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Find sources: "Theological noncognitivism" – news · newspapers · books · scholar · JSTOR (October 2012) (Learn how and when to remove this template message) Part of a series on Atheism Concepts History Antitheism Nontheism Atheism and religion (Criticism of atheism / of religion) History of atheism State atheism Outline Types Implicit and explicit Negative and positive Christian India Hindu (Adevism) Buddhist Jewish Muslim Feminist New Atheism Arguments for atheism Against God's existence Atheist's Wager Evil God Challenge Fate of the unlearned Free will God of the gaps Hitchens's razor Incompatible properties Inconsistent revelation Nonbelief Omnipotence paradox Poor design Problem of evil Problem of Hell Russell's teapot Theological noncognitivism Ultimate Boeing 747 gambit People Mikhail Bakunin Jean Baudrillard Albert Camus Richard Dawkins Daniel Dennett Ludwig Feuerbach Sam Harris Christopher Hitchens Baron d'Holbach Bertrand Russell Related stances Agnosticism Weak Strong Agnostic theism Agnostic atheism Ignosticism Apatheism Irreligion Anti-clericalism Antireligion Freethought Parody religion Post-theism Secular humanism Naturalism Humanistic Metaphysical Methodological Religious Secularism Category Religion portal WikiProject v t e Theological noncognitivism is the position that religious language – specifically, words such as "God" – are not cognitively meaningful. It is sometimes considered synonymous with ignosticism. Contents 1 Overview 2 See also 3 References 4 External links Overview[edit] Theological noncognitivists argue in different ways, depending on what one considers the "theory of meaning" to be. One argument holds to the claim that definitions of God are irreducible, self-instituting relational, circular. For example, a sentence stating that "God is He who created everything, apart from Himself", is seen as circular rather than an irreducible truth. Michael Martin writing from a verificationist perspective concludes that religious language is meaningless because it is not verifiable.[1][2] George H. Smith uses an attribute-based approach in an attempt to prove that there is no concept for God: he argues that there are no meaningful attributes, only negatively defined or relational attributes, making the term meaningless. An example: Consider the proposition of the existence of a "pink unicorn". When asserting the proposition, one can use attributes to at least describe the concept such a cohesive idea is transferred in language. With no knowledge of "pink unicorn", it can be described minimally with the attributes "pink", "horse", and "horn". Only then can the proposition be accepted or rejected. The acceptance or rejection of the proposition is distinct from the concept. It is asserted by Steven J. Conifer that to be a positive atheist, one who not only lacks a belief in gods but who furthermore denies that gods exist, is to give credence to the existence of a concept of something for God to refer to, because it assumes that there is something understandable to not believe in.[3] See also[edit] Newton's flaming laser sword Problem of religious language References[edit] ^ Martin, Michael. Atheism: A Philosophical Justification. Temple University Press, 1990. ISBN 978-0-87722-642-0 ^ Martin, Michael. "Positive Atheism and The Meaninglessness of Theism", Infidels.org ^ Conifer, Steven J. "Theological Noncognitivism Examined" (archive) External links[edit] Look up theological noncognitivism in Wiktionary, the free dictionary. Atheism, Agnosticism, Noncognitivism (1998) by Theodore M. Drange The Argument from Non-Cognitivism, by James Lazarus, is a discussion of Smith-style noncognitivism. v t e Philosophy of religion Concepts in religion Afterlife Euthyphro dilemma Faith Intelligent design Miracle Problem of evil Religious belief Soul Spirit Theodicy Theological veto Conceptions of God Aristotelian view Brahman Demiurge Divine simplicity Egoism Holy Spirit Misotheism Pandeism Personal god Process theology Supreme Being Unmoved mover God in Abrahamic religions Buddhism Christianity Hinduism Islam Jainism Judaism Mormonism Sikhism Baháʼí Faith Wicca Existence of God For Beauty Christological Consciousness Cosmological Kalam Contingency Degree Desire Experience Fine-tuning of the universe Love Miracles Morality Necessary existent Ontological Pascal's wager Proper basis Reason Teleological Natural law Watchmaker analogy Transcendental Against 747 gambit Atheist's Wager Evil Free will Hell Inconsistent revelations Nonbelief Noncognitivism Occam's razor Omnipotence Poor design Russell's teapot Theology Acosmism Agnosticism Animism Antireligion Atheism Creationism Dharmism Deism Demonology Divine command theory Dualism Esotericism Exclusivism Existentialism Christian Agnostic Atheistic Feminist theology Thealogy Womanist theology Fideism Fundamentalism Gnosticism Henotheism Humanism Religious Secular Christian Inclusivism Theories about religions Monism Monotheism Mysticism Naturalism Metaphysical Religious Humanistic New Age Nondualism Nontheism Pandeism Panentheism Pantheism Perennialism Polytheism Possibilianism Process theology Religious skepticism Spiritualism Shamanism Taoic Theism Transcendentalism more... Religious language Eschatological verification Language game Logical positivism Apophatic theology Verificationism Problem of evil Augustinian theodicy Best of all possible worlds Euthyphro dilemma Inconsistent triad Irenaean theodicy Natural evil Theodicy Philosophers of religion (by date active) Ancient and medieval Anselm of Canterbury Augustine of Hippo Avicenna Averroes Boethius Erasmus Gaunilo of Marmoutiers Pico della Mirandola Heraclitus King James VI and I Marcion of Sinope Thomas Aquinas Maimonides Early modern Augustin Calmet René Descartes Blaise Pascal Baruch Spinoza Nicolas Malebranche Gottfried W Leibniz William Wollaston Thomas Chubb David Hume Baron d'Holbach Immanuel Kant Johann G Herder 1800 1850 Friedrich Schleiermacher Karl C F Krause Georg W F Hegel William Whewell Ludwig Feuerbach Søren Kierkegaard Karl Marx Albrecht Ritschl Afrikan Spir 1880 1900 Ernst Haeckel W K Clifford Friedrich Nietzsche Harald Høffding William James Vladimir Solovyov Ernst Troeltsch Rudolf Otto Lev Shestov Sergei Bulgakov Pavel Florensky Ernst Cassirer Joseph Maréchal 1920 postwar George Santayana Bertrand Russell Martin Buber René Guénon Paul Tillich Karl Barth Emil Brunner Rudolf Bultmann Gabriel Marcel Reinhold Niebuhr Charles Hartshorne Mircea Eliade Frithjof Schuon J L Mackie Walter Kaufmann Martin Lings Peter Geach George I Mavrodes William Alston Antony Flew 1970 1990 2010 William L Rowe Dewi Z Phillips Alvin Plantinga Anthony Kenny Nicholas Wolterstorff Richard Swinburne Robert Merrihew Adams Ravi Zacharias Peter van Inwagen Daniel Dennett Loyal Rue Jean-Luc Marion William Lane Craig Ali Akbar Rashad Alexander Pruss Related topics Criticism of religion Desacralization of knowledge Ethics in religion Exegesis History of religion Religion Religious language Religious philosophy Relationship between religion and science Faith and rationality more... Portal Category v t e Philosophy of language Index of language articles Philosophers Plato (Cratylus) Gorgias Confucius Xunzi Aristotle Stoics Pyrrhonists Scholasticism Ibn Rushd Ibn Khaldun Thomas Hobbes Gottfried Wilhelm Leibniz Johann Herder Ludwig Noiré Wilhelm von Humboldt Fritz Mauthner Paul Ricœur Ferdinand de Saussure Gottlob Frege Franz Boas Paul Tillich Edward Sapir Leonard Bloomfield Zhuangzi Henri Bergson Lev Vygotsky Ludwig Wittgenstein Philosophical Investigations Tractatus Logico-Philosophicus Bertrand Russell Rudolf Carnap Jacques Derrida Of Grammatology Limited Inc Benjamin Lee Whorf Gustav Bergmann J. L. Austin Noam Chomsky Hans-Georg Gadamer Saul Kripke A. J. Ayer G. E. M. Anscombe Jaakko Hintikka Michael Dummett Donald Davidson Roger Gibson Paul Grice Gilbert Ryle P. F. Strawson Willard Van Orman Quine Hilary Putnam David Lewis John Searle Joxe Azurmendi Scott Soames Stephen Yablo John Hawthorne Stephen Neale Paul Watzlawick Theories Causal theory of reference Contrast theory of meaning Contrastivism Conventionalism Cratylism Deconstruction Descriptivism Direct reference theory Dramatism Dynamic semantics Expressivism Linguistic determinism Mediated reference theory Nominalism Non-cognitivism Phallogocentrism Relevance theory Semantic externalism Semantic holism Structuralism Supposition theory Symbiosism Theological noncognitivism Theory of descriptions (Definite description) Unilalianism Verification theory Concepts Ambiguity Cant Linguistic relativity Language Truth-bearer Proposition Use–mention distinction Concept Categories Set Class Family resemblance Intension Logical form Metalanguage Mental representation Presupposition Principle of compositionality Property Sign Sense and reference Speech act Symbol Sentence Statement more... Related articles Analytic philosophy Philosophy of information Philosophical logic Linguistics Pragmatics Rhetoric Semantics Formal semantics Semiotics Category Task Force Discussion v t e Theology Conceptions of God Theism Forms Deism Dystheism Henotheism Hermeticism Kathenotheism Nontheism Monolatry Monotheism Mysticism Panentheism Pandeism Pantheism Polydeism Polytheism Spiritualism Theistic finitism Theopanism Concepts Deity Divinity Gender of God and gods Male deity Goddess Numen Singular god theologies By faith Abrahamic religions Baháʼí Faith Judaism Christianity Catholic Islam Buddhism Hinduism Jainism Sikhism Zoroastrianism Concepts Absolute Brahman Emanationism Logos Supreme Being God as the Devil Sustainer Time Trinitarianism Athanasian Creed Comma Johanneum Consubstantiality Homoousian Homoiousian Hypostasis Perichoresis Shield of the Trinity Trinitarian formula Trinity Trinity of the Church Fathers Trinitarian universalism Eschatology Afterlife Apocalypticism Buddhist Christian Heaven Hell Hindu Islamic Jewish Taoist Zoroastrian Feminist Buddhism Christianity Hinduism Islam Judaism Mormonism Goddesses Other concepts The All Aristotelian view Attributes of God in Christianity / in Islam Binitarianism Demiurge Divine simplicity Divine presence Egotheism Exotheology Holocaust Godhead in Christianity Latter Day Saints Great Architect of the Universe Great Spirit Apophatic theology Olelbis Open theism Personal god Phenomenological definition Philo's view Process Tian Unmoved mover Names of God in Christianity Hinduism Islam Jainism Judaism By faith Christian History Outline Biblical canon Glossary Paterology Christology Pneumatology Cosmology Ecclesiology Ethics Hamartiology Messianism Philosophy Practical Sophiology Soteriology Hindu Ayyavazhi theology Krishnology Islamic Oneness of God Prophets Holy Scriptures Angels Predestination Last Judgment Jewish Abrahamic prophecy Aggadah Denominations Kabbalah Philosophy Religion portal v t e Irreligion Irreligion Nontheism Antireligion Post-theism Anti-clericalism Criticism of religion Parody religion Secular humanism Freethought Atheism Lists of atheists Demographics Religion History Anti-clericalism State New Criticism Discrimination/Persecution Implicit and explicit Negative and positive Existence of God Antitheism Christian atheism Hindu atheism Jewish atheism Agnosticism List of agnostics Strong Weak Agnostic atheism Agnostic theism Christian Apatheism Ignosticism Secular Buddhism Nontheism Criticism of religion Secular humanism Freethought Flying Spaghetti Monster Inconsistent revelations Invisible Pink Unicorn Nontheistic religions Parody religion Post-theism Russell's teapot Theological noncognitivism Transtheism Naturalism Humanistic Metaphysical Methodological Religious Spiritual People Atheists Agnostics Humanists Pantheists Deists Books Breaking the Spell The End of Faith The God Delusion God Is Not Great Letter to a Christian Nation The System of Nature Why I Am Not a Christian Why I Am Not a Muslim Organizations American Atheists American Humanist Association Atheist Alliance International British Humanist Association Center for Inquiry Freedom From Religion Foundation International Humanist and Ethical Union Rational Response Squad Reason Rally Recovering from Religion World Pantheist Movement Brazilian Association of Atheists and Agnostics Related topics Countries by irreligion Secularism Parody or mock religions Retrieved from "https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Theological_noncognitivism&oldid=927128601" Categories: Irreligion Theology Hidden categories: Articles needing additional references from October 2012 All articles needing additional references Navigation menu Personal tools Not logged in Talk Contributions Create account Log in Namespaces Article Talk Variants Views Read Edit View history More Search Navigation Main page Contents Current events Random article About Wikipedia Contact us Donate Contribute Help Learn to edit Community portal Recent changes Upload file Tools What links here Related changes Upload file Special pages Permanent link Page information Cite this page Wikidata item Print/export Download as PDF Printable version Languages العربية Català Ελληνικά Español فارسی Italiano Português Русский Simple English Српски / srpski Українська Edit links This page was last edited on 20 November 2019, at 14:44 (UTC). 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