Religious language

Question 1

What is an analytic statement

Answer 1

An analytic statement the words in the statements will verify if the statement is true or false

Question 2

What is an synthetic statement

Answer 2

A synthetic statement requires further external information to verify if it is true or false. The evidence will normally be empirical - our 5 sentence

Question 3

Cognitive statements are what

Answer 3

Realist and univocal

Question 4

What is Cognitive statements

Answer 4

Factual statements proven true or false vio empirical evidence

Question 5

Univocal means what

Answer 5

word means the same when applied to God when using RL

Question 6

What is realism

Answer 6

World exists objectively and independently of the way we think or describe it. To interpret religious statements in a realist way includes asserting these statements are either made true or false be something that exists objectively and independent of the way we think about it

Question 7

What is a non-cognitive statement

Answer 7

Context dependent statements that cannot be verified or falsified

Question 8

What is meant by non cognitive

Answer 8

Statements are anti-realist and equivocal

Question 9

What is meant by equivocal

Answer 9

Saying something and meaning different - never know what is meant when applied to God

Question 10

What is Non-realist / anti-realist

Answer 10

Religious statements are not made either true or false by anything objective

Question 11

What is some example of truth claims in religious language

Answer 11

“There is no God but Allah” and “God created the world”

Question 12

What Quotes in religious language shows people expressing feelings and emotions

Answer 12

“My soul glorifies the lord and my spirit rejoices in God my saviour”

Question 13

What quote expands on the verification principle

Answer 13

“A statement which cannot be conclusively verified cannot be verified at all. It is simply devoid of any meaning”

Question 14

What’s verifications how meaningful is the language used about God

Answer 14

Is meaningless as there is no way to show the truth or falsity of ‘God-talk’ by observation and experiments

Question 15

What is Swinburne issue with verification principle

Answer 15

Make statements people say meaningless. Gives the example “all ravens are (at all times) black”, Highlights that whilst we generally accept ravens are black there is no way to confirm this statement, because no matter how many ravens you blook at, there many be another one which is not black. Therefore the statements cannot be verified, so is meaningless.

Question 16

How can history be an issue for verification principle

Answer 16

no meaningful statements can be made about history. EG - battle of hasting happened in 1066 yet there is no way to empirically verify this, so the statement about the event is meaningless

Question 17

Whats A J Ayer quote about verification principle

Answer 17

“The criterion we use to test the genuineness of apparent statements of fact is the criterion of verifiability”.

Question 18

With Ayer whats important about the quote “God answers my prayer”

Answer 18

People do make other type of statements that are important to themselves, but such statements are not factually significant. EG [quote]. “Sentence expressing it may be emotionally significant but it is not literally significant”

Question 19

For Ayer what is a statement that needed to be verified called

Answer 19

Putative statement

Question 20

What is practical verifiability

Answer 20

Such statements can be tested in reality. EG “Mr smith car is red” I could observe the car and verify if the statement was true or false

Question 21

verifiability in principle is what

Answer 21

A statement that could could be verified if we had the correct technology. “This is life on mars”

Question 22

What is strong verification

Answer 22

Applied to anything that can be verified conclusively by observation/ experience. No doubt

Question 23

What is weak verification

Answer 23

statements that can be shown to be a probable by experience or observation. “all humans are mortal”

Question 24

After criticisms Ayer updated his statement to say what

Answer 24

“A statement is held to be literally meaningful if and only if (iff) it is analytic or empirically verifiable”

Question 25

What is directly verifiable

Answer 25

A statement that is verifiable through an observation

Question 26

What is indirectly verifiable

Answer 26

statement whose truth cannot be directly observed but could be supported by directly verifiable evidence. Also refers to analytic statements

Question 27

Verification is unverifiable

Answer 27

You cant verify the statements "statements are only meaningful if verifiable by sense observation" with a sense observation and it is not analytic

Question 28

God is talk is eschatologically verifiable. Is supported by who and what does it mean

Answer 28

John Hick Truth of religion will be verifiable in principle at the end of time

Question 29

What is Hicks example of the two travellers

Answer 29

Two travellers on the journey through life to the celestial city. One believes the city is real, the other does not. Whoever is right will be verified at the end of the journey

Question 30

Evaluation of strong verification

Answer 30

Widely criticised as is excluded many areas of knowledge such as history, because no sense observation can confirm historical events. it also excludes any universal statement (think Swinburne and the ravens). However, Ayer did make amendments to his theory to deal with these issues.

Question 31

What is the evaluation of evidence problem

Answer 31

what evidence should count? whilst Ayer reject religious experience other have stated that these should be accounted for

Question 32

What is the evaluation of meaningful but not verifiable

Answer 32

statement can still have meaning without being verified. E.g. Schrodinger's cat. You can never verify if the cat is dead or alive but there is still meaning to the idea of the cat in the box.

Question 33

What was Flew quotes on falsification principle

Answer 33

"Now it often seems to people who are not religious as if there was no conceivable event or series of events the occurrence of which would be admitted by sophisticated religious people to be a sufficient reason for conceding 'there wasn't a God after all".

Question 34

What is the falsification principle

Answer 34

Not concerned with what may make something true, but what may, in principle, makes it false. if something could not, in principle, be falsified then it is meaningless

Question 35

What is the principle of the explorers in the jungle in the falsification principle

Answer 35

2 explorers in the jungle come acroos a clearing with flowers and weeds. One explore concludes that a gardener must be responsible for looking after the plot but other disagrees. they wait for the gardener to appear, set up and electric fence and even use a bloodhound to track its scent. No sign of the gardener. Explorer who is convicted that the gardener exists states: Has no scent, makes no sound, secretly comes to look after the garden he loves

Question 36

What does the one explore that believes in the gardener have to do with religious believers

Answer 36

religious believers act in the same way as the explorer who believes in the garden. wont let anything falsify their belief

Question 37

How is natural disasters linked to falsification principle

Answer 37

religious believer may claim God loves people like a father and is omnibenevolent. Then their is natural disasters. Eg. Tsunami 2004. No help from God? Why didn't God prevent this? Love from god is "inscrutable". No experience will falsify a religious believers faith.