Religious language Pt 2

Question 1

when was the Vienna Circle created?

Answer 1

1920s

Question 2

what is Logical Positivism?

Answer 2

only scientific language is meaningful as it alone can be shown through analysis

Question 3

what were the two ways that langue is meaningful according to the Vienna circle

Answer 3

Analytically and Synthetically

Question 4

what is analytical verification

Answer 4

a prior and refers to knowledge gained through reason e.g “all bachelors are male”

Question 5

what is synthetic verification

Answer 5

a posteriori, knowledge can be proven true or false by sense experience.

Question 6

what is Ayers verification principle

Answer 6

arguing primarily that statements may not be directly provable, but it is likely that we can prove it true beyond reasonable doubt.

Question 7

what did Ayer distinguish verifiability into

Answer 7

practical verifiability and verifiability in principle

Question 8

what is practical verifability

Answer 8

refers to statements that can be tested

Question 9

what is verifiability in principle

Answer 9

means that one could verify a statement but in practise is difficult

Question 10

which one is strong verification and which one is weak

Answer 10

strong = practical verification
weak = verifiable in principle

Question 11

what did Ayer’s principle become known as

Answer 11

the principle of weal verification.

Question 12

why does Ayer deny the existentece of God

Answer 12

as there is no way to empirically verify his existence

Question 13

what was one of the reason Ayer developed his principle

Answer 13

as in theory the teleological argument could be weak verification for the existence of God.

Question 14

how did ayer improve his principle

Answer 14

he changed it to direct verifiability and indirect

Question 15

what is direct verification

Answer 15

refers to a statement that is verifiable directly by observation

Question 16

what is indirect verification

Answer 16

statement may not be directly verifiable, but can be verified if directly verifiable evidence can support it.

Question 17

how does Hick counter Ayers idea that God can not me empirically proved

Answer 17

the eschatological principle, when we die we will know

Question 18

how does Ayer defend his principle from Hick

Answer 18

theory of an after life is theoretical, and we won’t have senses to verify it.

Question 19

how is the verification principle self defeating?

Answer 19

the principle can not be empirically proved, so is not meaningful and therefore contradictory.

Question 20

does Flew think religious language is meaningless?

Answer 20

yes, it fails to assert anything about reality.

Question 21

why does Flew think religious language is meaningless

Answer 21

cognitive meaning requires expression of belief. so even though religious language expresses belief, since they are unfalsifiable beliefs they have no meaning.

Question 22

how came up with the parable of the gardener.

Answer 22

Flew

Question 23

what is the parable of the gardener?

Answer 23

two people are walking through a forest and find a clearing. they wait to see if anyone comes but they don’t so one of them assumes its an invisible gardener. after a while the person says it must be a non physical, tangible gardener.

Question 24

St Paul said that religious belief is actually falsifiable. how?

Answer 24

christianity could be proven false if we find evidence that Jesus did not rise from the dead by finding his body. this passes Flews test of falsification and so would be meaningful

Question 25

how could Flew counteract St Pauls argument of finding Jesus' body

Answer 25

christians may be tempted to say the body is fake if found. supporting Flews point that there really is no way to falsify belief in God

Question 26

who came up with the parable of the soldier

Answer 26

Basil Mitchell

Question 27

what is the parable of the soldier

Answer 27

a stranger a strong impression on a soldier saying he is the leader of the resistance. as a result, the soldier has faith in the person, even when they see them fighting for the government.

Question 28

what Is the meaning behind the parable of the soldier

Answer 28

that believers do recognise evil exists. often there is a limit to the amount of evil a believer can surpass before they stop being a believer. therefore religious language for the most part is falsifiable.

Question 29

what is a critic against Basil Mitchell

Answer 29

a religious persons 'experience' and personal relation with God is not really evidence. so is not a valid empirical evidence.

Question 30

what is fideism

Answer 30

view that faith alone can gain knowledge of God without the need for reason

Question 31

what is a quote that supports fideism

Answer 31

"what has Athen to do with Jerusalem"

Question 32

what is a strength of Fideism

Answer 32

religion and science have nothing to do with each other, this therefore explains how scientific evidence can neither approve or disprove religious belief.

Question 33

how does Natural theology oppose fideism

Answer 33

Natural theology used reason to play a role in religious belief, this is not the same for fideism that just believes faith is necessary.

Question 34

how can Wittgenstein language games be seen to move into Fideism

Answer 34

religion is purely a matter of faith and is a totally separate language game to science

Question 35

why would many religious people reject Wittgensteins fideism

Answer 35

God objectively exists and can be proved, it is not just faith.

Question 36

who came up with the falsification principle

Answer 36

Karl popper

Question 37

what is the falsification principle

Answer 37

falsificationists try to identify the credibility of statements by trying to disprove them

Question 38

why may falsificationism not work and who argued it

Answer 38

Flew argues that religious believes won't let anything challenge their beliefs. death by a thousand qualifications

Question 39

how does the parable of the invisible gardener prove that the falsification principle does not work

Answer 39

religious people respond to the threat of falsifiability and add infinite conditions. this makes religious language meaningless

Question 40

how is Mitchell able to prove that God can be falsified

Answer 40

people have different experiences. some peoples experiences are enough to have enough evidence to deny the existence of God. for other people, it is the other way around.

Question 41

who came up with the parable of the lunatic

Answer 41

hare

Question 42

what is the parable of the lunatic

Answer 42

a person has a undying belief that there are people out to get him. his friends show multiples way in which his belief is wrong but the lunatic still won't deny his belief.

Question 43

what does the parable of the lunatic show

Answer 43

unchanging beliefs known as 'Bliks' are still evidence as they can be life changing although they may seem meaningless.