1st Edition

Faith and Philosophical Analysis The Impact of Analytical Philosophy on the Philosophy of Religion

Edited By Harriet A. Harris, Christopher J. Insole Copyright 2005
    212 Pages
    by Routledge

    212 Pages
    by Routledge

    What tensions arise between philosophy of religion and theology? What strengths and weaknesses of analytical methods emerge in relation to strongly confessional philosophical theologies, or to Continental philosophies? Faith and Philosophical Analysis evaluates how well philosophy of religion serves in understanding religious faith. Figures who rarely share the space of the same book - leading exponents of analytic philosophy of religion and those who question its legacy - are drawn together in this book, with their disagreements harnessed to positive effect. Figures such as Richard Swinburne and Basil Mitchell reflect on their life-long projects from a perspective which has not previously been seen in print. A wide range of approaches found in contemporary philosophy of religion are explored, including: reformed epistemology, 'traditional' metaphysical theory building, feminist methodologies, Wittgensteinian approaches, and American pragmatism. Considering the trends in philosophy of religion as they are interacting across continents, looking particularly at philosophical influences in North America, Britain, and Continental Europe, this book will appeal to students, scholars and general readers with an interest in philosophy of religion, theology, or analytical philosophy.

    Contents: Verdicts on analytical philosophy of religion, Harriet A. Harris and Christopher J. Insole; Staking a Claim for Metaphysics, Basil Mitchell; The Value and Christian Roots of Analytical Philosophy of Religion, Richard Swinburne; Transforming Metaphysics? Revisioning Christianity in the light of Analytical Philosophy, Elizabeth Burns; The Wittgensteinian revolution, Cyril Barrett; Postscript, Brian R. Clack; The God's Eye Point of View: A Divine Ethic, Charles Taliaferro; What's Wrong with the God's Eye Point of View: A Constructive Feminist Critique of the Ideal Observer Theory, Pamela Sue Anderson; Does Analytical Philosophy Clip our Wings? Reformed Epistemology as a Test case, Harriet A. Harris; Analytical Thought and the Myth of Anglo-American philosophy, G.W. Kimura; Philosophy of Religion: Its Relation to Theology, Ann Loades; Modernism and the minimal God: on the Empty Spirituality of the God of the philosophers, Giles Fraser; Political Liberalism, Analytical Philosophy of Religion and the Forgetting of History, Christopher J. Insole; Bibliography; Index.

    Biography

    Harriet A. Harris teaches philosophy at the University of Edinburgh, UK and is the university Chaplain.

    Christopher J. Insole is Professor in Philosophical Theology and Ethics at the University of Durham, UK, and Professorial Fellow at the Australian Catholic University. He has published extensively on realism and anti-realism, religious epistemology, the relationship between theology, metaphysics, and political philosophy, and on Immanuel Kant's philosophy of religion.

    'In this highly stimulating collection, a range of authors take the pulse of analytical philosophy of religion.' Arsdisputandi 'All in all, Faith and Philosophical Analysis is a timely and thought-provoking collection, one that could be read with interest and benefit both by those within the discipline of the philosophy of religion, however one construes it, and by those without. Who is within and who is without will remain in dispute, a dispute which some of us will hope continues to be characterised by clarity, rigour, and common sense that pervades this volume.' Religious Studies 'Readers of this volume will gain a good sense of the chief characteristics of analytical philosophy, of its historical context and development, of its impact on the philosophy of religion and of its chief problems and limitations... these essays do much to expose the legacy of a significant aspect of our philosophical heritage.' Theology