WorksheetsReligious language: Verification and Language Games
Total questions: 20
Worksheet time: 12mins
Which approach to philosophy was developed by the Vienna Circle?
Logical Positivism
Positive logicalism
Language Games
Analogy and symbol
According to Logical Positivism, which areas of philosophy are deemed to be 'meaningless'? (3)
Ethics
Metaphysics
Tautologies
Religion
What are the two types of significant statements according to Logical Positivism and the verification theory? (2)
Normative ethical arguments
Statements of faith
Tautologies
Empirically verifiable statements
Which are examples of tautologies? (2)
London is the capital of England
A triangle has three sides
It is raining outside
A bachelor is an unmarried man
Which are empirically verifiable statements? (2)
Mount Everest is only 3 feet tall
It is immoral to lie to your parents
It is raining in Andover
God is love
Who distinguished between strong and weak verification?
Ludwig Wittgenstein
Richard Swinburne
A.J. Ayer
Richard Dawkins
What is the difference between strong and weak verification?
Weak verification is reliant on faith claims
Strong verification requires conclusive empirical evidence
Strong verification requires the claims to be shouted very loudly
Strong verification is reliant on tautologies
What did Ayer conclude about strong verification?
It is less valid than weak verification
It is ultimately impossible because absolute conclusive empirical evidence is unobtainable
It is wrong
It can prove the existence of God
Who criticised verification, arguing that logical positivists are creating their own version of metaphysics in rejecting metaphysics?
Dorothy Emmett
John Hick
Vincent Brummer
Richard Dawkins
Who criticised verification arguing that religious language and metaphysical claims should be understood as analogies?
Richard Swinburne
John Hick
Dorothy Emmett
Aristotle
Who argued that statements which cannot be proven can be meaningful? (using Toy Story)
John Hick
Dorothy Emmett
Vincent Brummer
Richard Swinburne
Who suggested the idea of 'eschatological verification'? (verification of religious truths in the afterlife)
Richard Dawkins
A.J Ayer
John Hick
Richard Swinburne
Who criticised verification, arguing that the search for God is a religious quest, not a scientific quest?
Ludwig Wittgenstein
D.Z Phillips
Vincent Brummer
Paul Tillich
Who argued that when we talk about different things such as religion, we are entering into different 'language games'?
Immanuel Kant
A.J. Ayer
Ludwig Wittgenstein
Vincent Brummer
What did Wittgenstein argue the task of the philosopher is when it comes to language?
To seek conceptual clarity
To seek the truth outside of the language game
To translate philosophy into english
To avoid explaining what are language means
What does the duck/rabbit mean in relation to Wittgenstein and language games?
That ducks are better than rabbits
That what we see isn't reality
That there are two different ways of seeing, not two different opinions
That believers and non-believers will never understand each other
Which of the following statements are cognitive? (2)
The sky is blue
Sit down now!
Is it still raining outside?
Andover is in Wiltshire
Which of the following statements are non-cognitive?
Where is the bus stop?
Ghosts are scary!
The UK has a population of 22 million
London is the smallest city in the world
Why might Wittgenstein's language games be considered a better approach to religious language than verification?
It recognises that religious statements are not the same as scientific claims
It uses science to disprove religion
It recognises that beliefs can be meaningful without any empirical evidence to support them
It suggests that all religious language is meaningless
What do Aquinas and Wittgenstein have in common when it comes to religious language? (2)
Both are concerned with how we use language
Both reject the existence of God
Both recognise the limitations of our language when it comes to religion/God
Both reject the via positiva approach to religious language
