Active learning ideas
Verification and Falsification represent the 20th-century challenge to religious language from Logical Positivism and beyond. Students examine A.J. Ayer's Verification Principle, which claims that only tautologies and empirically verifiable statements are meaningful. They then move to Antony Flew's Falsification Symposium, which argues that for a statement to be meaningful, we must know what would count against it.
Activity 01
Students act out Flew's parable. One student tries to prove a gardener exists, while another offers 'falsifying' evidence (weeds, no footprints). The 'believer' must keep qualifying their claim until it 'dies the death of a thousand qualifications'.
Does the verification principle render religious language meaningless?
Activity 02
Students post various claims (scientific, religious, ethical, aesthetic) on a wall. They then use 'Ayer's Filter' (the verification principle) to physically remove any statement that isn't a tautology or empirically verifiable.
How does Flew's parable of the gardener illustrate falsification?
Activity 03
Students identify a deeply held belief they have that cannot be proven or disproven (a 'blik', according to Hare). They share these with a partner to understand how non-falsifiable beliefs can still govern our lives.
What is a 'blik' according to Hare?
A few notes on teaching this unit
Watch Out for These Misconceptions
Falsification means a statement is false.
Falsification is about whether a statement *could* be proven false in principle. Using a 'mystery box' activity helps students see that 'falsifiable' is a status of the claim, not a judgment on its truth.
Ayer's Verification Principle is still the dominant view in philosophy.
The principle itself is often considered self-refuting (it cannot be verified by its own criteria). Peer-led 'critique circles' help students discover this fatal flaw for themselves.
Methods used in this brief
The Problem of Evil
Students investigate the logical and evidential problems of evil and their challenge to the existence of God. They will evaluate theodicies proposed by Augustine, Irenaeus, and Hick.
8 methodologies
The Nature of Religious Language
An introduction to the debate over whether religious language is meaningful. Students will distinguish between cognitive and non-cognitive uses of language in theology.
8 methodologies