Wittgenstein and natural religion / Gordon Graham.

Format:

Book

Author/Creator:

Graham, Gordon, 1949 July 15- author.

Language:

English

Subjects (All):

Wittgenstein, Ludwig, 1889-1951--Religion.

Wittgenstein, Ludwig.

Wittgenstein, Ludwig, 1889-1951.

Religion--Philosophy.

Religion.

Physical Description:

xiii, 219 pages ; 23 cm

Edition:

First edition.

Other Title:

Wittgenstein & natural religion

Place of Publication:

Oxford, UK : Oxford University Press, 2014.

Summary:

Gordon Graham presents a radically innovative study of Wittgenstein's philosophy, in relation to the age-old impulse to connect ordinary human life with the transcendent reality of God. He offers an account of its relevance to the study of religion that is completely different to the standard version of 'Wittgensteinian philosophy of religion' expounded by both its adherents and critics. Graham goes on to revitalize the philosophy of 'true religion', an alternative, though not a rival, to the lively philosophical theology of Plantinga and Swinburne that currently dominates the subject. This alternative style of philosophy of religion has equally deep historical roots in the philosophical works of Spinoza, Hume, Kant, Schleiermacher, and Mill. At the same time, it is more easily connected to the psychological, sociological, and anthropological studies of William James, Emile Durkheim, Max Weber, Mircea Eliade, and Mary Douglas. Graham uses Wittgenstein's conception of philosophy to argue in favour of the idea that 'true religion' is to be understood as human participation in divine life. Book jacket.

Contents:

1 Natural Theology and Natural Religion 1

1.1 Philosophical Theology and the Philosophy of Religion 1

1.2 "True Religion" 7

1.3 Doctrine, Affection, and Action 11

1.4 Wittgenstein and True Religion 14

2 Understanding Wittgenstein 17

2.1 Whose Wittgenstein? Which Texts? 17

2.2 Wittgenstein and the Philosophy of Religion 23

2.3 Applying Wittgenstein to Religion 28

3 Language Games, Forms of Life, and Grammar 32

3.1 Wittgensteinian Fideism 32

3.2 Language Games 35

3.3 Forms of Life 42

3.4 Theology as Grammar 47

4 World Pictures and Groundless Belief 55

4.1 Groundless Believing 56

4.2 World Pictures 60

4.3 Systems of Reference 65

4.4 Practical Life 68

5 Philosophy as a Religious Point of View 71

5.1 Logic and Sin 71

5.2 Philosophy as Moral Vision 77

5.3 Wittgenstein and a Religious Point of View 83

6 Philosophy as "Therapy" 91

6.1 Misleading Pictures 94

6.2 Reminders and Differences 97

6.3 Action and Reaction 102

6.4 Aspects and Connections 106

7 Wittgenstein, James, and Frazer 115

7.1 James on Religious Experience 115

7.2 Frazer on Magic and Ritual 125

7.3 Wittgenstein, Magic, and Religion 129

8 The Sacramental Universe 135

8.1 Human Nature and the Human Condition 136

8.2 Sense plus Sensibility 142

8.3 Sacred Space and Eternal Life 151

8.4 Worship 161

9 The Sacred and the Supernatural 177

9.1 A Sense of the Sacred 178

9.2 Naturalism and Supernaturalism 183

9.3 Religion and Theology 196.

Notes:

Includes bibliographical references (pages 203-210) and index.

ISBN:

9780198713975

0198713975

OCLC:

878505683