Flashcards
Religious Language
Cards in this deck (23)
- 1What's the main problem of religious language?Whether religious language is meaningful. If talk of God is nonsense then the idea of God is nonsense
- 2What is the difference between cognitive and non-cognitive language?Cognitive language expresses facts and knowledge
Non-cognitive language expresses things that we could never know e.g. feelings and values (RL is this) - 3Who are the Logical Positivists and what were they concerned with?They were a group of philosophers and they were concerned with the relationship between the use of language and knowledge; and they rejected what was non-cognitive (fact-free claims)
- 4Who were the Logical Positivists influenced by and why?Ludwig Wittgenstein.
Wittgenstein suggested that meaningful language is connected with the things we know from our senses
(They caught onto this idea and used it to challenge religion: how does RL link to sense experience?) - 5What was Ayer's views on Religious Language?Ayer developed the Verification Principle - statements can only be meaningful once verified.
Ayer thought that religious claims were non-cognitive and impossible to verify - meaningless. - 6What is Ayer's quote on Religious Language being verified?"A statement which cannot be conclusively verified... is simply devoid of meaning"
- 7Weaknesses of the Verification Princple1) How much can we really verify in history? We can look at records but we haven't observed it for ourselves (Weak VP)
2) Swinburne says that no observation does not determine its truth e.g. Toys could wonder around every night time but we never know - 8Weaknesses (continued...)3) John Hick says that talk of God may be verifiable in principle. There may not be sufficient evidence now - maybe in the future? (Eschatological Verification)
4) The VP itself cannot be verified so does it contradict itself? - 9What is Anthony Flew's Falsification Principle?This is the inverse of verification. Any positive claim we make assumes we deny its negation. (Language is only meaningful if we can conceive information that goes against it)
- 10What is Basil Mitchell's criticism of the Falsification Principle?He argues that religious claims are grounded in some facts and that the faithful do allow that evidence may stand against what they believe. They recognise, for example, the problem of evil. However, they do not allow that belief can or should be verified in a simple manner.
- 11What is an analogy?An analogy is an attempt to explain the meaning of something by comparison with something more familiar to us
- 12What is the difference between univocal and equivocal language?Univocal language is language which means the same thing in all situations.
Equivocal language is language which means different things in different situations e.g. gay could mean happy or homosexual - 13Why was Aquinas so in favour of analogies?He thought it was a good compromise between univocal and equivocal lang.
To make an analogy; we are saying that God is not just like us but nor is he nothing like us and our world. By finding appropriate analogical language, we could say broadly what God is like - would give partial/justifiable knowledge of God - 14What is the analogy of attribution?Aquinas thought that we could gain understanding of God by considering his role as creator. Simply, if God made the world then we could expect the world to reflect God in some way. So, we would be justified in drawing analogies between the world and God.
- 15What is the analogy of proper proportion?Human's possess God's qualities because we were created in 'His image' but because God is perfect - we possess these qualities in less proportion. Hick uses an e.g. - Humans are faithful. Dogs are faithful. There is a difference but there has to be a reasonable similarity or we wouldn't recognise them as faithful
- 16Weaknesses of analogy1) Is the evil in this world an analogy of God?
2) Analogies can be criticised because God cannot be verified.
3) Swinburne describes this as an unnecessary theory. Humans and God are good univocally but are possessed in different ways - 17What is a symbol?A symbol points to something beyond itself and participates in what it points to
- 18What are Tillich's four key features of symbols?1) They point to something beyond themselves
2) They participate in what they point to
3) They open up levels of reality that are closed to us
4) They open up dimensions of the soul which correspond to those aspects of reality - 19E.g. How is the Christian's cross a symbol?It draws Christians in to participate in what they see as the reality of the messiah. It reminds Christians of Jesus’ sacrifice and the redemption he brings. Yet, it is also a prompt from prayer, worship, and meditation. This means that Christians take an active interest in the cross
- 20Weaknesses of Tillich's symbols1) Hick says a symbol 'participating' in something is unclear. How does a flag participate to something? Is it really any different to a sign?
2) William Alston states that symbols have no meaningful impact on us as they are not literally true - 21What is Wittgenstein's Language Games approach?He thought language worked as a series of language games.
Meaning only comes out of context, we have to know what 'game' we are participating in. We have to be in a particular 'language game' to understand - 22Strengths of Language Games1) It makes a connection to the 'coherence theory of truth' - statements are true if they fit with other statements and beliefs which are internally consistent
2) If religion is a language game, it will only make sense if we participate - 23Weaknesses to Language Games1) This approach rejects the view that language can be objective and scientific. Conveys language can never convey truth in an absolute sense.
2) Phillip beliefs this could lead to irrationalism and blind faith. (Could be used to justify extremism and superstition)
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- Flashcards on Religious Language, created by Onyeka on 13/03/2015.
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