Religious Language Flashcards
why is RL paradoxical in nature?
you are using finite words to describe infinite things
what is RL (Peter Donavon)
RL is the way we use words in some kind of religious context or observance
what is a cognitive statement?
factual, can be shown to be true or false objectively
what is a non-cognitive statement?
can’t be tested, more to do with emotion and subjective.
what did the logical positivists test and what was it called?
the verification principle tested the meaningfulness of RL (in Vienna 1920)
who were the 3 of the logical positivists?
Ayer, Cornap, Schlick
what was one test in the verification principle? (A)
analytical testing-if a statement can be shown to be true or false mathematically it passes the test. or if its a logically necessary statement e.g. girls like pink etc.
what was another test in the verification principle?(E)
empirical testing-using your senses to test if the statement is true or false
what is a problem for the verification principle in respect to RL?
RL does not pass either tests e.g. “God is all loving”. Logical positivists think that RL is meaningless.
what were some problems with the verification principle according to Ayer? how did he solve them?
there are things that we know to be true that the tests say were meaningless. he produced another form of VP called verification in principle.
what was the test in the verification in principle?
say how you would empirically verify a statement.
how does eschatological verification from Hick challenge the VP?
e.g. the afterlife. this would be a way of testing RL because you would want to know if what you said was meaningful or not. uses the celestial city example (one traveller thinks there is a CC but another doesn’t-the belief that there is a CC is meaningful)
what is the falsification challenge?
used to test RL scientifically because the VP was flawed. idea that something is only meaningful if you are prepared to consider what might count against it. when we make a cognitive statement we are saying two things e.g. I am wearing a red jumper and I am not not wearing a red jumper-considered what counts against it.
how does Flew develop the falsification challenge?
applied the idea of falsification to RL. religious believers make what they say meaningless as they aren’t prepared to consider what might count against it. uses the example of the parable of the gardener
what is the response to falsification from Basil Mitchell?
argues falsification doesn’t work because religion is about having faith. uses the example of a partisian (someone who favours you) and the resistance example
