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Ayer (Key Theme 1 - Religious Experience ("The argument from…
Ayer
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Key Theme 3 - Empiricism
That God exists cannot be placed in "the system of empirical propositions which constitutes science."
We must have a way of experiencing, demonstrating or testing something to gain knowledge, science empirically tests hypotheses in order to reach empirically verified conclusions. We cannot do this with God.
David Hume agrees - we cannot be sure or have knowledge about something unless we have experienced or witnessed it for ourselves, as we cannot rely upon intuition or analysis to gain knowledge, only empiricism.
Donovan disagrees - 'intuitive knowing seems to be a direct convincing way of knowing.' Our own experience of intuition in everyday life justifies examining further the possibility of religious intuitions.
Implication for religious belief - religion should be abolished, as there is no way to empirically test any of it. It therefore has controlled society for generations through fear of punishment or hope of rewards, without any evidence.
Implication for human life - our friendships and other relationships with people are invalid as there is no way to empirically test them. Therefore we shouldn't waste our time creating them as we could be disappointed later through betrayal.
Overall Article
Ayer focuses on the verification principle - unless a proposition can be empirically verified we cannot be certain of its truth and so it is meaningless to discuss.
Attacks mystics using religious experience and arguments for existence - their claims cannot be verified and so it is nonsensical to entertain the notion of God's existence.
Any proposition containing the idea 'God' is therefore meaningless - including agnosticism and atheism (only a significant proposition can be significantly contradicted)