Religious Language

Answer : ‘Analogies of Game’ and ‘Parables’ have been used by philosophers to verify religious language and make them meaningful. Ludwig Wittgenstein proposed analogy of games to ascertain and establish meaning in religious language. He says as each and every game has its own rule which governs what can be done in the game and what cannot be done. So is true with each context of language which has its own rule determining what is and is ....

Answer : Contemporary work in the philosophy of religion has been much occupied with problems created by the distinctively religious uses of language. Cognitive language is language which conveys facts or information: it is therefore either true, or false. Non-cognitive language is not intended to convey information, but has a different use.

The idea of the use or function of language is very important to all non-cognitive views of language. Common, non-religious examples of non-cognitive language are commands ....

Answer : Cognitive language is language which conveys facts or information: it is therefore either true, or false. Non-cognitive language is not intended to convey information, but has a different use. The idea of the use or function of language is very important to all non-cognitive views of language. Common, non-religious examples of non-cognitive language are commands and swear words. There are many examples within religion where language is used non-cognitively: worshipping, blessing, baptizing etc. There are ....

Answer : One way of establishing whether or not a statement is meaningful was proposed by A.J.Ayer. This criterion for meaning was called the verification principle and insisted that for a statement to be meaningful, it must be verifiable by sense experiences – or, in the weaker form of the principle, it should be possible to know what sense experience could make the statement probable. This form of realism implies a very strict view of language: words ....

Answer : Cognitivism is perhaps best defined as the denial of non-cognitivism. Cognitivists think that moral sentences are apt for truth or falsity, and that the state of mind of accepting a moral judgment is typically one of belief.

They think that typical utterances of indicative sentences containing moral predicates express beliefs in the same way that other sentences with ordinary descriptive predicates typically do. (There is some reason to be careful here since cognitivists may not ....

Answer : In the philosophy of religion, four main theories are given regarding the religious language. They are full cognitive theory, semi cognitive theory, non-cognitive theory and Utility theory. The Classification of theories is done on the basis of their nature and characteristics. There are two types of the Semi-cognitive theories of the philosophy of religion. First is based on analogy and second is based on symbol. Paul Tillich supports the symbolism theory in Semi-cognitive type. Paul ....

Answer : In the philosophy of religion, nature of religious language has been interpreted differently on the basis of its nature, they are cognitive description, non-cognitive description and utility description.

Theists regard religious language as cognitive and presents its cognitive description. In the cognitive description, information is received about any object, substance, person or incidence or about its qualities. There are two forms of cognitive description: first analytical, second synthetical. Analytical is descriptive whereas synthetical is factual.

According to ....

Answer : The term “religious language” refers to statements or claims made about God or gods. Here is a typical philosophical problem of religious language. If God is infinite, then words used to describe finite creatures might not adequately describe God. This difficulty challenges us to articulate the degree that attributes used for finite beings can be used for God and what these attributes mean when they describe God. The ambiguity in meaning with respect to the ....

Answer : The subject of religious language is derived from the question “Can we speak meaningfully about God?” This question has great significance. God is, by nature, an ineffable being outside spacio-temporal confines which limit us human beings. God’s ineffability and transcendent nature means it is difficult to construct a meaningful statement about God without impinging on His definition. If it is not possible to make a meaningful statement about God then there is a danger that ....

Answer : Paul Tillich describes faith as an act of personality, and examines how faith participates in the dynamics of the personality. Tillich defines and explores faith as ultimate concern. Faith is a centered act of being ultimately concerned. This definition is ambiguous, and needs further explanation. If faith is ultimate concern, with what is it ultimately concerned? To be concerned, we must be concerned with something. Tillich says that the content of faith does not matter ....

Answer : The meaning of religious language has always been in debate. The main philosophical interest in religious language is in the understanding of what exactly it conveys. Can they really be what they claim about the divine reality? There are several reasons for denying this. The most preeminent of these stems form the theory of verifiability of meaning. According to this theory an utterance can be statement that is objectively true or false only if it ....