Religious language - Wittgenstein Flashcards
What did Hume say about language which could not be verified empirically or was mathematically true?
It should be “committed to the flames…for it can contain nothing but sophistry and illusion”
What did Kant say about empiricism?
Argued that the empiricist stand was too simple. He said that the human mind was not passive when receiving sense data from this world and that there was a world outside of human reach - the noumenal world.
What was Moore’s approach to language?
He says that there are certain “banal” (obvious) statements for which it makes no sense to doubt e.g. “this is a radiator”. He says that these statements are true because we have agreed upon them. We should only look for empirical evidence for statements which are not agreed and not banal.
How did Wittgenstein respond to Moore?
Agreed that it was not right to question banal statements. However, he did not agree that these statements were necessarily true. “Moore has every right to say there’s a tree in front of him. Naturally he may be wrong.” So we may agree upon something, but it does not mean that it is true.
What does Wittgenstein say we need to know before we can question banal statements?
We need to learn certain rules which we agree upon. When we learn language, we learn a “form of life”. There are certain rules that we must learn before we can question banal statements.
Give an example to support Wittgenstein’s understanding of a “form of life”.
A child learns the words “Dad”, “Chair” etc. They won’t question these. It is only when they are older that they will question “Are you my Dad?”
What does Wittgenstein say about questioning the rules?
It doesn’t make sense to question the rules. Therefore, there are no indubitable (unquestionable) truths which can be reached through language alone.
What does Wittgenstein say happens to the rules of language?
They can change over time and in different contexts e.g. each sports game has its own language. Each religion has its own language and there are language games within the different groups of a religion e.g. A Catholic refers in mass to the body of Jesus when blessing the bread.
What does Wittgenstein say about verificationists?
They are missing the point if they ask for empirical evidence to prove statements. Wittgenstein says “For a blunder, that is too big.”
For Wittgenstein, what makes language meaningful?
Language is meaningful once you have understood the language game and “depth of grammar” within the life form in which it is being used. If you don’t understand the rules, you will make blunders.
Give an example of a blunder.
Wittgenstein would criticise Dawkins for likening God to a teapot which circles around Pluto. This is a blunder because it is not understanding how theists use the term God - God is outside, not within the universe.
What did Wittgenstein believe about truth outside the language game?
Believed that there may be truth outside of the language game but we will never know what this truth is, so we should not spend time discussing/pondering it.
Give Wittgenstein’s quote about the limits of language.
“The limits of my language mean the limits of my world. Whereof one cannot speak, thereof one must be silent”
What does Felicity McCutcheon say Wittgenstein says about establishing meaning.
We cannot establish meaning by setting up relationships between words and objects e.g. we cannot point to two apples and say that this means “two” or people might think that that the two apples means two. Equally, words do not always have just one meaning e.g. the word game means something different when applied to football, rugby etc.
How does McCutcheon think meaning is established?
By language users, not by reality. Something is meaningful if other language users understand us.
