Language which conveys things we could never know such as emotions.
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Who were the Logical Positivists?
A group of philosophers who rejected non-cognitive claims as meaningless.
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What are analytic statements?
Statements which have everything required to verify them, in them. E.G. Bachelors are unmarried men.
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What are synthetic statements?
Statements which can be verified. E.g. It is raining outside.
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Who came up with the Verification Principle?
Ayer
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What does the Verification Principle state?
'A statement which cannot be conclusively verified... is simply devoid of any meaning.'
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What does Ayer conclude religious statements are?
Non-cognitive statements which are therefore meaningless.
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What is a problem of the Verification Principle relating to how much we can verify?
We cannot verify things like historical events and scientific findings such as black holes. Yet we know these are not meaningless. A lot of knowledge defies verification.
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What does Hick say on the Verification Principle?
That religious statements are verifiable in principle. They are eschatologically verifiable.
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What does Richard Swinburne say on the Verification Principle?
That there are things which we cannot verify but are still meaningful.
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How does the Verification Principle contradict itself?
The Verification Principle cannot be verified.
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Who developed the Falsification Principle?
Flew
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What does the Falsification Principle state?
That in order for something to be meaningful we have to be able to conceive of evidence which would dispute it.
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What is the problem with claims religious believers make?
They are qualified so much that they no longer resemble the original assertion. They die a 'death of a thousand qualifications.'
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How did Hare respond to the Falsification Principle?
Hare created the idea of 'bliks.'
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What are 'bliks'?
Bliks are non-rational beliefs which could never be falsified.
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What is Basil Mitchell's criticism of the Falsification Principle and of bliks?
Religious claims are grounded in some facts.
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What is univocal language?
When we use the same word to mean the same thing. E.g. black board, black hat, black cat.
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What is equivocal language?
When we use the same word in completely different senses. E.g. Periodic table and dinning table.
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Why, according to Aquinas, can we not use univocal language when talking about God.
This assumes that we have complete knowledge of God and that he is comparable to us.
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Why, according to Aquinas, can we not use equivocal language to describe God?
This means we know nothing of God at all.
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What is analogy?
Comparing an unfamiliar idea to something more familiar to us.
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Why does analogy allow us to talk about God?
Because we can say broadly what God is like.
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What is the analogy of attribution?
There is a causal link between two things. We can gain understanding of God by considering his role as creator.
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What is the analogy of proportionality? (Hick)
That we have God's qualities because we were created in his image but in a lesser proportion.
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Other cards in this set
Card 2
Front
What is Non-Cognitive Language?
Back
Language which conveys things we could never know such as emotions.
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