Wittgenstein quiz

Which of these applies to Wittgenstein?

• Religious statements ARE subject to being true/false (Cognitivism)

• Religious statements ARE NOT subject to being true/false (Non-cognitivism)

What phrase characterises young Wittgenstein's theory of language?

• An auditory theory of linguistic meaning

• A picture theory of linguistic meaning

• A pattern theory of linguistic meaning

• An individual word theory of linguistic meaning

Which of these philosophers has views that most align with logical positivism (mentioned last lesson)?

• A.J. Ayer

• John Hick

• Richard Hare

• Wittgenstein

What does Wittgenstein mean by 'language games'?

• Particular uses of language with unspoken rules everyone understands in order to extract meaning from each other

• Fun word games like Scrabble and Hangman

• Words always have the same meaning in every situation

Which of these views on the meaning of language would Wittgenstein espouse?

• 'Words mean what they mean in the dictionary?'

• 'Meaning is use'

• 'Language is completely meaningless'

• 'Meaningful communication with others is impossible'

Which of these TWO would Wittgenstein say about scientific and religious language games?

• Science is playing the language game of setting up hypotheses that CAN be verified/falsified

• Science is playing the language game of setting up hypotheses that CAN'T be verified/falsified

• Religion are playing the language game of setting up hypotheses that CAN be verified/falsified

• Religions are playing the language game of communicating through non-cognitivist, ritualistic practices.

Which of these is the textbook's main objection to Wittgenstein's position on religious language?

• We shouldn't have to wait till the afterlife to derive meaning from religious language

• Science has empirically falsified religious claims

• Non-cognitivism falsifies itself by its own criteria

• If religious language no longer has to be true or false it no longer has to be connected to the world