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Flashcards

Religious Language

iantojones3 Philosophy A level English 73 cards

Cards in this deck (73)

  1. 1Define cognitive languageFacts
  2. 2Define non-cognitive languageConveys information that is not factual
  3. 3Who did the Logical Positivists form around?Moritz Schlick
  4. 4Give a VerificationistAyer
  5. 5Give a FalsificationistFlew
  6. 6Which 2 philosophers thought truth was to be found in the empirical world?Locke & Hume
  7. 7What did the Vienna Circle believe?-Science would provide knowledge
    -Metaphysics, religion, ethics etc should be avoided
  8. 8What did the Vienna Circle say about god?The existence of god is meaningless
  9. 9What did Wittgenstein say about language?The only language with meaning is scientific
  10. 10What type of statements do Verificationists reject as meaningless?-Non-cognitive
    -Metaphysical
  11. 11What does Ayer say about god?"'God' is a metaphysical term...it cannot even be probable that god exists...a metaphysical utterance...cannot be either true or false"
  12. 12Define 'blick'Hare's term for a belief system
  13. 13Define equivocal1 word having 2 different meanings
  14. 14What is the Falsification Principle?Asserts whether statements are genuine scientific assertions by considering whether any evidence could disprove them
  15. 15What is Logical Positivism?Believed the aim of philosophers should be the study of language, especially the language of science
  16. 16Define tautologyA statement which is true by definition
  17. 17What is the Verification Principle?Statements are only meaningful if they can be empirically verified
  18. 18Give 3 problems with the Verification Principle-Too restricted
    -Scientific laws are also meaningless because they can't be verified
    -Swinburne says universal statements cannot be verified
    -Statements about art are meaningless
  19. 19What is the Strong Verification Principle?An assertion is only meaningful if it can be empirically verified
  20. 20Is the Strong Verification Principle A Priori or A Posteriori?A Priori
  21. 21What is the Weak Verification Principle?An assertion is true if one can state what kind of evidence would verify its contents
  22. 22Is the Weak Verification Principle A Priori or A Posteriori?A Posteriori
  23. 23What example did Ayer use for the Weak Verification Principle?Mountains on the far side of the moon
  24. 24Give 3 criticisms of the Weak Verification Principle-Hick says religious statements are eschatologically verifiable
    -Religious statements are verifiable in principle eg. life of Jesus
    -Verification Principle is not verifiable
  25. 25How did Ayer combat a criticism to his theory?The Verification Principle only applied to statements or propositions, not whole theories
  26. 26What did Flew say with regard to language?When we say something is the case we deny the opposite
  27. 27How does Davies apply this to religion?"Believers make claims...they are unwilling to allow anything to count against these...the claims seem unfalsifiable. Are they then genuine?"
  28. 28What does Flew say makes statements meaningful?If we accept that there's evidence that may falsify them
  29. 29Explain the example Hare used to explain blicks-Someone thinks all dons are trying to kill him. His friends introduce him to lots of nice dons but he still thinks they want to kill him.
    -murderous dons is his blick
    -Blicks are beliefs that may not be based on reason
  30. 30How does Hick criticise blicks?-Religious blicks are based on reason eg. religious experiences
    -Blicks are unverifiable
    -If we can't prove religious blicks we can't call them right or wrong
  31. 31Explain Mitchell's parable of the resistance fighter-Fighter meets person claiming to be leader of the resistance
    -Fighter pledged loyalty to said person
    -Fighter sees person helping both sides
    -Fighter still believes person is the leader
    -This belief is based on fact (helps resistance) & can be verified eschatologically
    -Belief in god is the same
  32. 32Who is linked with using analogy to talk about god?Aquinas
  33. 33What did Aquinas reject when talking about god?Univocal & equivocal language
  34. 34What 3 types of analogy did Aquinas pose we use to talk about god?-Analogy of attribution
    -Analogy of proper proportion
    -Analogy of improper proportion
  35. 35Explain Aquinas' analogy of attributionIt is possible to work out the nature of god from the nature of the world
  36. 36What example did Aquinas use for his analogy of attribution?You can determine the health of a bull from its urine but the bull is completely healthy and the urine simply reflects this
  37. 37In his analogy of attribution, what does Aquinas mean when he says 'order of reference'?Qualities in creation apply to god perfectly and everything else analogically
  38. 38What example does Davies give to back up the order of reference?The baker and the bread- if the baker and bread are good there is a relationship between these statements- the bread is the product of the baker and his goodness spreads to the bread
  39. 39What example did Hick give to illustrate the analogy of proper proportion?The term 'faithful' doesn't mean the same when applied to humans & dogs
  40. 40What does Hick's example mean?We possess god-like qualities but in lesser qualities because we are inferior
  41. 41How does Duns Scotus criticise analogy?Too vague & leaves us unable to understand god
  42. 42What does Hick say about analogy?Enables us to make statements about god & preserve the mystery of Judeo-Christian theology
  43. 43Give 3 criticisms of analogy-The universe has evil in-does god?
    -Based on things already in existence so can't tell us anything new
    -Can't be empirically verified (Ayer)
    -'Good' is univocal when describing god and humans (Swinburne)
  44. 44How does Augustine counter a criticism of analogy?There is no such thing as evil, just privation of good (falling away from god)
  45. 45What does the Via Negativa believe?-Statements about god cannot be accurately made as god is greater than anything we can comprehend
    -We can only meaningfully say what god is not
  46. 46In the Via Negativa, what is language when applied to god?Equivocal
  47. 47Where did the Via Negativa come from?Followers of Plato
  48. 48What did Pseudo-Dionysius say about god?-God is "beyond assertion"
    -Making statements about god results in an anthropomorphic idea of him
  49. 49What did Moses Maimonides say about god?The only positive statement that can be made about god is that he exists
  50. 50Who thought that religious language was symbolic?Paul Tillich
  51. 51What did Tillich say was the difference between signs & symbols?Symbols participate in what they represent
  52. 52What did Tillich say was the only non-symbolic statement that can be made about god?He is "the ground of being"
  53. 53What 4 main functions did Tillich say symbols have?-Point to something beyond themselves
    -Participate in that to which they point
    -Open up levels of reality otherwise closed to us
    -Open up levels of the soul that correspond to these levels of reality
  54. 54What did Tillich call the vision of god?"Being-Itself"
  55. 55How does Alston criticise Tillich?Says he has removed all substantive content from religious language
  56. 56What does Randall say about symbolic language?-Non-cognitive
    -Religious symbols function like art, they don't tell us about external reality but about our human experience
  57. 57Give a criticism of religious language as symbolicDifficult to see what useful content religious language would have if it's not literal
  58. 58Define mythStories that convey values & beliefs of a community
  59. 59Give an example of a biblical mythCreation stories
  60. 60How does Bultmann define myth?"The use of imagery to express the other wordly in terms of this world"
  61. 61How did Bultmann attempt to demythologise the New Testament?Removed supernatural elements to arrive at the essential message of Christianity- the teachings of Jesus
  62. 62What does Bultmann say about miracles?They are statements of faith added to the gospels by early Christians, not literal truths
  63. 63What was Braithwaite concerned about?How religious statements are used
  64. 64How did Braithwaite define religious statements?"Declarations of adherence to a policy of action, declarations of commitment to a way of life'
  65. 65What 2 things did Braithwaite argue that religious belief & religious moral assertions are based on?-Commitment to live a particular way of life as we have seen
    -Religious stories
  66. 66Why, for Braithwaite, are religious assertions meaningful?They result in actions/ways of life that can be verified
  67. 67Explain Wittgenstein's theory of language games-Language operates according to rules
    -Language has meaning for those involved in particular language games (contexts of use)
  68. 68What is the Coherence Theory of TruthHuman knowledge is made up of a broad spectrum of statements & a statement is true if it coheres to these statements
  69. 69What is the Correspondence Theory of truth?Language is only meaningful if it directly corresponds to facts about the world
  70. 70What did Wittgenstein realise about religion?Religion cannot be spoken of/analysed in scientific ways because it is not the same sort of thing
  71. 71How does DZ Phillips criticise language games?Argues that it prevents philosophy of religion as it suggests that no one outside the game can criticise belief
  72. 72Where does Phillips think that some problems caused by religious language come from?Taking the language literally
  73. 73What do Wittgenstein & Phillips agree on?That religious statements can't be understood literally but still have profound meaning for those who make them

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A level Philosophy Flashcards on Religious Language, created by iantojones3 on 30/05/2015.
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iantojones3
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