Lecture notes
Class Notes - Religious Language
- Institution
- AQA
This document highlights all the key aspects. It details both the information and the evaluation points, in a clear, concise and aesthetic way.
[Show more]
Seller
Follow
Content preview
ReligiouLanguag
, 23.11.21
RELIGIOUS LANGUAGE -
SPEAKING ABOUT GOD
1. WHAT IS RELIGIOUS LANGUAGE
o God exists
:
God is love
O There is life after death
Jesus is my saviour
2. HOW ARE SUCH STATEMENTS TO BE UNDERSTOOD?
& Why religious language?
o The concept of a God is:
• Something other, something timeless
We talk of things using our knowledge that is
acquired through our experience
If something is 'other' and 'timeless' it is by
definition not part of our experience
o Meaning, how can we talk about something that
doesn't belong in our world?
X Going back to Hume
He makes a distinction between statements that
convey facts
They express knowledge
,:/
Those that convey values - which don't convey
knowledge, as they are concerned with feelings and
metaphysical claims
From this we can identify two ways of thinking
about religious language
3. TWO WAYS OF UNDERSTANDING RELIGIOUS LANGAUGE
• Cognitive
RL refers to things that can be known about, through
empirical observation
Meaning they can be shown to be false
Religious statements correspond to something that
actually exists
O Cognitive meaning
Univocal, factual, objective, empirically
verifiable, statements about religious
experiences, realist
• RL refers to emotions or subjective states of mind
O They don't correspond to something existing in the
world
O May be understood symbolically or metaphorically
Non-cognitive meaning
Equivocal, not factual, subjective, not empirically
testable, statements are user-defined, anti-realist
WHAT DOES A WORD MEAN?
* Univocal
o Words that have only one meaning
, Words about God must have same meaning in our
world
Black, sky, tree
Words that have more than one meaning
Mouse, web, score
Via negativa
john's mood was BLACK' - not literally, but
metaphorically
:
5. THE MEANING OF 'MEANING
• Theories of knowledge/epistemology
C Cognitive - statements has meaning if it corresponds
with something in the real world
Correspondence theory of
meaning/knowledge/truth
Non-cognitive - statement has meaning if it coheres
with other statements that are part of a person's
world view
Coherence theory of meaning/knowledge/truth
The benefits of buying summaries with Stuvia:
Guaranteed quality through customer reviews
Stuvia customers have reviewed more than 700,000 summaries. This how you know that you are buying the best documents.
Quick and easy check-out
You can quickly pay through credit card for the summaries. There is no membership needed.
Focus on what matters
Your fellow students write the study notes themselves, which is why the documents are always reliable and up-to-date. This ensures you quickly get to the core!
Frequently asked questions
What do I get when I buy this document?
You get a PDF, available immediately after your purchase. The purchased document is accessible anytime, anywhere and indefinitely through your profile.
Satisfaction guarantee: how does it work?
Our satisfaction guarantee ensures that you always find a study document that suits you well. You fill out a form, and our customer service team takes care of the rest.
Who am I buying these notes from?
Stuvia is a marketplace, so you are not buying this document from us, but from seller sumnerj2021. Stuvia facilitates payment to the seller.
Will I be stuck with a subscription?
No, you only buy these notes for £6.99. You're not tied to anything after your purchase.
Can Stuvia be trusted?
4.6 stars on Google & Trustpilot (+1000 reviews)
67474 documents were sold in the last 30 days
Founded in 2010, the go-to place to buy revision notes and other study material for 14 years now