Theology

The Contemplative Spirit

D.Z. Phillips on Religion and the Limits of Philosophy
Ed. by Ingolf U. Dalferth and Hartmut von Sass

[Der kontemplative Geist. D.Z. Phillips über Religion und die Grenzen der Philosophie.]

2010. XVI, 303 pages.

Religion in Philosophy and Theology 49

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ISBN 978-3-16-150505-8
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Published in English.
This volume explores Dewi Z. Phillips' contemplative philosophy of religion in an intense and lively discussion, showing how the description of religious faith and the access to its practice and language change unexpectedly and provocatively in this way of thinking.
To understand reality in terms of what is possible has methodological implications which a contemplative philosophy makes explicit. The goal is no longer to determine how things are or must be but rather to provide an overview of how they could be and the diversity with which they already appear. The function of philosophy is not the discovery of a single answer but rather a careful description of the diversity and the heterogeneity of possible answers in different contexts and practices. This approach, inspired by Wittgenstein, was applied to the philosophy of religion by Dewi Z. Phillips (1934–2006) in particular. This volume explores his contemplative philosophy of religion in an intense and lively discussion, showing how the description of religious faith and the access to its practice and language change unexpectedly and provocatively in this way of thinking.
Survey of contents
Ingolf U. Dalferth: Introduction: The Contemplative Use of Reason

I. Contemplation in Debate
Eberhard Herrmann: How is a Contemplative Philosophy of Religion Possible? – Hugo Strandberg: Is it Possible to Trust Anything? Phillips and the Idea of a Contemplative Philosophy – Patrick Horn: In Defense of Philosophical Contemplation – Hartmut von Sass: Broken Mirrors – Contemplative Nowheres. Rorty and Phillips on Description, Imagination, and Literature

II. Beyond Fideism
Thomas D. Carroll: The Debate over 'Wittgensteinian Fideism' and Phillips' Contemplative Philosophy of Religion – Klaus von Stosch: Wittgensteinian Fideism? – Michael Rodgers: Is D.Z. Phillips a Realist?

III. Contemplating Religious Belief
Anders Kraal: The Phillips-Swinburne Debate on Religious Language: Toward a Via Media – Randy Ramal: The Fallacy of Logical Inversion. On Avoiding Discourse in the Hermeneutics of Religion – Hans-Peter Grosshans: Vere tu es Deus absconditus. The Contemplation of Religious Mysteries in the Philosophy of Religion – Peter F. Bloemendaal: Contemplating Possibilities of Religious Sense. True Belief and Superstition – Ray Paul Bitar: Contemplating Death and Evil: D.Z. Phillips and the Tragic Sense of Christian Faith – Richard Amesbury: Changing the Subject: Atheism, 'Friendly Fire', and Contemplative Philosophy
Authors/Editors

Ingolf U. Dalferth Geboren 1948; 1977 Promotion; 1982 Habilitation; Professor Emeritus für Systematische Theologie, Symbolik und Religionsphilosophie an der Universität Zürich; Danforth Professor Emeritus für Religionsphilosophie an der Claremont Graduate University in Kalifornien.

Hartmut von Sass Geboren 1980; Studium der Ev. Theologie und Philosophie in Göttingen, Edinburgh und Berlin; 2009 Promotion; 2012 Habilitation; 2022–23 Lynen Fellow an der New School for Social Research in New York City; Titularprofessor für Systematische Theologie und Religionsphilosophie an der Universität Zürich und Inhaber einer Heisenberg-Stelle an der HU Berlin.
https://orcid.org/0000-0001-8410-6758

Reviews

The following reviews are known:

In: Philosophischer Literaturanzeiger — 64 (2011), S. 113–116 (Wulf Kellerwessel)
In: Concilium — 2010, S. 782
In: Theologische Rundschau — 82 (2017), S. 303–342 (Hartmut von Sass)
In: Theologische Literaturzeitung — 136 (2011), S. 1213–1215 (Oliver Wiertz)
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