Wittgenstein and Interreligious Disagreement

Wittgenstein and Interreligious Disagreement

Gorazd Andrejč Wittgenstein and Interreligious Disagreement A Philosophical and Theological Perspective

Gorazd Andrejč St Edmunds College University of Cambridge Cambridge, UK ISBN 978-1-137-50307-7 ISBN 978-1-137-49823-6 (ebook) DOI 10.1057/978-1-137-49823-6 Library of Congress Control Number: 2016944348 The Editor(s) (if applicable) and The Author(s) 2016 This work is subject to copyright. All rights are solely and exclusively licensed by the Publisher, whether the whole or part of the material is concerned, specifically the rights of translation, reprinting, reuse of illustrations, recitation, broadcasting, reproduction on microfilms or in any other physical way, and transmission or information storage and retrieval, electronic adaptation, computer software, or by similar or dissimilar methodology now known or hereafter developed. The use of general descriptive names, registered names, trademarks, service marks, etc. in this publication does not imply, even in the absence of a specific statement, that such names are exempt from the relevant protective laws and regulations and therefore free for general use. The publisher, the authors and the editors are safe to assume that the advice and information in this book are believed to be true and accurate at the date of publication. Neither the publisher nor the authors or the editors give a warranty, express or implied, with respect to the material contained herein or for any errors or omissions that may have been made. Cover illustration: Pippa West / Alamy Stock Photo. Printed on acid-free paper This Palgrave Macmillan imprint is published by Springer Nature The registered company is Nature America Inc. New York

To Žaklina and Natan

ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS I am grateful to the Woolf Institute, Cambridge, for the Junior Research Fellowship that allowed me to carry out the research which went into this book between August 2013 and December 2015. I profited greatly from the interdisciplinary spirit and academic freedom at the Institute, as well as the unique way in which serious scholarship is combined with public engagement at the Institute. I am also grateful to St Edmund s College, Cambridge, where I was a research associate during this period. This made it possible for me to work long hours when needed, in the lovely atmosphere of the college, and with regular doses of coffee in the Senior Combination Room. Many people deserve thanks for the various ways in which they have contributed to this book. I can only mention a few here. I want to thank especially those who have spent a lot of their energy and time to read various drafts of the chapters of this book, or to listen to my talks which were based on those drafts, and give me valuable comments and critique. First and foremost, I would like to thank Ed Kessler, whose patience with, and persistent interest in, my developing research for this book were a constant encouragement. His constructive criticism reflected his extensive knowledge in interreligious studies and experience in interreligious dialogue, from which I have profited greatly. Another friendly critic, who spent many hours to read my chapters, is Ulrich Schmiedel. I am deeply grateful for his insightful comments on the penultimate draft of the chapters of this book. Next, I would like to thank other friends and colleagues who gave me valuable feedback on various parts of this book, either in written or vii

viii ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS oral form, especially Boris Gunjević, James Aitken, Klaus von Stosch, Mikel Burley, Mark Wynn, Paul Hedges, Marianne Moyaert, Marius van Hoogstraten, Srđjan Sremac, Davor Marko, and Daniel Weiss. I would also like to thank Bradley Arnold, George Wilkes, Ben Humphris, Muhamed Jusić, Marko-Antonio Brkić, and Father Alban McCoy, with whom I have had numerous informal, but very stimulating and valuable, discussions on the topics of this book through the years. I want to thank Pat Metheny and Jan Garbarek for their music, which is the best contemporary music I know and which provided a musical background to, and often spiritual inspiration for, the thoughts that went into this book. Finally, the greatest thanks are due to my wife and son, Žaklina and Natanael Andrejč. Their love, support, patience, sacrifice, and closeness are an invaluable part of my life and have reached new depths while I was writing this book. Without them it could never have been written.

CONTENTS 1 Introduction 1 2 Wittgenstein on Religion: The Four Conceptions 19 3 George Lindbeck, Wittgenstein, and Grammar of Interreligious Disagreement 65 4 Incommensurability and Interreligious Communication 97 5 David Tracy, Experience, and Similarities-in-Difference 133 6 David Burrell: Wittgensteinian Thomism That Became Abrahamic 175 7 A Wittgensteinian Approach to Interreligious Disagreements: Descriptive and Normative Investigations 219 Index 273 ix

THE WORKS OF LUDWIG WITTGENSTEIN (W ITH ABBREVIATIONS USED IN THIS BOOK) AWL 1979. Wittgenstein s Lectures: Cambridge, 1932-1935, from the notes of A. Ambrose and M. MacDonald. Edited by A. Ambrose. Oxford: Blackwell. CV 1998. Culture and Value Revised Edition. Edited by G.H. von Wright. Oxford: Blackwell. LC 1970. Lectures and Conversations on Aesthetics, Psychology and Religious Belief. Oxford: Wiley-Blackwell. LPP 1988. Lectures on Philosophy of Psychology, 1946-47. Edited by P.T. Geach. Hemel Hempstead: Harvester Wheatsheaf. MWL 2016. Wittgenstein: Lectures, Cambridge 1930-1933, from the Notes of GE Moore. Edited by G. Citron, B. Rogers and D. Stern. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. OC 1975. Über Gewissheit On Certainty. New York: Harper and Row. PI 1968. Philosophical Investigations. 2nd Edition. Edited and translated by G.E.M Anscombe. Oxford: Blackwell. PG 1974. Philosophical Grammar. Edited by Rush Rhees, translated by Anthony Kenny. Berkeley: University of California Press. RFGB Remarks on Frazer s Golden Bough. In Philosophical Occasions: 1912-1951, edited by James Klagge and Alfred Nordmann, 119 155. Indianapolis: Hackett. RPP I 1980. Remarks on the Philosophy of Psychology. Vol. I. Edited by G.E.M. Anscombe and G.H. von Wright. Chicago: University of Chicago Press. RPP II 1980. Remarks on the Philosophy of Psychology. Vol. II. Edited by G.H. von Wright and H. Nyman. Oxford: Basil Blackwell. xi

xii THE WORKS OF LUDWIG WITTGENSTEIN TLP 1974. Tractatus Logico-Philosophicus. Translated by D.F. Pears and B.F. McGuinness. London: Routledge. TLP 1 1922. Tractatus Logico-Philosophicus. Translated by C.K. Ogden and F.P. Ramsey. London: Kegan Paul. Z 1981. Zettel. Second Edition. Edited by G.E.M Anscombe and G.H. von Wright. Oxford: Blackwell. Wittgenstein s works are referenced in the book in the following way: In case the segment of the text referred to or cited is a numbered remark, the abbreviation of the work (for example, PI for Philosophical Investigations ) is followed by the sign and the number of the remark (like this: PI 124). In case the reference is to the page number of the book with the text in question, the abbreviation is followed simply by the page number (like this: CV 34, for Culture and Value, page 34). There are only two exceptions to the above rule. The citations from and references to Wittgenstein: Lectures, Cambridge 1930-1933, from the Notes of GE Moore (MWL) include the number of Moore s original notebook in question and the page number in it where the text appears, separated by a colon (for example, MWL 8:78). The citations from and references to the Tractatus are, following the established practice, to the number of the remark but without the sign (like this: TLP 4.001).