Truth And Belief: Interpretation And Critique Of The Analytical Theory Of Religion (studies In Philosophy And Religion)

STUDIES IN PHILOSOPHY AND RELIGION Volume 14 AMERICAN UNIVERSITY PUBLICATIONS IN PHILOSOPHY Volume 6 The titles published in these series are listed at the end of this volume. TRUTH AND BELIEF Interpretation and Critique of the Analytical Theory of Religion by HEIMO E. M. HOFMEISTER University of Heidelberg, Federal Republic ofGermnany KLUWER ACADEMIC PUBLISHERS DORDRECHT / BOSTON / LONDON Library of Congress Cataloging in Publication Data H o f m e i s t e r , Heiito. [Wahrheit und G l a u b e . E n g l i s h ] T r u t h and belief : i n t e r p r e t a t i o n and c r i t i q u e of the a n a l y t i c a l Theory of r e l i g i o n / by H e i m o E.M. H o f m e i s t e r . p. cm. — (Studies in p h i l o s o p h y and r e l i g i o n ; 14) T r a n s l a t i o n o f : W a h r h e i t und G l a u b e . I n c l u d e s b i b l i o g r a p h i c a l r e f e r e n c e s and index. ISBN 0 - 7 9 2 3 - 0 9 7 6 - 6 (a Ik. p a p e r ) 1. R e l i g i o n — P h i l o s o p h y — H i s t o r y — 2 0 t h century. 2. Analysis ( P h i l o s o p h y ) 3. P h i l o s o p h y and r e l i g i o n . I. T i t l e . I I . S e r i e s : S t u d i e s in p h i l o s o p h y and r e l i g i o n ( M a r t i n u s N i j h o f f P u b l i s h e r s ) : v. 14. 3 L 5 1 . H 7 3 5 1 3 1990 2 0 0 ' . 1 — dc20 90-47433 ISBN 0-7923-0976-6 Published by Kluwer Academic Publishers, P.O. Box 17, 3300 A A Dordrecht, The Netherlands. Kluwer Academic Publishers incorporates the publishing programmes of D. Reidel, Martinus Nijhoff, Dr W. Junk and MTP Press. Sold and distributed in the U.S.A. and Canada by Kluwer Academic Publishers, 101 Philip Drive, Norwell, MA 02061, U.S.A. In all other countries, sold and distributed by Kluwer Academic Publishers Group, P.O. Box 322, 3300 AH Dordrecht, The Netherlands. THIS VOLUME ALSO SERVES AS VOLUME 6 OF THE AMERICAN UNIVERSITY PUBLICATIONS IN PHILOSOPHY BOOK INFORMATION With kind permission of Oldenbourg Verlag, Wien/Miinchen/Salzburg. Translated form the German Wahrheit und Glaube. Printed on acid-free paper All Rights Reserved © 1990 Kluwer Academic Publishers No part of the material protected by this copyright notice may be reproduced or utilized in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying, recording or by any information storage and retrieval system, without written permission from the copyright owner. Printed in the Netherlands TABLE OF CONTENTS Series Editor's Preface 8 FOREWORD 9 PREFACE 11 I. The Linguistic Veto 15 1. Philosophy as scientific theory 15 a) TJie Hidden Dialectic of the Form and Content of Propositions b) The Requirement of Verification and the Relationship of Proposition and Reality 18 20 2. The verification problem and religious language in Wittgenstein's early work 23 a) Concerning the Relationship between Propositional Reality and the Concept of the Mystical b) Rejecting the Claim of Truth for Religious Statements 24 26 3. The interpretation of religious statements as basic-propostitions and "quoque tu argument" 28 4. Syntactics, semantics, and pragmatics 35 5. Philosophy as linguistic-analysis 39 a) Wittgenstein's Annulment of the Linguistic Veto b) Linguistic Pragmatism and the Religious Language Game 42 45 II. On the Problem of the Use of Religious Language 52 1. Rationalist criticism of the religious proposition 52 2. The three main trends in the analytical philosophy of religion 61 6 3. Neutrality in method and religious interest 62 4. The uniqueness of the religious use of language 67