Religious Language

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Religious Language

• Michael Lacewing
• enquiries_at_alevelphilosophy.co.uk

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Univocal language
Talk of God is univocal. A word is univocal if it
yields a contradiction when affirmed and denied
of the same thing

• Objection this doesnt do justice to the
  transcendence of God.

Duns Scotus
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Aquinas on analogy
We must extend our terms before applying them to
God. Talk of God is by analogy.
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Analogy of attribution

• Organisms are literally healthy (or not) food is
  healthy (or not) by analogy. Food that is healthy
  causes organisms to be healthy.
• To say God is love is to say God is the cause
  or ground of all love.
• Two problems
• Is God literally the cause of love?
• Does love apply literally to us and
  analogically to us? Or does it apply literally
  and in the first instance to God?

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Analogy of proportion
A human father loves in the way and sense
appropriate to human fathers and God loves in the
way and sense appropriate to God.

• But if we dont already know what God is, how do
  we know what it means to say that God loves in a
  way appropriate to God?

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Ayers verification principle

• All meaningful statements are either analytic
  (true or false in virtue of the meanings of the
  terms used) or empirically verifiable (can be
  shown by experience to be true or false or to be
  probably true or false)
• God exists cannot be shown true or false in
  either way, so it is meaningless

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Replies

• The verification principle is neither analytic
  nor empirically verifiable. Therefore, by its own
  criterion, it is meaningless. Therefore, this
  criterion is false.
• Hick religious language is empirical
  eschatological verification
• Wittgenstein religious language is not
  empirical, but is meaningful

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Wittgenstein

• Meaning is given by use. God exists is not used
  to assert an empirical claim. God is not a
  thing.
• Religious language expresses a commitment to a
  way of living or assessing life

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Tillich Symbolic language
Our understanding of God takes the form of
symbols, e.g. the Way, the Truth, the Life, the
Resurrection, the Cross. Religious language tries
to express this symbolic meaning.

• Symbols partake in what they express.

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Three implications of symbolic language

• Understanding symbols and finding the words to
  express their meaning doesnt follow any obvious
  rules.
• It is not possible to give a literal statement of
  the meaning of a symbol.
• We need to be sensitive to the fact that symbols
  point beyond themselves.