C) Religious language as non-cognitive & analogical

1. Aquinas

• Believed we only have our day-to-day language to talk about God. We understand that words applied to God have a different meaning to everyday use because God is perfect. Therefore, we are using analogies
• Disagrees with the verification principle as he believes humans can only describe God using analogy
• Developed 2 forms of analogy to talk about God- proportion and attribution
• "...The knowledge of things does not depend on words, but on the meaning of names" (Aquinas- analogies)

2. The analogy of proportion

• Aquinas considered the universe was inhabited by different orders of things (hierarchical in status) e.g. God is above creation
• Each order possessed appropriate characteristics, though the adjective may be applied to different things. E.g. intelligence does not mean the same for a fox as for a human. It is relative
• Therefore, we can see the link but understand the difference- in proportion to the reality that the thing being spoken about possesses
• For Aquinas, it was therefore possible to talk analogically about God by making reference to human qualities

3. The analogy of attribution

• Aquinas believed attributes were entirely divinely inspired
• Humans can only be good because they come from God
• They are not good independently, but because they…