religious language Flashcards
1
Q
what were the beliefs of the vienna circle
A
- there are only two types of meaningful language: synthetic and analytic
- their thinking became known as logical positivism
2
Q
what is logical positivism and who adopted it
A
- logically necessary statements alone have meaning; metaphysical statements (which include religious statements) are literally meaningless
- A.J Ayer
3
Q
what is cognitive language
A
- language that conveys factual information: most of its statements are synthetic e.g the eiffel tower is in paris
4
Q
what is non cognitive language
A
- language that is not dependent on whether it can be shown to be empirically true.
- statements of emotions, morality, insight
5
Q
what does ayer believe about different types of language
where does his verification principle come from
A
- developed from his adoption of logical positivism
- there are two types of meaningful language
- analytic – true by definition
- synthetic - empirically verifiable
- all other statements are empty of meaning
6
Q
what is verification in practice
A
- verification in practice is only possible when statements can be conclusively established empirically
7
Q
what is verification in principle
A
- verification in principle is possible when it can be stated what observations would make the statement verifiable in practice and doing so could be possible at some point in the future
- for example the statement that there are mountains on the far side of the moon
- when ayer was writing language, truth and logic this could not be verified
- nevertheless it was possible to state what observations made it probable
8
Q
what did ayer conclude in his verification principle
A
- any statements unverifiable in practice or principle have no factual meaning
- he termed any such statement a ‘pseudo-proposition’
- this applies to statements like god exists or god is loving
- he claimed that ethical statements are simply statements of approval or disapproval
9
Q
strengths of the verification principle
A
- the principle is straightforward focusing on facts
- it allows scientific theories that cannot yet be proved empirically to be considered
10
Q
weaknesses of the verification principle
A
- it makes the assumption that science tells us everything of importance about the world. many would disagree.
- ayers criticism of religious claims is not true for all religious arguments. for example the claim that the universe is explained by a god is a reasonable hypothesis
- verification principle is meaningless,.since it is not empirically verifiable
11
Q
what did flew use to develop his falsification principle and what is the main idea
A
- karl poppers thinking
- something can be counted as scientific only if it is possible that there could be evidence to falsify it
12
Q
what did flew use to develop his falsification principle and what is the main idea
A
- karl poppers thinking
- something can be counted as scientific only if it is possible that there could be evidence to falsify it
13
Q
how does flew use the parable of the gardener to discredit religious language
A
- each test the two men carry out to find a gardener fails which ends with the one man saying how does an invisible, intangible, eternally elusive gardener differ from no gardener at all
- flew uses this to show how theists do the same thing of going to any length to stop anything from counting against their faith clams
14
Q
strength of the falsification principle
A
- flew points to the approach of some believers to religious beliefs: they refuse to take any criticism
15
Q
weaknesses of the falsification principle
A
- many aspects of experience are not in the same category as scientific fact and have deep significance for humans. flews category is too rigid
- not all religious believers all nothing to falsify their claims. the problem of evil makes many question or even lose their faith
16
Q
weaknesses of the falsification principle
A
- many aspects of experience are not in the same category as scientific fact and have deep significance for humans. flews category is too rigid
- not all religious believers all nothing to falsify their claims. the problem of evil makes many question or even lose their faith
17
Q
what are the two things that hick claim for religious langauge
A
- its claims are cognitive
- they are therefore subject to verification
18
Q
what does hick conclude with his parable of the celestial city
A
- there is no evidence for whether or not the road leads to a celestial city
- their views on this dictate how they travel along it
- at the end of the journey all will be made clear
- hicks parable makes the point that there is a truth to know and that all will be revealed after death
19
Q
strengths of eschatological verification
A
- gives good supports to the view that religious claims are cognitive as if we do wake up in a resurrected body then we shall know that many other christian claims are true
- shows that heaven is a real possibility
- an atheists claim relating to life after death is similar: it could be falsified but never verified
20
Q
weaknesses of eschatological verification
A
- does not make heaven real. atheists would dismiss the parable
- it can be verified but not falsified if true because of its nature
21
Q
what is a blik
A
- a term used by hare for a fixed and unalterable view of the world that is not an assertion but is non cognitive and non falsifiable
22
Q
what does hare believe about religious langauge and bliks
A
- religious language is non cognitive
- his parable of the lunatic illustrates his claim that all beliefs are bliks
- bliks are interpretations of the world that are not falsifiable
- nevertheless they are deeply held, life changing and therefore crucial
23
Q
strengths of hares argument
A
- it explains why there are different factual claims in religion: they are bliks, not cognitive statements. this also explains why people are not convinced by evidence that challenges their view
- supports the view that religion gives a view that is used to interpret the whole of life in a range of distinctive ways
