R M Hare: worldviews in modern philosophy | Religious education

Starter quiz

What is a worldview?
- a set of beliefs about how to live a good life
- a person's way of experiencing, understanding and responding to the world ✓
- a collection of facts and information about the world
- a set of religious beliefs and practices
What do we mean by belief?
- a fact that can be proven true or false
- a strong opinion about something
- an acceptance that something is true without the need for proof ✓
- a statement that is always unbiased
Evidence is used to provide ______ for a claim or argument.
- 'proof' ✓
Which of the following is an example of a Socratic question?
- Have you ever lied?
- Is lying always wrong? ✓
- What does religion say about lying?
- What is the punishment for lying?
Plato believed that true knowledge comes from understanding the world of the ...
- 'forms' ✓
Which worldview did Aristotle have?
- We can know things by observing the world around us. ✓
- Knowledge comes from thinking about idea forms beyond the world we live in.
- Reality is unknowable.
- Knowledge can only be gained through questioning and dialogue.

In the parable told by Antony Flew, what do the explorers disagree about the existence of?
- 'A gardener' ✓
Match the statement to the person who might say it.
- the believer
  
  ⇔
  
  There must be a gardener because this clearing looks well-kept. ✓
- the sceptic
  
  ⇔
  
  I don't see any evidence of a gardener, so I don't think there is one. ✓
What does Antony Flew argue about religious worldviews?
- They only matter if they can be tested and shown to be false. ✓
- They matter because they are personal choices.
- They matter because there is evidence to prove them.
- They matter because they are based on feelings.
How does R M Hare agree with Flew?
- Thinks that religious statements are meaningless.
- Thinks that there is no God.
- Thinks religious believers do not usually accept evidence against their beliefs. ✓
- Thinks that religious beliefs matter to people.
The term R M Hare uses to describe someone's fundamental worldview that shapes how they live their life is a ...
- 'blik' ✓
In R M Hare's story, even when the man meets friendly university professors (dons), he is still afraid of them. Why might this belief still have meaning?
- The man can prove that his belief is true.
- The man's belief affects how he behaves. ✓
- The man is prepared to change his mind.
- The man accepts the evidence presented to him.

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Antony Flew argued that religious beliefs are meaningless as they do not change in the face of evidence,
A blik is a person's fundamental way of seeing and understanding the world and it doesn't change easily.
Everyone has their own worldview which shapes how they understand and interpret things around them.
R M Hare introduced the idea of a blik to explain why people have different interpretations of the same situation.
Religious beliefs can be seen as part of someone's blik, meaning they strongly influence their view of the world.

Students might think a blik is a belief or opinion that can be easily changed with evidence.

A blik is a fundamental worldview that is unchanged by evidence or facts.

Belief - an acceptance that something is true without the need for proof
Blik - a person's fundamental worldview that shapes how they see the world and live their life
Evidence - facts or information that support an idea
R m hare - a 20th century philosopher best known for his work on ethics and bliks