Is it what I think it is?
The contributions of Flew, Hare & Hick.
Proof of God’s existence?
• Flew argues that any “truth claim” must be verifiable
• Since religious experiences cannot be verified, they
cannot be relied upon to prove the existence of God.
(they are meaningless)
• There is no way of reconciling different “bliks” so Hare
offers us no way of saying which “blik” has a greater
bearing on objective reality
• Hare’s view is that our perception of reality is entirely
subjective so they cannot be used to prove the
existence of God to anyone but ourselves (the person
experiencing it).
John Wisdom’s Parable of the Gardener
Two explorers one day come across a
clearing in the middle of the jungle.
There are plenty of beautiful plants and
flowers around and the 1st explorer
says. “there must be a gardener who
tends this plot”.
The 2nd explorer sees weeds among
the flowers and disagrees. “No, there is
no gardener here”.
They set up camp and wait to see if the
elusive gardener appears.
They set up a barbed wire fence around
the garden to catch the gardener.
There is no evidence to suggest a
gardener actually tends the garden,
other than the garden itself.
John Wisdom’s Parable of the
Gardener
• Is religious experience just about how people
see reality?
• Same garden, different conclusions
• If we try to use Rel Exp as a “truth claim” proof that God exists, we need to be able to
validate the experience.
• How do we go about validating a subjective
experience?
Anthony Flew
• Logical Positivist
• Statements need to be verified if they are to
be considered meaningful.
– There’s a squirrel in that tree
– I had a dream in which the angel Gabriel
(Jibra’il) appeared to me
– I love my husband/wife/sister/brother…
“As I sat there,
meditating on the
glory of God, I was
transported and for a
moment I was there,
on the cross, sharing
in the pain and the
desolation of Christ
and for that moment,
everything made
perfect sense and I
felt my soul warmed
for the love of God.”
• For Flew, such talk is totally meaningless.
• If I cannot prove that I was “on the cross”
which I can’t because it is a subjective
experience, then it is meaningless to talk
about it – much less use it as evidence that
God exists.
• Is this too bleak a view of the human
condition? Is any talk of all subjective
experiences meaningless?
R.M. Hare
• “Blik” = a mind set which determines how we
interpret the facts.
• Someone with a religious “blik” will interpret the
world differently to someone who has an atheist
“blik”
• O a religious believer it is meaningful to talk
about experiencing God, as that corresponds to a
religious believer’s “blik”.
• To an atheist, any concept of God is totally at
odds with his atheist “blik” and so any claim to
religious experience will be meaningless.
• If it corresponds to my “blik”, it is meaningful.
Problem??
• Perhaps Hare isn’t very helpful after all.
• It is valid to question which is more co-ordinated
with reality – is a shaft of light shining on dust
particles imbued with religious significance as it
takes the shape of the virgin Mary? Or is it just
dust particles….?
• Either my “blik” affects the way I perceive a
religious experience or the religious experience
necessitates a change of “blik” (conversion). Hare
offers us no resolution.
John Hick: Experiencing – As
• Any experience involves an element of subjective
interpretation.
• Any experience is to me, whatever I experience it
to be. (roller coaster- exciting, scary,
nauseating,exhillarating)
• If I’m religious, a significant experience may
appear religious.
• If I am not religious, I will not experience it as
religious
• Eschatological Verification.
Proof of God’s existence?
• Flew argues that any “truth claim” must be
verifiable
• Since religious experiences cannot be verified,
they cannot be relied upon to prove the existence
of God. (they are meaningless)
• There is no way of reconciling different “bliks” so
Hare offers us no way of saying which “blik” has a
greater bearing on objective reality
• Hick’s experiencing-as is entirely subjective so
they cannot be used to prove the existence of
God.