Analytic Philosophy, Theism, and Contemporary Philosophy of Religion

2013 ◽  
Vol 29 (2) ◽  
pp. 265-270
Author(s):  
Myron A. Penner
Keyword(s):  
Philosophy Of Religion ◽  
Analytic Philosophy ◽  
Contemporary Philosophy

Conceptions of Faith

2021 ◽  
Keyword(s):  
Philosophy Of Religion ◽  
Analytic Philosophy ◽  
Christian Tradition ◽  
Contemporary Philosophy ◽  
Continental Tradition ◽  
Belief Model ◽  
Historical Accounts

This entry focuses on the recent resurgence of discussion of faith in contemporary analytic philosophy of religion. One prominent position that perhaps runs contrary to the popular-level view of the matter is that faith does not require belief. This—whether faith requires belief—is one of the most discussed issues in the literature, with some arguing that a different, weaker attitude than belief, such as acceptance or hope, is sufficient for faith. Other alternatives to the belief model of faith include imaginative faith in ultimism, faith as doxastic venture, and faith as trust. Additional topics in this entry include whether faith is consistent with evidentialism or whether it inherently requires a type of irrationality, and finally the degree to which skepticism is consistent with faith. In order to keep this entry a manageable size we will not address historical accounts of faith or those found within the Continental tradition. Additionally, we will not discuss non-Western conceptions of faith; the literature we examine focuses on propositional faith as found in the Judeo-Christian tradition (which is the focus of much contemporary philosophy of religion). Finally, given space constraints we focus on work produced after 2000, with the exception of particularly influential pieces.

Meaning and Saying in Religion: Beyond Language Games

1974 ◽  
Vol 67 (2) ◽  
pp. 79-116 ◽  
Author(s):  
Carl Raschke
Keyword(s):  
Philosophy Of Religion ◽  
Analytic Philosophy ◽  
Religious Language ◽  
Language Games ◽  
Contemporary Philosophy ◽  
Philosophical Investigations ◽  
The Subject ◽  
New Perspective

So much commentary and discussion concerning the significance of religious language has been marketed for consumption during the two decades since Wittgenstein's Philosophical Investigations first altered the grounds of inquiry in contemporary philosophy of religion that any new contribution to the subject is apt to kindle as much excitement as the average Sunday sermon. The progressive exhaustion of the topic, it may be argued, has resulted largely from this shift, inasmuch as philosophers of religion have thereby so narrowed the horizons of their researches in pursuing the “logical” dimensions of religious utterances that, once this side of the issue has been thoroughly charted, nothing substantial is left to explore. It does not require any prophetic cry in the wilderness to contend, therefore, in the manner that I propose here that (1) the “logical” or neo-Wittgensteinian approach to the problem of religious language must be transcended and that (2) any new perspective need not renounce with counter-revolutionary animus the achievements of analytic philosophy in this field, but merely attempt to arrive at a more subtle understanding of how religious language is employed.

Inverse Correlation: Comparative Philosophy in an Upside Down World

2016 ◽  
Vol 8 (1) ◽  
pp. 79-116
Author(s):  
Mark T. Unno
Keyword(s):  
Comparative Philosophy ◽  
Philosophy Of Religion ◽  
Inverse Correlation ◽  
Contemporary Philosophy ◽  
Religious Worldview ◽  
Human Limitation ◽  
Final Work

Kitarō Nishida introduces the concept of “inverse correlation” (Jp. gyakutaiō 逆対応) in his final work, The Logic of Place and the Religious Worldview, which he uses to illuminate the relation between finite and infinite, human and divine/buddha, such that the greater the realization of human limitation and finitude, the greater that of the limitless, infinite divine or buddhahood. This essay explores the applicability of the logic and rhetoric of inverse correlation in the cases of the early Daoist Zhuangzi, medieval Japanese Buddhist Shinran, and modern Protestant Christian Kierkegaard, as well as broader ramifications for contemporary philosophy of religion.

Beyond Perennialism and Constructivism

2018 ◽  
Author(s):  
Ayon Maharaj
Keyword(s):  
Conceptual Framework ◽  
Common Core ◽  
Mystical Experience ◽  
Philosophy Of Religion ◽  
Analytic Philosophy ◽  
Cultural Conditioning ◽  
Mystical Experiences

This chapter draws upon Sri Ramakrishna’s teachings and mystical testimony in order to develop a new conceptual framework for understanding the nature of mystical experience. In recent analytic philosophy of religion, two approaches to mystical experience have been especially influential: perennialism and constructivism. While perennialists maintain that there is a common core of all mystical experiences across various cultures, constructivists claim that a mystic’s cultural conditioning plays a major role in shaping his or her mystical experiences. After identifying the strengths and limitations of these two positions, Maharaj argues that Sri Ramakrishna champions a “manifestationist” approach to mystical experience that provides a powerful dialectical alternative to both perennialism and constructivism. According to Sri Ramakrishna, mystics in various traditions experience different real manifestations of one and the same impersonal-personal Infinite Reality. Sri Ramakrishna’s manifestationist paradigm shares the advantages of both perennialism and constructivism but avoids their respective weaknesses and limitations.

scholarly journals Exceeding Continental and Analytic Philosophy: The Post-Continental Thought of W.J.T. Mitchell

2020 ◽  
Vol 2 (5) ◽  
pp. 14-19
Author(s):  
Anastasia Jessica Adinda Susanti
Keyword(s):  
Modern Philosophy ◽  
Mathematical Analysis ◽  
Continental Philosophy ◽  
Analytic Philosophy ◽  
Contemporary Philosophy ◽  
Picture Theory ◽  
Historical Continuity ◽  
Image Science ◽  
Continental Thought

The division between Continental and Analytic Philosophy in contemporary philosophy is more difficult to maintain than in modern philosophy. Some philosophers use both Continental and Analytic Philosophy together. They defy the presupposition that Continental thought is subjectivist, collectivist, and historicist, while Analytic thought is objectivist, individualist, and scientific. John Mullarkey calls this circumstance “The Post-Continental Philosophy”. This research aims to examine 'what is the post-continental thought of W.J.T. Mitchell?' and 'how does Mitchell exceed the boundaries of Continental and Analytic Philosophy?'. The method of this research is hermeneutic which involves some elements such as interpretative analyses, historical continuity, heuristics, and descriptive. In conclusion, Mitchell’s post-continental thought bridges the Continental and Analytic philosophy, especially through the concepts of Picture Theory and Image Science. In Picture Theory, he uses the Continental philosophy approach that emphasizes the interpretation of the image. Meanwhile, in Image Science, he employs the Analytic philosophy approach that gives attention to the abstract, rational, and mathematical analysis.

scholarly journals Special Issue: Analytic Philosophy of Religion

Manuscrito ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 44 (4) ◽  
pp. 1-2
Author(s):  
FÁBIO M. BERTATO ◽  
NICOLA CLAUDIO SALVATORE
Keyword(s):  
Philosophy Of Religion ◽  
Analytic Philosophy ◽  
Special Issue

Divine Attributes as a Topic in Analytic Theology

2020 ◽  
pp. 83-97
Author(s):  
Michael C. Rea
Keyword(s):  
Philosophy Of Religion ◽  
Analytic Philosophy ◽  
Analytic Approach ◽  
Divine Attributes ◽  
Distinctive Character ◽  
Philosophical Literature ◽  
Distinctive Features ◽  
Distinguishing Features ◽  
The Way

Analytic theology differs from other forms of theology primarily in its methodology: its ambitions, its style, its conversation partners, and so on. This is where the most interesting differences between analytic philosophical discussions of the divine attributes and contemporary theological discussions of that topic are to be found. The main positive thesis of this chapter is that the most distinctive features of the approach to divine attributes that one finds in the analytic philosophical literature are simply instances of more general distinctives of analytic theology. The chapter focuses on some of the distinguishing features of the way in which the topic of divine attributes is approached in analytic philosophy of religion as contrasted with the way(s) in which many contemporary theologians are inclined to approach it. The end result is a clearer picture both of the nature of analytic theology in general and of the distinctive character of an analytic approach to the topic of divine attributes.

Nygren, Anders (1890–1978)

2018 ◽  
Author(s):  
Diogenes Allen
Keyword(s):  
Nineteenth Century ◽  
Philosophy Of Religion ◽  
Analytic Philosophy ◽  
Christian Theology ◽  
Liberal Theology

Nygren hoped to recover the uniqueness of Christianity from the impurities introduced by the attempts of nineteenth-century liberal theology to free it from metaphysical speculation and confessional dogmatism. He aimed to do this by grounding all religion in an analytic philosophy of religion which would enable him to stress the objective character of Christian theology in contrast to the arbitrariness of confessional theology. He achieved international influence by his claim in Agapē and Eros (1930–6) that the uniqueness of Christianity is love in the sense of agapē, as opposed to Platonic eros.

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