RL: Verificationism, Falsificationism & Language games

• What is the focus of the A Level Philosophy & Religious Studies summary notes?

  20th century religious language
• What does verificationism claim about religious language?

  It is cognitive but meaningless
• Who is associated with the verificationism approach?


  1. J. Ayer
• What does Ayer argue about religious language?

  It expresses beliefs but is unverifiable and thus meaningless
• What is the verification principle according to Ayer?

  A statement must be either analytic or empirically verifiable to be meaningful
• What does Ayer mean by 'hard' verification?


  Using experience to verify something for certain as true or false
• What is Ayer's 'weak' verification principle?

  Using experience to verify that something is probably true or false
• Why did Ayer reject weak verification?


  It could give meaning to almost anything, including God
• What are the two types of verification Ayer describes?

  Direct and indirect verification
• What is direct verification?

  Verifying something through direct experience
• What is indirect verification?

  Verifying something that cannot be directly experienced but can be verified in principle
• How does Ayer illustrate indirect verification?

  By claiming there are mountains on the dark side of the moon
• What does Ayer call the term 'God'?


  A metaphysical term
• What is Ayer's conclusion about all religious language?


  It is meaningless because it is neither analytic nor empirically verifiable
• What is Hick's counter to Ayer's verificationism?

  Religious language is empirically verifiable in an afterlife
• What does Hick's parable of the celestial city illustrate?


  That one will discover the truth about God in the afterlife
• What does Hick argue about God's verifiability?


  God is verifiable in principle, even if currently unverifiable
• What is a criticism of Hick's argument regarding the afterlife?


  If there is no afterlife, we won't know the truth
• What is a stronger criticism of Ayer's verification principle?


  It cannot pass its own test
• Why can't the verification principle be analytic?


  It can be denied without contradiction
• What does Ayer claim about the verification principle?


  It is a tool of empiricism to root out unempirical language
• What was Ayer's goal in rejecting rationalist metaphysical language?

  To end the debate between rationalism and empiricism
• Who rejected verificationism and invented falsificationism?

  Karl Popper
• How does Popper's view of science differ from verificationism?


  Science works by trying to prove theories wrong, not just verifying them
• What does Flew argue about religious language?


  It expresses beliefs that are unfalsifiable and thus meaningless
• What does Flew mean by asserting that 'X' is the case?


  It is equivalent to asserting that 'not X' is not the case
• What is the test of falsifiability according to Flew?

  We must be able to imagine how a belief could be false
• Why do religious believers fail according to Flew?


  They cannot say what could prove their belief in God false
• What does the parable of the gardener illustrate?

  Why unfalsifiable language fails to assert anything
• What does Flew mean by 'death of a thousand qualifications'?


  It refers to diluting a concept to avoid falsification
• What is Mitchell's counter to Flew's argument?

  Flew was wrong to think religious language is unfalsifiable
• How does Mitchell illustrate his argument?


  With the example of a religious person abandoning faith after a child's death
• What does Mitchell conclude about most religious belief?

  It is falsifiable, but people may not know how
• What does Flew argue about the logical problem of evil?


  It shows that the existence of evil is inconsistent with the God of classical theism
• What is Plantinga's free will defense?

  It claims that God cannot remove evil without removing the greater good of free will
• What is the evidential problem of evil?

  It suggests that the amount of evil matters in relation to belief in God
• What does Mitchell argue about the level of evil?

  Some unknown level of evil could counter religious belief
• How do Ayer and Flew view religious language?

  As a failed attempt to describe reality
• What is Hare's position on religious language?

  It expresses non-cognitive attitudes or emotions
• How does Hare illustrate his theory?

  With the story of a paranoid student