Comparisonof Aquinas & Wittgenstein

Aquinas and Wittgenstein, two philosophers, have made influential contributions to the understanding of religious language.
Thomas Aquinas, a 13th-century philosopher, proposed the theory of analogy. He argued that when we talk about God, we do it by analogy, comparing God’s qualities to things we understand.
Aquinas differentiated between univocal and equivocal language. Univocal language means the word has the same meaning, equivocal language means the word has different meanings. He believed that analogical language strikes a middle ground between these two.
To Aquinas, analogical language is critical in understanding the connection between God and the world. God cannot be completely known by humans, hence, analogy paves way to partially express God’s nature.
Wittgenstein, a 20th-century philosopher, conceived language as ‘language games’. According to Wittgenstein, people play different language games in different aspects of life.
Wittgenstein emphasised on the pragmatic use of language; the meaning of words relies on their practical application.
In the context of religious language, Wittgenstein posited that religious assertions do not convey factual information but instead express a particular way of life.
He proposed that religious language is internally coherent and understandable only by those participating in the religious ‘language game.’
Despite having different perspectives and time frames, both philosophers assert that religious language cannot be fully comprehended or explained due to its transcendental nature.
Aquinas turned to analogy as a resolution, whereby creatures reflect God’s attributes. Wittgenstein favoured a more practical approach, seeing religious language as expressions of religious activities rather than an attempt to describe a supreme being.
Despite their differences, both Aquinas and Wittgenstein agreed that religious language has meaning, though it may not comply with conventional forms of logic or understanding. **************************/