Blik and Language Games

• John Hick

  • Eschatological verification
  • Religious language is cognitive if it meets the falsification and verification principle's criteria
  • Favours the simple answer- Occam's Razor
• R.M. Hare

  • 1919-2002
  • English philosopher
  • Fellow and tutor at Oxford
  • Defends religious language by saying it consists of a set of assumptions
• "Moral statements 'prescribe' a course of action"- R.M. Hare
• Blik- a set of assumptions about the world that are beyond reason and evidence
• Bliks are non-negotiable in rational debate
• Hare's parable of the lunatic

  1. Lunatic believes all university dons want to murder him
  2. Friends introduce him to the mildest and kindest don
  3. After each don leaves, the lunatic still thinks they want to murder him
• Religious bliks

  • "God cares for creation"
  • "God will resurrect believers after death"
• Hare: religious statements are bliks. If it is not cognitive or factual assertions, it is an interpretation of the world
• Flew: Religious statements are assertions about the world. They are intended to be cognitive and factual
• Flew

  • Religious believers allow nothing to discredit their assertions
  • Religious statements are non-falsifiable and therefore, meaningless
  • The Parable of the Gardener
• Hare

  • Religious statements are non-falsifiable because they are non-cognitive
  • They are still deeply meaningful
  • Evidenced by the way believers refuse to think differently
  • The Parable of the Lunatic
• Flew will reject Hare's ideas about religious statements as religious believers see their statement about God as cognitive
• Flew would argue that most Christians believe their assertions about God are meaningful
• "If Hare's religion is a blik ... then surely he is not a Christian at all"- Flew
• Strengths of Hare's theory of bliks

  • Pluralism
  • Religious statements have personal meaning
  • Explains why contradicting evidence does not convince people
• Weaknesses of Hare's theory of bliks

  • Most believers do not see their beliefs as non-cognitive
  • If what a priest says is not factual, what are the psychological and spiritual benefits to their words
• Ludwig Wittgenstein

  • 1889-1951
  • Austrian-british philosopher
  • Taught at Cambridge, 1929-47
  • Very wealthy
  • Was a war hero decorated for bravery
• Ludwig Wittgenstein is named "the most influential philosopher of the twentieth century"
• "What is your aim in philosophy? To show the fly the way out of the fly bottle"- Wittgenstein

  • Philosophical problems are caused by a lack of attention to language, this traps philosophers
  • Philosophy has to focus on language to solve these problems
• Language games

  • Language has meaning within a social context
  • Each context is governed by rules in the same way that a game is
• "My best piece of advice is 'Don't think, look!"- Wittgenstein
• "Philosophical problems arise when language goes on holiday"- Wittgenstein
• Wittgenstein's Language Games was not published in his life
• Language Games: the meaning of language is found in the way it is used and language is a tool for getting something done
• The meaning of words is given by how they are used: 'queer' used to be derogatory, but the it is being used more positively in culture
• You cannot criticise other people's use of language without understanding the full intention, context and meaning of that use
• Chess, football, certain jobs as language games follow their own patterns and meaning
• Religious language contains a multiplicity of language games within its own context, which is the language of the believing community
• According to Language Games, the statements 'I believe in God' and 'I do not believe in God' are not contradictory, they are just different perspectives
• In religious language, using evidence is not part of the game
• Trying to force the language game of science onto the language game of religion is irrelevant