Religious Language Flashcards

Question

what are the two types of sentance that the vienna circle proposed?

Answer 1

``` analytic statements "a triangle has 3 sides" -dont say much about the world -tell us what a word means -factually meaningful as you can verify by analysing the words being used ``` synthetic statements "my poo is smelly" -are also factually meaningfull becuase their truth can be checked

Answer 2

strong verification, weak verification and falsification

Answer 3

this principle asserts that statements are only meaningfull if their truth of falsity can be conclusively proved by either experience or observation metaphysical statements are meaningless because they cannot be verified AJ Ayer: "the term god is a metaphysical term. and if god is a metaphysical terms then it cannot even be probable that god exists" - Ayer does not deny God's existence but he denies the probability of God's existence on the grounds that there is no way to empircally verify his existence

Answer 4

as it requires conclusive proof through observation or experience, it condemns as meaningless too many sentences that are obviously meaningfull for example: all poo is smelly, with the strong verification principle you would need to smell every poo in the world to verify - this is why the weak verification principle is a ting

Answer 5

strong verification principle with 2 modifications: 1) recognises that it is not always possible to gather all evidence for conclusive proof so says that statements are meaningful if it is possible in principle to gather the evidence 2) if you can establish such statements as probable through experience and observation then the statement is meaningful "all poo is smelly" 1) it is possible to gain infomation to prove/disprove this 2) having smelt a smaple of smelly poo you could conclude it is probably that all poo is smelly AJ Ayers says that statements can either be directly or indircectly verifiable - directly by observation -indirectly through observation of other evidence eg black holes

Answer 6

statementw which attempt to say something about the world are only meaningful if it is possible to say what would make the statement false philosopher Karl Popper was the inspiration behind this principle becuase he pointed out that if meaning depended on verification then the whole of science would be wiped out because none of the general laws of science are actually verifiable anthony flew said that if you can prove a statement to be false it is meaningful eg 'all swans are white', one black swan proves this is not true. he also said a lot of religious people do not allow the possibility that their statements may be falsified which makes their statements meaningless a famous example of the falsification principle is john wisdoms parable of the gardener: "Two people return to their long neglected garden and find, among the weeds, that a few of the old plants are surprisingly vigorous. One says to the other, 'It must be that a gardener has been coming and doing something about these weeds.' The other disagrees and an argument ensues. They pitch their tents and set a watch. No gardener is ever seen. The believer wonders if there is an invisible gardener, so they patrol with bloodhounds but the bloodhounds never give a cry. Yet the believer remains unconvinced, and insists that the gardener is invisible, has no scent and gives no sound. The sceptic doesn't agree, and asks how a so-called invisible, intangible, elusive gardener differ from an imaginary gardener, or even no gardener at all." - according to flew the the claim that there is a gardener is meaningless becuase he will not accept the evidence against the gardener

Answer 7

RM Hare's response to the falsificaiton principle a 'blik' is a view not necessarily based on reason or fact and cannot be verified or falsified but it is meaningful to the believer - we do not need to explain why we hold this 'blik' (crazy student parable)

Answer 8

he thinks that believers have a prior faith commitment to god based on their faith. they dont allowed contrary evidence to undermine their faith but it is still meaningfull to them - it cannot be verified or falsified in the simplistic way demanded by the logical positivists

Answer 9

This states that at the end of time all the parts of religious belief that require faith will be made clear by god (parable of the two people on the road to celestial city) on the road you cannot tell who's view is correct but neither is meaningless because once the road is finished there is the possibility of verification at the end of the journey

Answer 10

language as a moral assertion: religious language is meaningfull becuase of what it brings about, he was not concerned with what religious statements are but how they are used they can be verified becuase of the change in behavior they bring about. he argued that becuase religious statements such as "god is the almighty father" bring about a change in action they have meaning and bring about a moral commitment to a certain kinda of life

Answer 11

he had supported the logical positivists (vienna circle) but came to reject the verification principle he believed the meaning of words is in their use: the function they perform as agreed by the particular group or society using them he developed the theory of language games - just like games like football and rugby, language operates according to rules - religious believers have their own language which non believers will find meaningless because they are outside the language game. they cannot claim it is meaninglesss just because it does not make sense to them

Religious Language Flashcards

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