RELIGIOUS LANGUAGE
Use and purpose:
Religious language is concerned with what can be said about God
If god is infinite, then the words used to describe humans who are finite might not
adequately describe God + God is perfect so he might defy description
EG: is God ‘good’ in the same sense that you’re good?
The study of religious language is to work out whether or not religious language means
anything
- On one side = religious believers who believe that it’s possible to speak/write about God
- On the other side = logical positivists who claim that statements about God have no
meaning because they can’t be empirically verified
Religious believers agree that it is difficult to talk about God – ‘God’ refers to a being beyond
human understanding
Religious believers recognise that any discussion about God is limited, but argue religious
language does have meaning/purpose because it has the function of conveying ideas (this is
in itself meaningful)
2 types of language:
1. Cognitive – a statement that is subject to being true or false
EG: the dog is asleep on the chair
2. Non-cognitive – a statement that is NOT subject to truth or falsity
EG: ‘hurray’ or ‘ouch’
THE VERIFICATION PRINCIPLE
Strong Verification + the Logical Positivist:
The Vienna Circle (AKA logical positivist) were a group of philosophers whose central
principle was that propositions only have meaning if they can be verified empirically
Empirically: something that can be verified by observation and experience
Influenced by Ludwig Wittgenstein
Logical Positivists believed that some statements were meaningful and others were not – to
distinguish between what is meaningful/what isn’t = they came up with the verification
principle
Verification Principle: a statement can only be meaningful if it can be verified by the senses
or is a tautology
Tautology: a logical statement that we can know to be true by definition
EG: triangles have 3 sides
Weak verification:
Refers to statements that can be shown to be probable by observation and experienced (vs
strong verification which demands conclusive verification by observation and experience)
2 types of statements that are meaningful:
1. Analytical: statements that contain all the information needed to verify it
EG: 2+2=4
2. Synthetic: statements that can be confirmed through the use of the senses
EG: it’s raining outside
Use and purpose:
Religious language is concerned with what can be said about God
If god is infinite, then the words used to describe humans who are finite might not
adequately describe God + God is perfect so he might defy description
EG: is God ‘good’ in the same sense that you’re good?
The study of religious language is to work out whether or not religious language means
anything
- On one side = religious believers who believe that it’s possible to speak/write about God
- On the other side = logical positivists who claim that statements about God have no
meaning because they can’t be empirically verified
Religious believers agree that it is difficult to talk about God – ‘God’ refers to a being beyond
human understanding
Religious believers recognise that any discussion about God is limited, but argue religious
language does have meaning/purpose because it has the function of conveying ideas (this is
in itself meaningful)
2 types of language:
1. Cognitive – a statement that is subject to being true or false
EG: the dog is asleep on the chair
2. Non-cognitive – a statement that is NOT subject to truth or falsity
EG: ‘hurray’ or ‘ouch’
THE VERIFICATION PRINCIPLE
Strong Verification + the Logical Positivist:
The Vienna Circle (AKA logical positivist) were a group of philosophers whose central
principle was that propositions only have meaning if they can be verified empirically
Empirically: something that can be verified by observation and experience
Influenced by Ludwig Wittgenstein
Logical Positivists believed that some statements were meaningful and others were not – to
distinguish between what is meaningful/what isn’t = they came up with the verification
principle
Verification Principle: a statement can only be meaningful if it can be verified by the senses
or is a tautology
Tautology: a logical statement that we can know to be true by definition
EG: triangles have 3 sides
Weak verification:
Refers to statements that can be shown to be probable by observation and experienced (vs
strong verification which demands conclusive verification by observation and experience)
2 types of statements that are meaningful:
1. Analytical: statements that contain all the information needed to verify it
EG: 2+2=4
2. Synthetic: statements that can be confirmed through the use of the senses
EG: it’s raining outside
