Religious Language

Question 1

What is the basic meaning of the verification principle?

Answer 1

If something cannot be verified then it is devoid of meaning

Question 2

Define univocal

Answer 2

Words that only have one meaning

Question 3

Define equivocal

Answer 3

Words that have more than one meaning

Question 4

What did the Vienna Circle represent?

Answer 4

Logical positivism

Question 5

When was the Vienna circle formed?

Answer 5

1920s

Question 6

What is a tautology?

Answer 6

A statement which we can know to be true by definition

Question 7

What does the via negative suggest?

Answer 7

People can only talk about God in negative terms. He is transcendent so we cannot say what he is, only say what he is not

Question 8

Who first put forward the via negativa?

Answer 8

Plotinus

Question 9

Name the thinker who said “It’s easy to criticise God but very difficult to understand him”

Answer 9

Plotinus

Question 10

What did Moses Maimonides (1135-1204) say about how we should talk about God?

Answer 10

To make positive statements about god is improper and disrespectful because it brings him down to human level. The only good thing we can say about god is that he exists.

Question 11

How did Pseudo-Dionysius describe God?

Answer 11

Said he was “beyond assertion”

Question 12

What philosophical movement did Pseudo-Dionysius belong to?

Answer 12

The Gnostics

Question 13

What did Pseudo-Dionysius say would happen if we made positive statements about God?

Answer 13

It would create an anthropomorphic idea of him which limits his qualities to that of humans

Question 14

How does Karl Popper criticise the verification principle?

Answer 14

Argues that scientific statements are potentially falsifiable

Question 15

What is eschatological verification?

Answer 15

A theory constructed by Hick that argues we can only verify or falsify God’s existence when we die

Question 16

Explain the analogy of the emerald city

Answer 16

Two men are on a road and one of them suggests they will find an emerald city at the end, whilst the other disagrees. They can only verify or falsify this theory once they get to the end of the road

Question 17

Name the thinker who said “The criterion we use to test the genuineness of apparent statements of fact is the criterion of verifiability”

Answer 17

A.J.Ayer

Question 18

What does R.B.Braithwaite say about religious language?

Answer 18

It has value for the values that it expresses

Question 19

Complete these names of the thinkers associated with the Vienna circle - Otto ——- (1882-1945) Moritz ——- (1882-1936)

Answer 19

Neurath & Schlick

Question 20

How does William Lane Craig criticise the verification principle?

Answer 20

Says that it cannot be applied to itself so by following the principle of verification you cannot verify the theory itself

Question 21

Name the thinker who said “If God is a metaphysical term it cannot be probable that God exists”

Answer 21

A.J Ayer

Question 22

Name the thinker who said “It challenges the realist to explain how we are able to acquire a conception of the truth-condition of a statement”

Answer 22

Skorupski

Question 23

Name the thinker who said “Philosophy is not a doctrine but an activity of hallucination”

Answer 23

Moritz Schlick

Question 24

Explain Swinburne’s toys in the cupboard analogy

Answer 24

Imagine there are some toys stored in a cupboard and someone suggests they come alive at night when everyone is asleep. We have no way of knowing whether or not this is true so we cannot falsify it. Used to protect religious theory from the verification principle.

Question 25

Why was the falsification principle introduced?

Answer 25

To improve upon the ‘limited’ verification principle

Question 26

According to the falsification principle a statement is meaningless if what?

Answer 26

No sense experience can count against it

Question 27

According to the falsification principle why are all religious statements meaningless?

Answer 27

They cannot be falsified

Question 28

Name the thinker who said “The verification principle dies the death of a thousand qualifications”

Answer 28

Anthony Flew (1923-)

Question 29

Who came up with the parable of the invisible gardener?

Answer 29

John Wisdom (1904-1993)

Question 30

What impact did logical positivism have on philosophers?

Answer 30

They now had to justify their theories instead of presenting inductive statements

Question 31

Name the thinker who said “All we can do is search for the falsity content of our best theory”

Answer 31

Karl Popper (1902-1994)

Question 32

Name the philosopher who said “What we cannot speak about we must pass over in silence”

Answer 32

Ludwig Wittgenstein