RS a level PHILOSOPHY - 20th century religious language

ao1 and ao2

define logical positivism

an intellectual movement from the 1920s that claimed assertions have to be capable of being tested empirically to be meaningful

define cognitive

knowledge having a factual quality, where words are labels for things in the world

define non-cognitive

knowledge not having an available factual quality, where words are tools to achieve something rather than referring to something real

define empirical

able to be experienced with the senses

define verification

providing evidence to prove something is true

define symposium

a group of people who discuss a particular question or theme

define falsification

providing evidence to prove something is false

define demythologising

removing the mythical elements from a narrative to reveal the central message

which 3 approaches to religious language are covered in this topic

verification principle, falsification symposium, Wittgenstein’s language games

summarise Hick’s ‘Celestial City’

two men are on a journey (life) and one believes it leads to the Celestial City (heaven) while the other believes it leads to nothing. when they turn the last corner (death) it will be apparent that one of them was right

therefore, religious statements about the afterlife can pass the verification principle

Summarise Wisdom’s parable of the gardener, which he titles ‘Gods’

two people come to an unattended garden and find some of the plants surprisingly vigorous, one man (the religious believer) suggests a secret gardener must have come to take care of them, while the other one (the atheist) thinks there is no gardener

both see the same empirical evidence but arrange at different conclusions, undermining the use of the verification principle in religious debates

Summarise Flew’s parable of the clearing in the jungle (an extension of Wisdom’s ‘Gods’)

the believer in the secret gardener constantly changes their conclusions e.g. the gardener must be invisible, which confuses the atheist, called the “sceptic”, as the theists beliefs change entirely. contributes to the falsification symposium

summarise Mitchell’s parable of the stranger and the partisan

a response to Flew. the partisan (religious believer) is a member of the resistance in war time, and meets a stranger (God) who tells him to always trust he is on his side, despite all contrary evidence. the partisan’s friends (sceptics) ask him what would dissuade his faith, but nothing will

written as a part of the falsification symposium to make the point that religious claims do not need to be approached like scientific claims with detached observation

summarise Hare’s parable of the paranoid man

a lunatic thinks all dons want to murder him and cannot be dissuaded. Hare makes the point that from the lunatic’s perspective, there is evidence to support his paranoia because of his personal “blik”: a frame of reference for what counts as evidence. the religious “blik” allows a religious believer to see what a sceptic cannot

quote from Ayer defining his verification principle

“we know the meaning of a statement if we know the conditions under which the statement is true of false”

how do we test a synthetic statement, according to VP

empirical evidence

how do we test an analytic statement, according to VP

logical analysis

quote From Ayer deeming religious language meaningless

“all utterances about the nature of God are nonsensical”

In what way does the VP rule out too many claims as meaningless?

claims about the past or generalisations, such as in science, are rendered meaningless

how does Ayer overcome the criticism that the VP rules out too many claims? (2 modifications)

Verification in Principle: it does not have to be possible to practically carry out the verification

Weak Verification: do not have to conclusively verify the statement but can use evidence to show it’s probability

in what way does the VP fail its own test

it cannot be verified either analytically or by evidence

what kind of verification does Hick propose to counter Ayer’s VP

eschatological verification

what is the principle that the falsification symposium dedicates itself to discussing

for a statement to be meaningful it must be shown to correspond to reality

what does Wittgenstein argue is the cause of philosophical issues

problems of different language games

quote from Wittgenstein on world view, which corresponds with the idea of language games

“the limits of my mind mean the limits of my world”

quote from Wittgenstein criticising a cognitive view of language

“don’t ask for the meaning, ask for the use”

summarise Wittgenstein’s view on the meaning of words

not rigid or static; what’s important is how a word is used

do different religious groups have their own language games

yes

why does Wittgenstein say Christians do not suggest evil in the world means God does not exist

is does not fit within the rules of the Christian language game

define what Wittgenstein means by “world picture”

a framework within which a person thinks and lives their life

is religious belief a “form of life,” according to Wittgenstein?

yes

what does sui generis mean

religion says what it says and can only be truly understood in its own terms

quote from Gellner criticising the Wittgenstein’s non-cognitive approach

“he takes apart a perfectly working clock and then wonders why it doesn’t work”

Which author of ‘the view from nowhere’ highlights that everyone has worldviews, but the aim of philosophy and ethics is to reach objectivity

Nagel

does Nagel suggest that subjective perspectives are as real/meaningful as objective ones? whose approach to religious language does this support?

yes. Wittgenstein

4 comparative points between Aquinas and Wittgenstein

faith vs sceptic seeking understanding

both concerned about the impossibility of expressing God in human terms

cognitivism vs noncognitivism

analogy vs typical human language

what is Fideism? how does this fit into Wittgenstein’s views?

relying on faith alone

Religion is its own form of life with its own internal standards of reality and rationality; atheists are not in a position to understand or criticize religious belief

quote from Wittgenstein on the root problem of philosophy

“philosophical problems arise when language goes on holiday”

quote from Flew showing the un-falsifiability of religious claims

“what remains of your original assertion?”

quote from Flew arguing religious claims are not claims at all

they suffer “the death of a thousand qualifications”