20th Century Religious Language

• What new approach did non-religious philosophers discover in the 20th century to undermine religious belief?

  They denied the meaningfulness of religious language
• Why did Ayer become frustrated with traditional arguments about God's existence?

  Neither side could disprove the other
• What does Ayer argue about religious language?

  It fails to meet requirements for meaningfulness
• What foundational question must be answered before debating God's existence, according to Ayer?

  Whether religious language is meaningful
• What is the distinction between cognitive and non-cognitive language?

  Cognitive expresses beliefs; non-cognitive expresses feelings
• How do philosophers categorize the statement "The table is made of wood"?

  As cognitive language
• What does the statement "ouch" represent in philosophical terms?

  It is non-cognitive language expressing pain
• How do some philosophers view the statement "God exists" in terms of cognitive and non-cognitive language?

  They argue it may express a non-cognitive feeling
• Who were some philosophers impressed by the power of science and advocated for positivism?

  Comte and Mill
• What does 'logical' refer to in logical positivism?

  Language and clarity through analysis
• What is the verification principle according to Ayer?

  A sentence is meaningful if verifiable
• What type of statements does Ayer consider meaningful?

  Analytic statements and verifiable claims
• Why does Ayer consider metaphysical language meaningless?

  It cannot be verified by sense experience
• How does Ayer view the term 'God' in relation to empirical verification?

  'God' is a metaphysical term, unverifiable
• What is Ayer's stance on being an atheist?

  He claims he is not an atheist
• What is a strength of verificationism according to Ayer?

  It aligns with scientific understanding of reality
• What was Ayer's response to criticisms of verificationism being overly restrictive?

  He introduced the concept of weak verification
• How does weak verification differ from strong verification?

  Weak verification allows for some evidence
• What is a weakness of weak verification according to critics?

  It opens the door to arguments for God
• How did Ayer strengthen his verification principle?

  By defining direct and indirect verification
• What is direct verification?

  A statement verifiable by observation
• What is indirect verification?

  When direct verification supports another statement
• How does Ayer's verification principle rule out the possibility of verifying God?

  God cannot be verified directly or indirectly
• What is a criticism of verificationism regarding the concept of meaning?

  Meaning itself is a metaphysical concept
• What paradox does Quine highlight about logical positivism?

  It restricts thought to what can be verified
• What does Hick argue about the verification of God?

  God can be verified after death
• How does Hick illustrate his argument about religious language?

  With the parable of the celestial city
• What is a strength of Hick's approach to verificationism?

  It uses Ayer's principle of verifiability
• What is a weakness of Hick's argument regarding the afterlife?

  We cannot be sure an afterlife exists
• What does Ayer claim about the verification principle's requirement for meaningfulness?

  It must refer to reality and be testable
• What is a self-defeating aspect of the verification principle?

  It must be verifiable to be meaningful
• How did Carnap attempt to defend the verification principle?

  By claiming it is analytic
• What is a criticism of the verification principle as an empirical statement?

  It does not restrict meaning to analytic statements
• What does Ayer claim about the verification principle's role?

  It is a methodological tool for meaning
• How does Ayer's verification principle relate to rationalism?

  It does not disprove rationalism entirely
• What is Popper's theory of empiricism?

  It operates by falsification
• What distinguishes a falsifiable claim?

  It can be proven false by evidence
• How does Flew apply falsificationism to religious language?

  He argues it fails to meet assertion requirements
• What does Flew mean by asserting 'X'?

  It denies that 'not X' is true
• Who developed the verification principle?

  1. J. Ayer