Flashcards
Religious Language - Analogy
Cards in this deck (19)
- 1What does Aquinas say about religious language?That religious language is meaningful but he does not suggest that language means the same when applied to God as it does when applied to humans
- 2What is univocal language?Both words mean the same thing in both cases e.g. a black cat, a black car.
- 3What is equivocal language?Both words have very different meanings in each case e.g. a goal post, a post box.
- 4Why does Aquinas prefer to use analogy when talking about God?When we say God is 'Good', we are not using the term 'good' univocally, but we are not using it equivocally either.
- 5What is analogy?the process of reasoning from parallel cases
- 6What do analogies rely on?The fact that there is some point of comparison between two or more things
- 7What does Aquinas say when we use the word good to describe God?There is some analogy (point of comparison) between the 'goodness' of a being in this world and the 'goodness' of God.
- 8What example does Brian Davies use when explaining analogy of attribution1. The bread is good
2. The baker is good - 9Explain this exampleThe word 'good' is related, but does not have the same meaning; we do not know exactly what it means to be a good baker, but the good bread indicates that the baker must be good.
- 10What example does Aquinas use about analogy of Attribution?'healthy' does not mean the same in each statement but there is a connection between the two
1. the medicine is healthy
2. the urine is healthy - 11What is the analogy of proportion?There is a proportional relationship between all things, so saying a plant, a human, and God have live is true but only in proportion to itself. We can come to understand that all things must be understood in proportion to themselves.
- 12How does St. Paul respond to this theory?We cannot understand God through analogy. To understand God we must 'see' him.
- 13What does Swinburne say about analogy?We don't need it at all, when we say God is good and humans are good, we may be using good to apply different things but we are meaning it to mean the same things
- 14What problem does analogy of attribution raise?The problem of evil as the world comprises of evil so does God possess these qualities as well?
- 15Can we talk meaningfully about God?Yes because it is possible to say that God is good because we know that he creates things that are good (AoA)
- 16How does Aquinas criticise his own thoery?Acknowledges that we still do not know what these terms mean when applied to God
- 17What is the analogy of proper proportion ?We possess qualities like those of God, because we are created in his image and likeness, but we are inferior sow e possess lesser qualities
- 18Where did analogy start from?The via negativa.
Rejected the via negativa because it does not say anything directly about God + he suggested that language means something concrete when applied to God. - 19Why do some people argue analogy does not tell us anything?Philosophers argue that although we can give qualities like 'God is just', we do not know what this means when applied to God.
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- a2 Religious Studies (Philosophy) Flashcards on Religious Language - Analogy, created by Ella Foster on 17/02/2017.
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