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PRE philosophy > Religious language > Flashcards

Religious language Flashcards

1
Q

what does Wittgenstein suggest about how philosophical problems can be solved?

A
  • if the language people used was more precise and limited to statements which could be used for evidence
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2
Q

quote from Wittgenstein?

A

“whereof we cannot speak, thereof we must remain silent”

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3
Q

what does “whereof we cannot speak, thereof we must remain silent mean”

A
  • people claim their religious claim is of supreme importance, even though they cannot be supported
  • cant make claims if their not descriptions of facts
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4
Q

what do logical positivists believe?

A
  • there are only two types of meaningful language
  • synthetic propositions- dependant upon evidence
  • analytic propositions- true by definition
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5
Q

what do logical positivists conclude?

A
  • that metaphysics and theology are meaningless as there is 1. no evidence to support. 2. not true by definition
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6
Q

what does A.J Ayer argue about statements such as ‘god exists’

A
  • its meaningless because there’s no sensory evidence to support them
  • cannot be verified in practice or principle
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7
Q

what is a cognitive statement?

A
  • if it conveys factual information
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8
Q

what is a non-cognitive statement?

A
  • may convey emotions, give an order, moral claims, a wish etc
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9
Q

what is the verification principle?

A

a statement is meaningful if it is

  • analytic (true by definition)
  • empirically verifiable
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10
Q

for ayer how can a statement be verifiable?

A
  • through practice or in principle
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11
Q

what is the basis is verification in practice?

A
  • there’s direct sense experience to support a statement
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12
Q

what is verification in principle?

A
  • when we know how a statement can in principle be tested empirically
  • E.g. ‘there’s intelligent life elsewhere in the galaxy’
  • one day such experience may be possible
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13
Q

quote from Ayer

A

“no sentence which purports to describe the nature of a transcendent God can possess any literal significance”

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14
Q

strengths of the VP?

A
  • straightforward in what it demands
  • in line with science: observe the world empirically
  • demands a sense of reality in what we say about the world
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15
Q

weaknesses of the VP?

A
  • the demands are too narrow, rules out all sorts of language as meaningfulness
  • religion makes clear propositions about God and the origin of the universe
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16
Q

further challenges to Ayers VP?

A
  • some argue the bible can supply verification in principle for religious statements, Gospels claim to be eyewitness accounts of life after death
  • it is itself not verifiable in principle, by its own criteria its meaningless
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17
Q

what is the challenge of falsification?

Popper

A
  • the more evidence in favour of something, the more likely it is to be the case
  • science also makes progress by proving existing theories false
  • only scientific if its least possible there could be evidence to show its false
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18
Q

quote from Popper

A

“in so far as a scientific statement speaks about reality, it must be falsifiable”

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19
Q

what is the falsification principle?

A
  • a sentence is factually significant if and only if there is some form of evidence which could falsify it
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20
Q

strengths of the falsification principle?

A
  • where religion makes important factual claims, these are empty, as all evidence against such claims are ignored by the believer, the die “the death of a thousand qualifications”
  • believers do not appear to know what will falsify their assertions
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21
Q

weaknesses of the falsification principle?

A
  • when religious believers make claims about God, they’re not making wild and unrealistic speculations, they assume there’s a truth to be known
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22
Q

what are responses to challenges from verification and falsification principles?

A
  • John Hick: facts of religion are verified archaeologically (at the last judgement)
  • Hare: religious truths are not factually assertions, they’re non-falsifiable but deeply meaningful ‘bliks’
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23
Q

what does Hick argue with eschatological verification?

A
  • facts of christian religion will be verified after death

- eventually salvation will be universal

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24
Q

strengths of Hicks eschatological verification?

A
  • the statement, ‘there is life after death’, must either be true or false
  • christian truth claims are cognitive/factual, if we wake up in a resurrected body we know these claims are true
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25
Q

weaknesses of life after death?

A
  • the atheist will focus on the extent of the evil in the world, therefore Hicks argument is no stronger than that of the atheists
  • if they are false, they can never be falsified, the individual will never wake up to know that they are false
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26
Q

conclusion of Hicks eschatological verification

A
  • Hicks claim, ‘there’s life after death’ is verifiable in principle, not falsifiable
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27
Q

what does Hare argue with reference to Bliks?

A
  • argues religious language is essentially non cognitive and non falsifiable.
28
Q

what is a Blik?

A
  • refers to a framework of interpretations, a view of the world that is non-cognitive and non falsifiable
29
Q

what is a religious blik what does it cause?

A
  • a common and powerful view, if i have one and am sincere in believing and following where it leads
  • no amount of persuasion will make me think differently
30
Q

what does Flew reply to Hare about Bliks?

A
  • Flew rejects Hare’s view

- as believers do see their statements about God as cognitive

31
Q

what does Flew further say about Hares Bliks?

A
  • most Christians believe their assertions and meaningful

- intend their assertions to be factually significant, however, they’re non-falsifiable and therefore, meaningless

32
Q

strengths of Hares theory of Bliks?

A
  • they’re deeply meaningful to those who have them, value is in their personal meaning
  • believers see the evidence through the framework of their bliks
33
Q

weaknesses of Hares theory of Bliks?

A
  • most believers don’t see their ideas as non cognitive

- if there are no factual truths about Christianity, its value reduces to its physch and socio benefit

34
Q

what is Wittgensteins say about language?

A
  • the meaning of language is found in the way its used and language is a tool for getting something done
  • look at how words are used
35
Q

quote for language games, Wittgenstein

A

“don’t think, look”

36
Q

what is Wittgensteins language game?

A
  • language works by creating different games in different situations
  • the words only make sense when you understand the nature and purpose of the activity
37
Q

what does Wittgensteins language game follow?

A
  • rules for the use of language are therefore, neither right now wrong
  • you cannot criticise other peoples use of language without understanding the full intention
38
Q

example of a language game?

A
  • if i play chess, the words within this only make sense in this language game
39
Q

what is the implication of religious language?

language games

A
  • RL is its own language game, e.g. prayer etc
  • RL regulated the believers life
  • RL is meaningful to those who want to us that game
40
Q

strengths of Wittgenstein’s language games?

A
  • avoids the confusion that results from mistaking what language is trying to do
  • it allows a variety of meaning
41
Q

weaknesses of Wittgenstein’s language games?

A
  • discourages debate with secular thinkers, isolated religion from external criticism
  • religious statements n longer need to be true or false
  • assumes there can’t be evidence for metaphysical beliefs
42
Q

what are strengths of cognitivism?

A
  • makes factual claims that are clear and open to examination
  • most religious believers are congnitivist, holds their beliefs are factual
43
Q

strengths of non-cognitivism?

A
  • avoids the kind of challenges mounted by verification and falsification
  • reflects the distinctive views and commitments of religious people
  • acknowledges there can be many different ways in which language can be meaningful
44
Q

what is an analogy?

A
  • an attempt to explain the meaning of something which is difficult to understand by comparing it with something that is more securely within our reference frame
45
Q

what is Aquinas analogy of attribution?

A

-

46
Q

what is Aquinas analogy of attribution?

A
  • both a human and God may be describes as ‘powerful’, but we assume that the meaning of powerful in each case is proportional to their respective natures
47
Q

strengths of using analogy to talk about God?

A
  • literal, univocal language is inadequate to talk about God, this reduces him to the status of one thing, Analogy avoids this
  • avoids anthropomorphising God
  • pushes words beyond their ordinary meaning
  • uses ordinary human experience and qualities
48
Q

weaknesses of using analogy to talk about God

A
  • for the analogy of attribution and proportionality to work, you have to have prior knowledge of God
  • analogy can prove that God is evil, ‘God has what it takes to produce evil in humans’
49
Q

what is apophatic theology?

A
  • the denial of a positive description of God
50
Q

what is kataphatic theology?

A
  • uses positive terms about God
51
Q

what does the apophatic approach suggest?

A
  • the idea that Gods reality is beyond all description
52
Q

how does Wittgenstein define the apophatic approach?

A

“whereof we cannot speak, thereof we must remain silent”

53
Q

what is the via negativa?

A
  • god is somehow known but yet remains beyond knowledge
54
Q

whats an argument for the via negativa?

A
  • argues God is so transcendent, therefore, beyond meaning of words we use to describe him
  • there is nothing we can say about him in a positive way without diminishing him
55
Q

why did Dionysius develop the via negativa?

A
  • separate him from any literal description which could limit him or identify him with the changeable things in the world
56
Q

what does Maimondes insist?

A
  • God was not comparable to anything else
  • to say God is the most powerful being reduces God to a thing which can be measured
  • only negative attributes bring us closer to understanding God
57
Q

strengths of the via negativa?

A
  • avoids anthropomorphism, it focuses on Gods transcendence

- if god is the creator of all things, its reasonable to suggest God cannot himself be a thing `

58
Q

weaknesses of the via negativa?

A
  • for only saying what something is not gives no indication of what it actually is, cannot understand him at all
  • Flew complains that defining God in this way amounts to a definition of nothing, “dies the death of a thousand qualifications”
  • is it possible to worship a God who is described entirely in negative ways
59
Q

what does Tillich argue the 4 main features of symbols are?

A
  • they point to a reality beyond themselves
  • they participate in the power to which they point
  • they open up levels of reality which would otherwise be closed to us
  • they open levels of the soul which correspond to those realities
60
Q

what does Tillich add to his features of symbols?

A
  • they cannot be produced intentionally, grow from human unconscious
  • they’re produced and die within a culture
61
Q

what does Tillich say a symbol is?

A
  • points beyond itself

- participates in the power of that to which it points

62
Q

for Tillich how do we discover the true nature of religion?

A
  • through religious experience

- can only be expressed through symbolic language

63
Q

what does Tillich say religious symbols open up?

A
  • open a level of reality that otherwise is not opened up at all
64
Q

for Tillich what is the first essential features to the God that appears through religious experience/symbol?

A
  • God is ‘being-itself’

- an experience which gives meaning to everything else

65
Q

for Tillich what is the second essential features to the God that appears through religious experience/symbol?

A
  • God is our ‘ultimate concern’

- God demands total attention and commitment

66
Q

strengths of using symbolic language to talk about God?

A
  • can relate religious ideas to ordinary/everyday experiences such as love
  • allows us to make only one literal statement about what we mean when we speak of God

PRE philosophy (7 decks)

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