Wittgenstein’s (Misunderstood) Religious Thought

Earl Stanley B. Fronda, Ph.D. in Philosophy, University of Wales, is Associate Professor at the Department of Philosophy, College of Social Sciences and Philosophy, University of the Philippines in Diliman, Quezon City.

• Volume Foreword Preface Acknowledgement List of Initials and Abbreviations Introduction Chapter One Wittgenstein’s Religious Point of View I. To take or not to take Wittgenstein’s remark at face value II. Mysticism as Wittgenstein’s religious point of view III. The merits of positing mysticism as Wittgenstein’s religious point of view Chapter Two The Theology of the Early Wittgenstein I. The mystical Wittgenstein II. Wittgenstein’s apophaticism III. The Pseudo-Dionysian theology IV. Wittgenstein’s theology is Pseudo-Dionysian Chapter Three The Mature Wittgenstein on (Religious) Language I. On language II. On the limits of language III. The trouble with speaking of the unspeakable IV. On Religious Language Chapter Four The Mature Wittgenstein on seeing and (not) Speaking of God I. Speaking of the mind II. Speaking of God III. Some objections IV. Wittgenstein à la St. Thomas Aquinas V. Seeing God Chapter Five ‘God exists’ after Wittgenstein after St. Thomas Aquinas I. ‘God exists’ after Wittgenstein II. God exists as a grammatical hinge III. St. Thomas Aquinas on ‘God exists’ IV. Wittgenstein à la St. Thomas Chapter Six Wittgenstein on the (Supposed) Evidence for God’s Existence I. On miracles as evidence of the divine II. On religious experience as evidence of the divine III. The orderliness of the universe as evidence of the divine IV. Faith creates the evidence that justifies faith Chapter Seven Wittgenstein’s Religious Realism with Attitude I. Cupitt’s idealist Wittgenstein II. From behaviourism to religious non-realism III. Wittgenstein’s anti-realism and his realist attitude IV. Realism/non-realism and Wittgenstein’s God V. ‘God’ and ‘colour’ VI. Apophatic theology and God-universe bi-conditionality Chapter Eight Wittgensteinian Philosophy of Religion is misunderstood I. The criticisms against Wittgensteinian philosophy of religion II. Two discursive traditions about God as (not) a being III. Wittgenstein in line with the Plotinian tradition IV. The criticisms are borne of nescience or obliviousness Chapter Nine Concluding remarks: The difference it makesin understanding Wittgenstein’s religious point of view I. Wittgenstein’s religious point of view and other non-religious matters II. Wittgenstein’s religious point of view and the conduct of philosophy of religion III. Concluding remarks on non-realism, crypto-atheism and fideism BibliographyIndex