Religious language Flashcards
Verification was proposed by
Ayer
What are the two ways to approach RL?
Realist (object meaning) and anti-realist (subjective meaning)
Verification means
Nothing can be proven unless scientifically verified
Ward criticises verification saying
Just because we can’t verify doesn’t mean he isn’t verifiable - “if I were god I could verify my own existence”
Hick critics verification and says
The afterlife could be proven once we are in that “celestial city”
The main problem with verification is that
It cannot be verified itself
Who created falsification?
Flew
Falsification suggest that we must
Take something to be true until it is falsified
Flew said that God
“Dies the death of a thousand qualifications”
What is the main criticism of falsification?
God is immeasurable so can’t be falsified
Swinburne criticise falsification and said
If toys came alive behind closed doors we wouldn’t know, maybe we can’t falsify god as we don’t know enough
Who created the concept of Bliks as a criticism of verifictaion?
Hare
What example does Hare use for Bliks?
A student who thinks his teachers are trying to kill him - just because he is wrong does not mean the Blik is meaningless
Who supported the idea of symbols?
Paul Tillich
Tillich says symbols involve everyone
Example of flags
What does Tillich say of symbols
They convey something we cannot express
What does J Randall say about symbolic language
It inspires, clarifies our experience of God and Expresses emotion
Is non cognitive
How did john hick criticise symbol?
There’s no difference between symbol and sign
What does Edwards say of symbol?
“It doesn’t coney any facts” - isn’t verifiable or falsifiable
Who argued for analogy?
Aquinas
What does analogy of attribution state?
Our goddess comes directly from god - baker and his bread
What does analogy of proportion say ?
God, humans and plants are alive
What does Ian Ramsey say about analogy?
Words like “kind” are not the same in defence to god so we qualify then to use them as analogy
Who argued for via negativa ?
Pseudo-Dionysius
What does via negativa suggest
Words limit our understanding of a transcendent god
Who argued for myth?
Macquarrie
What does Durkheim say?
Myth is a construct of society to show what is important to them
What does jaspers say about myth
Expresses intuitive insights (things you just know eg god will protect you)
They are stories about god not external realities so aren’t necessarily real
Carry meaning
What does bultmann say about myths?
The bible isn’t real - it’s myth
