Religious Language

Question 1

og apophatic:

Answer 1

Pseudo-dionysus, then Eriugena

Question 2

other apophatic:

Answer 2

the orthodox church, maimonides, aquinas (as a stepping stone)

Question 3

criticisms of apophatic:

Answer 3

Flew - god gets too close to nothingness

Question 4

analogy og:

Answer 4

Aquinasss - aristotle wrote a lot on analogy so of course aquinas lost his Saintly Shit over it

Question 5

symbol og:

Answer 5

tillich

Question 6

symbol criticisms:

Answer 6

hick - definition not clear enough

macquarrie - definition too broad

Question 7

symbol 2:

Answer 7

randall - non-cognitive but meaningful, like music - didn’t believe in a literal god tho

Question 8

Verificationism:

Answer 8

Vienna circle, loved Wittgenstein, A J Ayer

Question 9

Before verificationism:

Answer 9

Hegel - very complex religious ideas - people thought science was where we should look for answers, especially after ww1 which removed the idea of constant progress with great effect

Question 10

Factual significance:

Answer 10

A J Ayer

Question 11

Criticisms of ajs verificationism:

Answer 11

A J Ayer himself - realised strong verif was strict enough to be useless and weak as too liberal - changed to direct and indirect
Swinburne - rejects religious language so it must be bad
Hick - it says religious language is ok cause it’s verifiable in principle
Brummer - religious language is special and different, not failed science statements

Question 12

Falsification:

Answer 12

Popper - met the circle, disagreed with them, science based

Flew - explorers and garden

Question 13

Criticisms of falsificationism:

Answer 13

Hare - minds about the happenings of the garden, bliks - flew criticised this because christians make assertions about the world (which may/may not be verifiable/falsifiable) that others should agree with, not just a worldview
Mitchell - tne stranger - religious belief can be falsifiable and yet hold firm
Ayer - some stuff can’t be verified as much as it can’t be falsified, like unicorns in a garden - against popper not flew

Question 14

Language games:

Answer 14

Wittgenstein

Question 15

Religious opinions on language games:

Answer 15

Cupitt - says god isn’t objectively real, but is within the community of faith
Phillips - supportive, and it means philosophers can’t determine god’s existence

Question 16

Language games criticisms:

Answer 16

Gellner and Russell - like sharpening tools but never using them, like taking apart a clock and asking why it stopped working
Sherry - it stops the ability to compare fields - science and religion could never communicate, but they do regularly

Question 17

Language games expansion:

Answer 17

Austin - some phrases are actions as well as statements, like “the door is open” - statement yes, but implying another meaning and an action - also some Are the action, like “I promise” or “I baptise you”