Religious Language Flashcards
Intro
Realism-the truth exists objectively+independently to us and our language. A statement is true of it reflects this truth.
Anti-realism-there’s no objective truth independent to us. A statement is true of its consistent with other statements held to be true
The job of religious language as a topic is to provide a theoretical basis on which to distinguish truth claims
Cognitive and Non-Cognitive
Cognitive language-factual statements that can be empirically proved
Non-Cognitive Language-symbolic statements and mythical statements
Verification principle
Started by logical positivists who applied the principles of science+maths to language. For statements to be considered meaningful they had to be verified by experience or analysis
Had 3 criteria-analytical, mathematical,synthetic
Doesn’t matter if the statements are true or false-it’s whether they’re meaningful
Say RL is meaningless
Verification Principle
AJ Ayer
The existence of Hod cannot be rationally demonstrated or denied
2 types of verification-strong(no doubt that the statement is true) weak(not absolute certainty)
Dismissed statements relating to life+death the soul and religious experience because they are non-verifiable
Falsification Principle
A theory is meaningless if there is no possible way in which it can be falsified
Flew-religious language fails against the criteria. Religious believers don’t allow anybody to ‘falsify’ their assertions “did a death of a thousand qualifications”
The parable of the Gardner
Language as Symbolic
Tillich-RL is symbolic;literal meanings are the messengers of more powerful messages. By being poetic and evocative it points to levels of reality beyond itself
Ramsey-language is both analogical and symbolic furthered qualified with use of Models(assist us to help us understand the thing it represents) qualifiers(these are a requirement to better understand God which modify the original model)
Myth and Symbols
A subtle mode of communication
A myth is a story that uses symbols to express a truth
Bible examples-
Virgin Birth-a symbolic story that reflects the purity of Christ’s origin
Story of Job-a symbolic story of how a man retained his faith despite great hardship
Language Games
Wittgenstein-rules of language depend on which game it is being used in. RL is a language game in which there are different rules to the language of science
As they are playing different games with different rules there is no conflict. Within the game the players are able to understand each other
NOMA
Language Games
Non-overlapping majesteria
Gould-science and religion represent different areas of inquiry
Fact vs values
Critique of Verification Principle
Strength
Provides criteria by which to evaluate statements as meaningful.
Statements which cannot be verified by these criteria are meaningless
Critique of Verification Principle
Weakness
Means we have to remove laws of science, as with ethical and moral statements
Plus it falls as its own demands as it cannot be verified empirically
Statements that express opinions and emotions have meanings
Critique of Falsification
Strength
Fits with our understanding of how science and theories in general should work
Criticisms of Verification Principles
RM Hare
Religious believers use language in a special way
This is a bilk-a unique way of seeing the world that cannot be proved to be true or false
Religious language makes a differences to believers lives that can be empirically observed
Critique of Falsification
Weakness
Swinburnge-RL is non-cognitive and therefore should not be treated as verifiable
Critique of Symbolic Language
Strength
Allows a way to talk about God in terms of our understanding
Strength of myth-allows the bible to be aligned as meaningful when scientific theories appear to contradict the bible
