RELIGIOUS LANGUAGE: Logical Positivism and Verification Flashcards
What does supernatural mean?
Literally above what is natural; what can’t be described by science/laws of nature
What are metaphysical claims?
Claims to do with a general interpretation of life
What is logical positivism?
The philosophical approach taken by the Vienna circle. They claimed that metaphysical and theological language are meaningless because they are neither matters of logic nor provable by empirical evidence
Who is Moritz Schlick?
German philosopher and physicist
What do logical positivists claim about meaningful language?
There are only 2 types of meaningful language: Synthetic propositions (based on evidence) Analytic propositions (true by definition)
What is the verification principle?
Schlick argued that the meaning of a statement is its method of verification. A statement’s truth must be verified through sense experience to be meaningful
Who is A. J. Ayer?
British philosopher who developed the VP
What does Ayer say about the meaning of religious statements?
The statements ‘God exists’ and ‘God does not exist’ are both meaningless because there is no sensory evidence to support them
Quote from Ayer in Language, Truth and Logic
‘A sentence is factually significant … if he knows how to verify the proposition’
Strength of the VP: Straightforward
Meaningful statements are either true by definition or else verifiable by sense experience
Strength of the VP: Allows ‘verification in principle’
It is enough to know how in theory a statement can be verified to render it meaningful. The Bible can supply verification in principle for religious statements
Weakness of the VP: It is itself not verifiable in principle
The VP is not a tautology (true by definition) and is not verifiable in principle. By its own criteria it is meaningless
Weakness of the VP: The demands of the VP are too narrow
It rules out all language as being meaningless, including moral, aesthetic, historical statements. The VP doesn’t work when discussing matters of interpretation, hopes, fears
What does cognitive mean?
Fact
Synthetic (depends on evidence)
What does non-cognitive mean?
Non-factual
Emotions, moral claims
