AQA A-Level Philosophy Paper 2
Metaphysics of God - Religious
Language/ Latest Update
What is cognitivism? - CORRECT ANSWERS -A sentence is meaningful insofar as it is
makes claim about the world and so the truth conditions for the statement can be clearly
stated. Cognitivists argue that a meaningful sentence is one that expresses a
belief about the world
What is cognitivism when applied to religious language? - CORRECT ANSWERS -
When someone makes a religious statement such as 'God exists' They are asserting a
proposition that is intended to describe the way the world is and it is therefore either true
or false.
What are two theories that dispute the meaningfulness of religious language? -
CORRECT ANSWERS -Verification
Falsifiability
What is the verification principle? - CORRECT ANSWERS -A statement is cognitively
meaningful if and only if it is either analytic or (in principle) empirically verifiable.
Developed by A.J. Ayer. Part of the logical positivist Vienna Circle.
Ayer used the ideas of the logical positivists and Hume's fork applying them to all areas
of philosophy.
How is the verification principle applied to religious language? - CORRECT ANSWERS
-Carnap - 'The Elimination of Metaphysics Through Logical Analysis of Language'
By its nature - discussing that which is metaphysical is not verifiable.
Hume's fork and the VP demonstrate that any claims about God or religion rely on
metaphysical claims and are therefore meaningless.
Ayer attacks a priori attempts to demonstrate God's existence (ontological argument).
You cannot prove existence a priori
Ayer attacks a posteriori attempts to demonstrate God's existence because they rely on
premises that contain metaphysical terms that cannot be verified and therefore have no
meaning!
What is strong vs weak verification? - CORRECT ANSWERS -Strong verification -
verifiable in practice - can verify it via sense experience in the here an now!
, Weak verification - verifiable in principle - a statement is meaningful if we can identify
what observations would count for / against a claim.
What are some criticisms of the verification principle? - CORRECT ANSWERS -
Reduces too much language to meaningless utterances
(art, beauty, inner feelings, poetry, metaphor, symbolism, ethics)
The principle itself is a statement that is unverifiable 'for any proposition to be
meaningful it must either be verifiable or true by definition"
What is Hick's Eschatological Verification? - CORRECT ANSWERS -Hick agrees with
Ayer that the only meaningful statements are ones that can be verified. Despite this, his
definition of verification is different to Ayer.
Hick states that verifiability should be judged on whether it is possible to remove the
grounds for rational doubt about the truth of the claim in question.
Hick acknowledges that religious statements cannot be falsified, but states that they can
be verified, at least in principle
What is the parable of the celestial city? - CORRECT ANSWERS -"Two men are
travelling together along a road. One of them believes that it leads to the Celestial City,
the other that it leads nowhere. But since this is the only road there is, both must travel
it. Neither has been this way before, therefore neither is able to say what they will find
around each corner. During their journey they meet with moments of refreshment and
delight, and with moments of hardship and danger. All the time one of them thinks of his
journey as a pilgrimage to the Celestial City ... The other, however, believes none of
this, and sees their journey as an unavoidable and aimless ramble ... Yet, when they
turn the last corner, it will be apparent that one of them has been right all the time and
the other wrong..."
What does the parable of the celestial city point to? - CORRECT ANSWERS -
Eschatological verification. We can verify the existence of God and Heaven after our
deaths.
What are issues with Hick's theory? - CORRECT ANSWERS -When we die bodies
decompose - can I maintain personal identity without my body?
If I get a new body via resurrection, how am I the same person?
What is Hick's response to this? - CORRECT ANSWERS -If somebody disappears in
the US and immediately replicates in India, and the replica views themselves as the
disappeared person and is the same in every way, it is the same person. If that person
dies in the USA and replicates in India, its the same logic. Now, if that person dies and
he replicates in Heaven, you would say it is the same person.
Metaphysics of God - Religious
Language/ Latest Update
What is cognitivism? - CORRECT ANSWERS -A sentence is meaningful insofar as it is
makes claim about the world and so the truth conditions for the statement can be clearly
stated. Cognitivists argue that a meaningful sentence is one that expresses a
belief about the world
What is cognitivism when applied to religious language? - CORRECT ANSWERS -
When someone makes a religious statement such as 'God exists' They are asserting a
proposition that is intended to describe the way the world is and it is therefore either true
or false.
What are two theories that dispute the meaningfulness of religious language? -
CORRECT ANSWERS -Verification
Falsifiability
What is the verification principle? - CORRECT ANSWERS -A statement is cognitively
meaningful if and only if it is either analytic or (in principle) empirically verifiable.
Developed by A.J. Ayer. Part of the logical positivist Vienna Circle.
Ayer used the ideas of the logical positivists and Hume's fork applying them to all areas
of philosophy.
How is the verification principle applied to religious language? - CORRECT ANSWERS
-Carnap - 'The Elimination of Metaphysics Through Logical Analysis of Language'
By its nature - discussing that which is metaphysical is not verifiable.
Hume's fork and the VP demonstrate that any claims about God or religion rely on
metaphysical claims and are therefore meaningless.
Ayer attacks a priori attempts to demonstrate God's existence (ontological argument).
You cannot prove existence a priori
Ayer attacks a posteriori attempts to demonstrate God's existence because they rely on
premises that contain metaphysical terms that cannot be verified and therefore have no
meaning!
What is strong vs weak verification? - CORRECT ANSWERS -Strong verification -
verifiable in practice - can verify it via sense experience in the here an now!
, Weak verification - verifiable in principle - a statement is meaningful if we can identify
what observations would count for / against a claim.
What are some criticisms of the verification principle? - CORRECT ANSWERS -
Reduces too much language to meaningless utterances
(art, beauty, inner feelings, poetry, metaphor, symbolism, ethics)
The principle itself is a statement that is unverifiable 'for any proposition to be
meaningful it must either be verifiable or true by definition"
What is Hick's Eschatological Verification? - CORRECT ANSWERS -Hick agrees with
Ayer that the only meaningful statements are ones that can be verified. Despite this, his
definition of verification is different to Ayer.
Hick states that verifiability should be judged on whether it is possible to remove the
grounds for rational doubt about the truth of the claim in question.
Hick acknowledges that religious statements cannot be falsified, but states that they can
be verified, at least in principle
What is the parable of the celestial city? - CORRECT ANSWERS -"Two men are
travelling together along a road. One of them believes that it leads to the Celestial City,
the other that it leads nowhere. But since this is the only road there is, both must travel
it. Neither has been this way before, therefore neither is able to say what they will find
around each corner. During their journey they meet with moments of refreshment and
delight, and with moments of hardship and danger. All the time one of them thinks of his
journey as a pilgrimage to the Celestial City ... The other, however, believes none of
this, and sees their journey as an unavoidable and aimless ramble ... Yet, when they
turn the last corner, it will be apparent that one of them has been right all the time and
the other wrong..."
What does the parable of the celestial city point to? - CORRECT ANSWERS -
Eschatological verification. We can verify the existence of God and Heaven after our
deaths.
What are issues with Hick's theory? - CORRECT ANSWERS -When we die bodies
decompose - can I maintain personal identity without my body?
If I get a new body via resurrection, how am I the same person?
What is Hick's response to this? - CORRECT ANSWERS -If somebody disappears in
the US and immediately replicates in India, and the replica views themselves as the
disappeared person and is the same in every way, it is the same person. If that person
dies in the USA and replicates in India, its the same logic. Now, if that person dies and
he replicates in Heaven, you would say it is the same person.
