Verification and Falsification

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  • Created by: lizpots99
  • Created on: 02-06-18 12:11

Falsificationism

Anthony Flew 

It is not concerned with what makes something true but what could potentially prove it false

Religious statements are meaningless ecause there is nothing that can count against them. Religious believers are so convinced of their beliefs that they refuse to consider evience against God. 

Flew explained this with the parable of the gardener suggesting that there was no piece of evidence that could make a believer drop their belief. Importantly the believer requalified their statement of a gardener until their description was no longer anything like their original claim. Flew calls this 'death by a thousand qualifications. After tests the gardener was intangible, inaudible and invisible. This is no longer in line with any idea of what a gardener is, and what is the difference betwen this and no gardener at all? It is no longer in keeping wwith our understanding of a gardener.

For example, believers can't logically claim that God is all-powerful and all loving and that evil exists. Flew suggests that the problem of evil should be a definiete piece of falsifying evidence against the classic theist God. 

Flew claims that believers have avoided evidence against God, such as the problem of evil, by suggesting meaningless statements such as 'God moves in mysterious ways'. Flew claims that if a believer says that 'God exists' they must be open to evidence against God's existence; however, he felt that believers were reluctant to do this and that…

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