Difference between revisions of "Deepity"
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− | '''Deepity''' is a term coined by [[Daniel Dennett]] in his 2009 speech to the American Atheists Institution conference. It refers to a statement that has | + | '''Deepity''' is a term coined by [[Daniel Dennett]] in his 2009 speech to the American Atheists Institution conference. It refers to a statement that has two meanings; one that is true but trivial, and another that sounds profound, but is essentially false, or meaningless with respect to this deeper meaning. |
The example Dennett uses to illustrate a deepity is the phrase "love is just a word". On one level the statement is perfectly true (i.e., love ''is'' a four letter word) but the deeper meaning of the phrase is false; love is many things - a feeling, an emotion, a condition and not simply a word. | The example Dennett uses to illustrate a deepity is the phrase "love is just a word". On one level the statement is perfectly true (i.e., love ''is'' a four letter word) but the deeper meaning of the phrase is false; love is many things - a feeling, an emotion, a condition and not simply a word. | ||
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==Extension to theology== | ==Extension to theology== |
Revision as of 22:31, 21 September 2010
Deepity is a term coined by Daniel Dennett in his 2009 speech to the American Atheists Institution conference. It refers to a statement that has two meanings; one that is true but trivial, and another that sounds profound, but is essentially false, or meaningless with respect to this deeper meaning.
The example Dennett uses to illustrate a deepity is the phrase "love is just a word". On one level the statement is perfectly true (i.e., love is a four letter word) but the deeper meaning of the phrase is false; love is many things - a feeling, an emotion, a condition and not simply a word.
Extension to theology
As well as a criticism of bad prose and poetry,[1] the term "deepity" can refer to many religious sentiments and some of the more meaningless rhetoric. Dennett argues that theology is full of deepities, and noting that the sophisticated theological statement "God is no being at all" is equivalent to "no being at all is God". Other deepities he refers to are "God is Being itself" and "God is the God beyond God".
The concept is not without its critics, however. Most seem to believe that Dennet is attacking the right of people to use metaphorical language. Other critics point out that the universe and physics already exhibit "deepities" and that doesn't bother pesky atheists, so they shouldn't whine about religions using them.[2]
External links
You can watch the whole speech here.