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Illuminates Wittgenstein's religious epistemology—bridging faith, reason, and cultural understanding across disciplines
Wittgenstein and the Epistemology of Religion offers the first comprehensive exploration of Ludwig Wittgenstein's philosophy of religion through an explicitly epistemological lens. Fourteen newly commissioned essays from leading and emerging scholars examine how Wittgenstein's later thought, especially his descriptive and grammatical methods, provides tools for understanding religious belief, practice, and diversity. This singular volume situates Wittgenstein within debates over cognitivism, non-cognitivism, and fideism, while also considering his subtle anthropological and ethnological insights into religion as a form of life.
Structured in five parts, Wittgenstein and the Epistemology of Religion traces key themes that range from the tension between faith and reason to the role of evidence in religious life. Contributors engage with seminal figures such as Locke, Kierkegaard, James, and Malinowski to illuminate how Wittgenstein challenges scientific reductionism and opens new ways of understanding the lived experience of belief. The essays reveal how questions of meaning, context, and practice underpin the epistemic evaluation of religious commitments, as well as how Wittgenstein's approach helps clarify conflicts that lack a shared evidential framework.
Combining historical sensitivity, conceptual rigor, and contemporary application, this landmark collection:
Systematically explores Wittgenstein's religious epistemology across multiple thematic dimensions
Challenges scientistic frameworks by emphasizing context and meaning in religious discourse
Highlights the relevance of Wittgenstein's thought for contemporary debates on faith, reason, and evidence
Introduces the concept of quasi-fideism as a nuanced position between full rationalism and fideism
Expands Wittgenstein's philosophical reach by applying anthropological and ethnological perspectives to religious belief
Addresses current teaching and research needs in epistemology and the philosophy of religion
Encouraging cross-disciplinary dialogue between disciplines, Wittgenstein and the Epistemology of Religion is essential reading for scholars, researchers, and advanced students in philosophy, religious studies, anthropology, and sociology. It serves as a core or supplemental text in upper-level undergraduate or graduate courses such as Philosophy of Religion, Religious Epistemology, Wittgenstein Studies, as well as courses examining belief formation, ritual, and the social dynamics of religion.
Contents
Acknowledgements x
Notes on Contributors xi
List of Abbreviations of Wittgenstein's Works
List of Figures xviii
Introduction: Removing Misconceptions 1
Nuno Venturinha and Duncan Pritchard
References 11
Part I Beyond Cognitivism and Non-Cognitivism 15
1 Wittgenstein on Religious Faith and Beauty 17
Hanne Appelqvist
1.1 Introduction 17
1.2 'God does not reveal himself in the world' 20
1.3 'He is seeing his life as God's work of art' 25
1.4 'I spoke in the first person' 31
1.5 Epilogue 37
References 38
2 No Gaseous Vertebrates: Wittgenstein's 'Third Way' 41
Genia Schönbaumsfeld
2.1 Introduction 41
2.2 Wittgenstein's Conception of Religious Belief 42
2.3 Implications for the Meaning of Religious Language 48
2.4 Some More Objections 53
2.5 Conclusion 56
References 57
Part II From Fideism to Quasi-Fideism 59
3 Was Wittgenstein a Fideist? 61
Gordon Graham
3.1 Fideism 63
3.2 The Lecture on Ethics 66
3.3 Culture and Value 69
References 72
4 'Undermining Reason': Logic, Exemplarity and Religious Belief 73
Edward Guetti
4.1 Introduction 73
4.2 The Logical Mechanics of the 1938 Position 78
4.3 Winch's Suggestion and the Tractatus 88
4.4 Conclusion 91
References 93
5 The Ghost of the Tractatus: Fideism, Scepticism and 'Hinge' Epistemology 95
Michael Williams
5.1 Introduction 95
5.2 Religion Without Epistemology? 96
5.3 From Hinge Epistemology to Quasi-Fideism 100
5.4 Hinges as Knowledge 104
5.5 The Limits of Doubt 108
5.6 Knowledge, Faith and Redemption 115
5.7 The Ghost of the Tractatus 123
References 126
6 Honest Doubt: Quasi-Fideism and Epistemic Vertigo 129
Duncan Pritchard
6.1 Introductory Remarks 129
6.2 Honest Doubt 130
6.3 Quasi-Fideism 132
6.4 Epistemic Vertigo 135
6.5 Honest Doubt Revisited 138
6.6 Concluding Remarks 140
References 141
Part III Anthropological and Ethnological Approaches 145
7 Wittgenstein on Religion as a Form of Life: From a 'Jamesian Type' to Remarks on Frazer 147
Mauro L. Engelmann and Juliet Floyd
7.1 Introduction 147
7.2 A 'Jamesian Type' 148
7.3 James's Argument Against 'Medical Materialism' 154
7.4 Tolstoy, James and Wittgenstein 156
7.5 Wittgenstein on the Varieties of Religion in 1925 157
7.6 Jamesianism Extended 161
References 168
8 Understanding Other Cultures, Understanding (Other) Religion 172
Alois Pichler
8.1 Non-participatory Interpretation: Philosophical Investigations § 206 172
8.2 Participatory Understanding: Wittgenstein and Malinowski 178
8.3 Understanding Religion and Limitations to It 184
References 189
9 Shall We Dance? A Non-Intellectualist Approach to Human Practices 192
Julia Tanney
9.1 The Marett Lecture 192
9.2 Ryle on Theory Construction 194
9.3 The Regress Threatening Intellectualism 197
9.4 A Problem with a Restriction to the Knowledge of Truths 201
9.5 The Dance 204
References 206
Part IV Context over Scientism 209
10 Wittgenstein on Religion 211
Paul Horwich
10.1 Agenda 211
10.2 Central Themes in the Mature Wittgenstein 211
10.3 Wittgenstein's View of Religious Belief 213
10.4 Meaning and Belief 217
10.5 Does Wittgenstein's View of Religion Accord with His Own General Meta-Philosophy? 219
10.6 Wittgenstein's Religiosity 221
10.7 Postscript 225
Acknowledgements 226
References 227
11 The Concept of Belief in Comparative Religious Perspective 228
Thomas D. Carroll
11.1 Introduction 228
11.2 Some Themes in Wittgenstein's Views on Religious Beliefs and Practices 229
11.3 The Concept of Belief Within Comparative Philosophy of Religion 234
11.4 Clayton's Contexts of Contestability 238
11.5 Conclusion: Varieties of Religious Beliefs, Wittgenstein and Epistemology 241
References 243
12 On Certainty and Religion: A Prolegomenon 245
Nuno Venturinha
12.1 The Text 245
12.1.1 Manuscripts 247
12.1.2 Perspectives 255
12.2 The Context 259
12.3 The Moral of the Story 269
12.4 Postscript 270
References 271
Part V Evidentialism and Non-Evidentialism off the Fence 277
13 Evidentialist Epistemology and Freedom of Religion: Locke and Wittgenstein 279
Gorazd Andrejč
13.1 Introduction 279
13.2 Locke's Religious Evidentialism 281
13.3 Lockean Evidentialism and Religious Tolerance 283
13.4 Wittgenstein's Anti-evidentialism 286
13.5 Wittgensteinian Anti-evidentialism and Religious Disagreements 289
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13.6 Concluding Discussion 292
References 298
Works by Locke 299
14 Wittgenstein and the ABCs of Religious Epistemics 300
Guy Axtell
14.1 Improving Dialogue Across Disciplines: Two Proposals 300
14.2 Religious Epistemics and the Significance of Aetiological Challenges 308
14.3 Checks and Balances: The Three Corners of the Triangle 309
14.3.1 The Three Corners: Initial Descriptions 311
14.3.2 Checks: A Temperance Movement 312
14.3.3 Balances: Shared Issues in the Scholarly Study of Religious Belief/Unbelief 314
14.3.3.1 Theology and the B/C Relationship 314
14.3.3.2 Cognitive Science and the A/B Relationship 317
14.3.3.3 Philosophy and the A-C Relationship 319
14.4 Wittgenstein and Philosophical Investigations of Religious Belief 322
14.5 Conclusion: Affirming Philosophy of Religion as Multidisciplinary Research 326
Acknowledgements 326
References 326
Index 329
