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Microsoft Word - Verificationismx
Microsoft Word - Verificationismx

... larger number of throws. And this is always true, no matter how many times you roll the die. So a falsification principle that requires a meaningful statement to entail some decisive, refuting empirical experience is unacceptable. Many meaningful statements do not clearly entail an observation with ...
YESHIVAT HAR ETZION
YESHIVAT HAR ETZION

... suggest that there are two types of metaphor. One type of metaphor is the intentional use of a word in order to evoke associations from another area and apply them to the area under discussion. For example, one might say, in reference to a politician, "So-And-So is a real snake." We describe a parti ...
19 Sep 2010
19 Sep 2010

... laundry list of beliefs. The Bible, for example, makes an enormous number of claims. Nobody could rationally agree with all of them. I prefer not to have such a laundry list of unexamined beliefs. In fact, I'd prefer to have no "beliefs" but to have only "conclusions" based on experience and reason. ...
Languagegames
Languagegames

... In reply to this challenge, logical positivists point out that the verification principle is not making a factual claim but simply a recommendation for the way in which words should be understood, however, if logical positivists maintain that that its recommendation is correct with no need for an e ...
religious language
religious language

... In this topic we look at the nature of religious language to determine whether any of the problems we have encountered so far can be unravelled by looking more closely at the statements we use to discuss them. We deal with questions like:  What are we doing when we are talking about God?  Are we s ...
Ethical and Religious Language
Ethical and Religious Language

... religious language that don’t apply to ethical language, such as the via negativa, Aquinas’ idea of analogical language, and recent theologians’ views on symbolic language. The most important area of overlap, which will we look at, concerns questions about the meaningfulness and truth of moral and r ...
A PHILOSOPHY OF RELIGION WITHOUT METAPHYSICS
A PHILOSOPHY OF RELIGION WITHOUT METAPHYSICS

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Problem of religious language

The problem of religious language considers whether it is possible to talk about God meaningfully if the traditional conceptions of God as being incorporeal, infinite, and timeless, are accepted. Because these traditional conceptions of God make it difficult to describe God, religious language has the potential to be meaningless. Theories of religious language either attempt to demonstrate that such language is meaningless, or attempt to show how religious language can still be meaningful.Traditionally, religious language has been explained as via negativa, analogy, symbolism, or myth, each of which describes a way of talking about God in human terms. The via negativa is a way of referring to God according to what God is not; analogy uses human qualities as standards against which to compare divine qualities; symbolism is used non-literally to describe otherwise ineffable experiences; and a mythological interpretation of religion attempts to reveal fundamental truths behind religious stories. Alternative explanations of religious language cast it as having political, performative, or imperative functions.Empiricist David Hume's requirement that claims about reality must be verified by evidence influenced the logical positivist movement, particularly the philosopher A. J. Ayer. The movement proposed that, for a statement to hold meaning, it must be possible to verify its truthfulness empirically – with evidence from the senses. Consequently, the logical positivists argued that religious language must be meaningless because the propositions it makes are impossible to verify. Austrian philosopher Ludwig Wittgenstein has been regarded as a logical positivist by some academics because he distinguished between things that can and cannot be spoken about; others have argued that he could not have been a logical positivist because he emphasised the importance of mysticism. British philosopher Antony Flew proposed a similar challenge based on the principle that, in so far as assertions of religious belief cannot be empirically falsified, religious statements are rendered meaningless.The analogy of games – most commonly associated with Ludwig Wittgenstein – has been proposed as a way of establishing meaning in religious language. The theory asserts that language must be understood in terms of a game: just as each game has its own rules determining what can and cannot be done, so each context of language has its own rules determining what is and is not meaningful. Religion is classified as a possible and legitimate language game which is meaningful within its own context. Various parables have also been proposed to solve the problem of meaning in religious language. R. M. Hare used his parable of a lunatic to introduce the concept of ""bliks"" – unfalsifiable beliefs according to which a worldview is established – which are not necessarily meaningless. Basil Mitchell used a parable to show that faith can be logical, even if it seems unverifiable. John Hick used his parable of the Celestial City to propose his theory of eschatological verification, the view that if there is an afterlife, then religious statements will be verifiable after death.
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