Theological noncognitivism
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Theological noncognitivism is the argument that religious language, and specifically words like "God" (capitalized), are not cognitively meaningful. Some thinkers propose it as a way to prove the nonexistence of anything named "God". It is sometimes considered to be synonymous with Ignosticism.
Theological noncognitivism can be argued in different ways, depending on one's theory of meaning. Michael Martin, writing in Atheism: A Philosophical Justification (1990) about Kai Nielsen's use of the verifiability theory of meaning, concludes that religious language is meaningless because it is not verifiable. Martin's position is that noncognitivism only proves weak atheism, however. [1]
In Atheism: The Case Against God (1975), George H. Smith uses an attribute-based approach in an attempt to prove that there is no concept for the term "God": he argues that there are no meaningful attributes, only negatively defined or relational attributes, making the term meaningless. Smith's position is that noncognitivism leads us to the conclusion that "nothing named 'God' exists", proving strong atheism.
[edit] External links
- The Argument from Non-Cognitivism, by James Lazarus, is a discussion of Smith-style noncognitivism.
- Theological Noncognitivism Examined, by Steven J. Conifer, is an examination of theological noncognitivism from a skeptical perspective.
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