- It supports the view of many thinks (especially mystics) that Go is beyond description and is infallible- Teresa of Avila
- Only the via negative properly communicats that God is transcendent, as it does not limit God by giving a point of reference that is in the physical world.
- It applies equally well across cultures and time
- Unlike Symbol and Myth it does not require interpretation
What are the weaknesses of the Via Negativa?
- Gives you a very weak understanding of God
- It is not a true reflection of how religious people speak.
- It is just a longwinded way of getting to the positive statement
- Scripture talks about God with positive statements
What are bliks?
An unfalsifiable statements which are still important
What is a Tautology?
A statement that is true by definition
What is a theist?
Someone who believes in the existence of a god or gods
What is an atheist?
A person who disbelieves in the existence of a god or gods
What is reason?
The faculty or power of acquiring intellectual knowledge, either by direct understanding of principles or by argument.
What is dualist?
The belief that the mind and the body are not identical
What is a mystic?
Belief that union with a deity is obtained through contemplation and self-surrender.
What is a realist?
People who believe that a statement is true if it correctly describes reality
What is an anti-realist?
People who believe that a statement is true if it fits in with other statements.
What is eschatology?
The part of theology concerned with death, judgement and the final destiny of the soul and of humankind.
What does Peter Donovan say about religious language?
He argues that properly utilised religious language helps people to discipline their emotions and channel the appropriately for positive gain, such as creating compassion for the weak .
How does Peter Donovan’s view support Wittgenstein language games?
Peter Donovan seems to claim that religious language has meaning within the context, as it leads to a shared understanding and use.
What does DZ Philips say about language games?
He argues that although religious belief is a ‘game’ which must be taken on its own terms, the game itself need not apply to everyone. This supports the language game theory as it demonstrates why religious language statements need only have meaning for the believer and not the non-believer
What are myths an example of?
Another way to make positive truth claims about God, as opposed to negative statements, usually in the form of stories.
What is a myth?
In theology the word ‘myth’ is used to describe a story or metaphor which is not necessarily historically accurate but nevertheless conveys important truths that might be difficult to express in different ways.
What is myth intended to do?
To encourage a particular kind of attitude in the people who hear or read it- e.g. it may be an appreciation of the greatness of God, or a deeper understanding of moral behaviour and its consequences.
What are the mythological features of the Genesis creation stories?
- Unusual trees with special powers
- People being made from dust and from ribs
- A talking serpent
Why can it be argued that the Genesis creation stories are intended to be understood as myths?
Some point out the parallels from myth and folk tales from other cultures, and when compared with the scientific accounts of the origin of the universe and the evolution of species, it seems that we must conclude the stories are meant to be seen as myths.
What are the Genesis creation stories often described as?
Aetiological myths
What are aetiological myths?
Myths that set out to explain the origins of puzzling features of the world.
Who developed a modern day methods of analogically speaking about God?
Ian Ramsey
What terms did Ian Ramsey introduce?
Models and qualifiers
What are models?
Words we understand because we have a reference point in our own world, e.g. “loving”
What are qualifiers?
Words such as ‘everlasting’ or ‘perfectly’ in order to not limit God by recognising that his attributes are unlike our own.
What was the first theory that Wittgenstein put forward?
The picture theory of meaning
What does the picture theory of meaning state?
The primary function of words is to name objects and the meaning of a word is the object it stands for. Every word matched something in empirical reality. Hence, being wrong about the meaning is being wrong about the link between words and things.
Where was the picture theory of meaning proposed?
In the Tractatus
What did the picture theory of meaning influence?
The verification principle
What did Wittgenstein later say about the picture theory of meaning and where did he say this?
He argued that it is unrealistic to suppose that all words are ultimately based on pictures and pointed out that language is used in a variety of different ways. This can be found in Philosophical Investigations.
What does Wittgenstein liken language to?
A game that we play. There are many different games each of which have their own rules. However, it does not make sense to take the rules of one game and apply them to another.
What is the meaning of language based on according to the language game theory?
Language is used by many different people in different contexts. There may be a number of different language games going on. The meaning of a word in one particular ‘game’ is determined by the ‘rules’ of that game i.e. It is determined by the way that the word is used in the game.
What is at the heart of Wittgenstein’s language game?
The idea that words only have meaning because of their context and therefore we have to be careful to know which game we are playing.
What did Wittgenstein conclude created the philosophical problems about language?
He said the philosophical problems about language are created by not understanding that words can be used in different language games.
What did Wittgenstein caused the problems associated with the word ‘soul’?
He said these problems are caused by trying to see the world as some sort of physical objects. The problem would be dissolved if it were realised that the physical object game simply does not apply to the soul.
What is the term ‘language game’ used to highlight?
That the speaking of a language is part of an activity.
How does meaning emerge according to Wittgenstein?
It emerges in the context of human activity, not from dependence on correspondence between word and object.
How did Wittgenstein argue that we develop the ‘rules’ of the games?
He argued that we do not so much discover the rules of how to use a word but rather we agree upon it.
What is a ‘meaning mistake’ according to Wittgenstein?
Not applying the word in the right way
What counts as the right way according to Wittgenstein?
The public, shared language-game.
What did Wittgenstein call the rules of the public, shared language-game?
Grammar
Who debated falsification in a series of academic articles?
Anthony Flew, R.M. Hare, and Basil Mitch
How did R.M. Hare respond to falsification?
With his theory of ‘bliks’
What parable did R.M. Hare to explain his bliks?
He used the parable of the lunatic who believed that all dons (Oxford term for a university professor), even the most kind and gentle, were about to murder him to illustrate this.
What is a blik?
Hare’s term for a basic belief that cannot be proved true or false by sense experience/empirical evidence.
What does Hare say about bliks?
He said that people have right (sane) bliks or wrong (insane) bliks; the lunatic has the wrong ‘blik’ about dons. For Hare, religious belief would be a particular blik.
Why did Hare disagree with Flew?
He said that Flew makes a mistake by treating religious statements as though they are scientific statements.
Why does Hare’s lunatic story not help traditional religious belief claims?
If religious beliefs are ‘bliks’, this suggests that religious beliefs are an interpretation of the world, which could be sane or insane.
Why did John Hick criticise the idea of bliks?
He argued that religious beliefs are based on reason- this could be a belief in a sacred text or as a result of a religious experience.
What parable did Basil Mitchell used to explain that religious language was based on facts? (argued against bliks)
The stranger. In the parable, a member of the resistance movement is met one day by a man claiming to be its leader. The fighter pledges his loyalty to the stranger. Sometimes the ‘leader’ is seen helping out the resistance, but at other times seems to be helping out the enemy. The fighter nevertheless carries on believing that the stranger is in fact the leader of the resistance movement.
How is Mitchell’s parable different from Hare’s?
Hare’s lunatic has no reason for mistrusting dons and will allow nothing to count against his belief. Mitchell’s fighter however is willing to admit that things can count against his belief in the leader. His belief is based on reason and facts.
What is Mitchell’s point of view on religious language?
That religious language is based upon facts, but it cannot be verified or falsified in the simplistic way demanded by logical positivists.
What is Anthony Flew’s parable of the gardener?
He adapted John Wisdom’s parable of the gardener. Two explorers find a jungle clearing in which weeds and flowers grow. One explorer believes there is a gardener, and the other does not. Despite many attempts to find this gardener, they do not see him. The explorer who believes that there is a gardener will not give up this belief. Finally one of the explorers says “Just how does what you can an invisible, intangible, eternally elusive gardener different from an imaginary gardener or even no gardener at all?”
What does Anthony Flew argue?
That the believer acts in the same way as the explorer who believed that there was a gardener. He claims that believers shift the goalposts so much that the claims they make are so watered down that they are barely statements at all.
What does Anthony Flew say about believers shifting their statements about God?
That it causes God to die a ‘death of a thousand qualification’
Where did the falsification principle originally come from?
Karl Popper
What did Karl Popper claim made a statement scientific?
He says that statements are scientific is our sense experience can show them to be false.
What is the falsification principle?
The theory that a statement is meaningless if there is no way to show it is false
What did Flew argue was the problem with religious language?
That it can’t be falsified (no empirical evidence can count against it or prove it wrong) because religious believers do not accept any evidence to count against their beliefs.
What did Flew say make God die a ‘death of a thousand qualification’?
The believer giving reasons why God remains good, by providing constant qualifications that seem to alter the definition of God.
What did Hare agree with Flew about?
He thought that Flew was right about the problem of falsification and agreed that religious language may be non-cognitive and unfalsifiable.
What did Hare disagree with Flew about?
He thought religious statements were still meaningful and important.
What did Hare regard religious beliefs as?
As ‘bliks’, where are his term for unfalsifiable statements which are still important.
Why does Hare think that religious statements still have meaning?
He argued that they have meaning in the sense that they influence the way people look at the world and lead their lives (whether or not it is true)
What does Basil Mitchell use his parable of the stranger to say?
He is saying that it is not that things do not count against a belief that the resistance leader is who is says he is, rather that they do not suddenly force disbelief.
What point is Basil Mitchell making about religious statements?
That you can empirically falsify a religious belief, but this may not be enough to force us not to believe in God. It is difficult to say how much evidence counting against a belief is needed for it to be overthrown.
What are non-cognitive statements based on?
Belief, opinion and emotions
What advantages does myth present for understanding the abstract?
It gives people a visual way of understanding what are often abstract ideas, so these ideas can be more easily understand. Ideas can be expressed in myth which might be difficult to communicate in other ways. Sometimes different meanings and levels of meaning can all be conveyed within one story, so that people can return to them again and find new ways of relating the stories to their own lives.
What advantage does myth provide for positive statements?
Through myth, believers are able to communicate something of positive about God, without having to resort to the via negative.
What advantage does myth provide for being lively and memorable?
Because the stories are often lively and memorable, they are passed on from each generation to the next and can be so vivid that the myth is still remembered eve when the religion has died out.
What advantage does myth provide for being compatible with science?
If the Genesis stories were understood as mythical ways of communicating important ideas, then intelligent and rational people could continue their Christian faith while accepting the discoveries of science.
What are the advantages of myth?
- Compatible with science
- Lively and memorable
- Allows us to use positive statements
- helps us understand the abstract
What is the disadvantages of myth in relation to understanding?
It is very difficult for people to know how a myth is to be understood: what are the central, important truths that should be distilled from it, and what is the embellishment that can be safely stripped away?
What is the disadvantages of myth in relation to history?
When the writer does not make it explicit whether the story is meant to be a myth, or whether it is meant to be an accurate account of history. The difference of opinion causes both sharp divisions within both Judaism and Christianity. In the sacred writings of many religions, a story which might or might not be intended as myth is left up to the reader to decide how to interpret it.
Why would literalists disagree with the use of myth?
For them, interpreting the word of God as ‘myth’ comes too far to suggesting that the words of the bible are false.
What is a liberalist interpretation?
Those Jews and Christians who take the view that important truths are being communicated, but that the stories do not have to be regarded as literally true- indeed, to them as if they were historically and scientifically accurate misses their point.
What is a literalist interpretation?
Those who believe that the stories in the Bible and in the Qur’an are directly inspired by God and are to be accepted as entirely true.
