Phil HL - Religious Language - The Theory of Meaning

Phil HL - Religious Language - The Theory of Meaning

1. We make propositions

   • Religious propositions are often contradictory
     • God is the Father, the Son and the Holy Ghost
   • God is beyond our experience
   • We cannot measure his attributes
     • Jeremy is trendy/God is transcendent
   • We describe God in human terms
     • The Lord spoke into Moses...

2. What is a meaningful sentence?

   • Have recognisable words
   • These recognisable words must be put together to make gramatical sense
   • It must communicate something
   • must make sense without a context
   • Mustn't contradict

3. A. J. Ayer

   • Influenced by
     • The Vienna Circle (Logical Positivists)
     • Ludwig Wittgenstein
     • language is only meaningful if it is confined to discussing what falls within human experience
   • Defended the Verification Principle