‘Religious Language is meaningless’ Discuss Religious language is the communication of ideas, words and practices used to describe god. Some deem religious language meaningless as there is simply no way we can verify it whereas others see it from different perspective. This is due to many different forms of language linked with religion; cognitive and non cognitive, synthetic and analytical, univocal, equivocal and analogy. Synthetic, equivocal and non cognitive all would enforce the concept that religious language is subjective and that we are able to gain better knowledge of god from what he is not than what he is. Those supporting these points have been 19th century philosophers A.J Ayer and Antony Flew however their argument is apposed by those who believe it is meaningful as we simply do not know how to falsify the language.
Firstly, Sommers stated how she tries to teach her daughters to be optimistic. Secondly, Sommers stated of how she wants the students to use themselves as sources.” Finally, at the end of the essay Sommers writes, "Having the courage to live with uncertainty, ambiguity, even doubt, we can walk into all of those fields of writing.” Sommers stated how she tries to teach her daughter to be optimistic. The writer states that,”Despite the sheer facts of her life, despite the accumulation of grim knowable data,” her mother was optimistic. Sommers tell the reader of how her family fled from Germany when she was thirteen and how her grandparents were killed by Nazis. Sommers is trying to teach her daughters that there is more out there and that they can be optimistic, despite what may be going on in our lives.
Flaubert’s Madame Bovary describes the tragic life of Emma Bovary, an ordinary country girl who grew up to be a woman with false and idealistic visions of romance, love and wealth. In the first part of the novel, readers are introduced to Emma and gains an understanding of her childhood, her naive character and how her unrealistic ideals takes a toll on her physical, emotional and mental states. Flaubert reveals little of Emma’s character until after the wedding where she becomes Madame Bovary, and the reader starts to realize that unlike Charles, Emma already regrets the marriage. “And Emma sought to find out exactly what was meant in real life by the words felicity, passion and rapture, which had seemed so fine on the pages of the books.” (Flaubert 27) This is the first instance in the book where it is suggested that Emma is disillusioned about romance and discontent with her life. She often compares her own life with that she reads in books, without realizing how unreasonable her dreams and desires seem.
When reading this poem it seems short and a bit confusing to the reader, but once the reader finds something to apply it to, doors open to many new meanings. The poem contains a theme of madness against sanity, and remains open to a variety of deeper meanings. I applied this poem to Amy Tans book, The Bonesetter’s Daughter, because both the poem and the book contain a theme of rebellion, as well as madness. The Bonesetter’s Daughter focuses on the relationship experienced between a mother and her daughter. The book goes through three different time phrases from modern day California to the lives of Precious Auntie and Luling, and then transitions to Ruth understanding more about her mother and the wonderful person she didn’t see her for when she was growing up.
Sadie Rockefeller K. Shipp English 11 AP/GT May 18, 2011 The Secret Life of Bees: Research Paper Rough Draft In her 2002 novel, The Secret Life of Bees, Sue Monk Kidd, an eloquently compelling feminist, elucidates her opinion on the importance of community, and how it affects the necessary elements of development in a young girl’s life. Whether referring to the importance of motherhood, the struggles of adolescence, or just the benefits of being in a supportive community, Kidd shines a light on the crucial aspects involved in shaping the character and personalities of young women. The Secret Life of Bees is a moving novel about a young girl, Lily Owens, who flees from her abusive father in search of answers pertaining to her deceased mother’s existence. During these troubled times, she finds comfort in a tight-knit community of African American women, who appreciate her and support her through her confusing teenage years. Lily attaches herself to this community, especially a motherly African American woman named August, because they represent her last resort to discover information about her mother.
According to the scientific method in order to test a hypothesis one must make sure the claim is falsifiable. Although there is evidence that the planets move almost like clockwork, however that is not enough to prove astrology specifically. However studies and tests have been conducted in the past in order to verfiy its claims. Similar to the practise of witchcraft, the failure of producing the desired result is almost always blamed on the psychic or astrologers inability and not the fault of astrology itself.5 The difficulty to test this is due to its subjectivity. This makes it unscientific; the result of every experiment must either be true or
Charlotte Temple The story of Charlotte Temple is not just another novel. It is not just a story about an innocent, naïve and misguided young girl that has to live with the consequences of her bad choices in life. This novel is an attempt to educate and guide young women at the time into making the right decisions in life. The novel illustrates a number of different issues for women during the time period, but the main issue or decision Rowson is trying to educate the women on is marriage. Marriage is a major theme in this novel and the novel gives different examples of marriage.
Gilman looked to her own life for inspiration when writing The Yellow Wallpaper, incorporating three main influences from within it. Firstly, Gilman considered social influences to guide her in her writing, examining such aspects of womens lives during the 1800’s was very restricted as they were dependent on the male of the house to support the family. Secondly, the main themes within Gilman’s story was influenced by Britain’s political state at the time The Yellow Wallpaper was written. Finally, Gilman used her own personal childhood experiences to develop the characterization of the narrator herself. Without this closer examination of The Yellow Wallpaper, it is easy to view the story pouring out the feelings of a woman with a nervous disorder.
In addition, Macbeth’s naivety was also responsible for the tragedies, and his own downfall. He was a literalist, and thus failed to decipher the Weird Sister’s prophecies above the literal sense. The Weird Sister’s words, such as ‘none of woman born shall harm Macbeth,’ were not meant to be taken literally. Macbeth’s inability to read into the hidden meanings was his fatal flaw. It caused him to carelessly believe in his own invincibility, and eventually resulted in his own
Many people assume that children do not know anything and are generally immature. Hester’s daughter, Pearl, did not fall into this assumption. Her over-maturity made her an important character in the novel, The Scarlet Letter by Nathaniel Hawthorne. Throughout the novel, readers come across the story of Hester Prynne; a young woman in a Puritan town that had been caught having committed an adulterous act with the town’s minister, thus conceiving her daughter, Pearl. After being caught and having been forced to wear a scarlet “A” representing her act of adultery, Hester tries to continue on with life along with her daughter, while being shunned by the townspeople of Boston, Massachusetts.