Referential ambiguity.

[Cynic]

Fundamentalist

I came across this blog entry containing a citation of a section the noted Christian philosopher Alvin Plantinga wrote on "the most common contemporary academic use of the term" fundamentalist.

http://ateam.blogware.com/blog/_archives/2.../9/1443917.html

*****

Arrghhh! This thread would more appropriately be titled "Ambiguous words" or "Words having connotative ambiguity."

Edited December 27, 2005 by Cynic

[laleo]

Cynic, what is this thread about? :blink:

[dmiller]

Cynic, what is this thread about? :blink:

Laleo -- I looked at it and (I could be wrong), but it seemed like

someone trying to put the *FUN*

back into *FUN*damentalism!!!

[Cynic]

Cynic, what is this thread about? :blink:

Laleo,

I started this thread primarily because I got a kick out of Plantinga’s (esteemed by some to be top dog among living Christian philosophers) comments.

I did, however, also want to begin a discussion about terms that are both used pejoratively and equivocally (i.e. with various meanings). Fundamentalist is the term I had wanted particularly to discuss, though cult also would qualify.

Let's begin with cult.

Cult has various connotations. The term cult can refer to religious ritual, to a heretical group, or can suggest something about a group’s hierarchal, sociological and psychological makeup. Cult would qualify as a referentially ambiguous term, or more simply, as an ambiguous term. It is also a term used largely in opprobrium.

Edited January 6, 2006 by Cynic

[laleo]

I googled Alvin Platinga and read the better part of one of his papers (or maybe it was only a small part; however much it was, it took a lot of time and concentration to follow him), Advice to Christian Philosophers. The questions he poses at the end are fair enough:

Regarding epistemology: Suppose we do the best that can be expected of us, noetically speaking; suppose we do our intellectual duties and satisfy our intellectual obligations: what guarantee is there that in so doing we shall arrive at the truth?

Regarding ethics: . . . How are right and wrong, good and bad, duty, permission and obligation related to God and to his will and to his creative activity?

Any answers?

I've been spending more time than usual lately reading GreaseSpot, and I've come across the usual set of opprobrious (did I pronounce that correctly? I hope so, because I think I'm using it incorrectly) terms that may fit your pejorative category, like the word Waybrain. I still haven't figured out what it means. And the meaning shifts frequently enough that it might be considered equivocal, too.

Okay, I made the effort.

[socks]

I like this part the best:

in addition to its emotive force, it does have some cognitive content, and ordinarily denotes relatively conservative theological views. That makes it more like 'stupid sumbitch' (or maybe 'fascist sumbitch'?) than 'sumbitch' simpliciter.

I'm rooting around for more on this word. I've never thought much about where it came from, although Ive used the abbreviation "Fundies" a time or two so I should dig into it's meaning to at least confirm what I think I mean when I use it. Right now the only thing I'm sure of is that Fundamentalists are cultists, that's for sure.