Wittgenstein and Natural Religion

Gordon Graham presents a radically innovative study of Wittgenstein's philosophy, in relation to the age-old impulse to connect ordinary human life with the transcendent reality of God. He offers an account of its relevance to the study of religion that is completely different to the standard version of "Wittgensteinian philosophy of religion" expounded by both its adherents and critics. Graham goes on to revitalize the philosophy of "true religion," an alternative, though not a rival, to the lively philosophical theology of Plantinga and Swinburne that currently dominates the subject. This alternative style of philosophy of religion has equally deep historical roots in the philosophical works of Spinoza, Hume, Schleiermacher, and Mill. At the same time, it is more easily connected to the psychological, sociological, and anthropological studies of William James, Emile Durkheim, Max Weber, Mircea Eliade, and Mary Douglas. Graham uses Wittgenstein's conception of philosophy to argue in favour of the idea that 'true religion' is to be understood as human participation in divine life.

Gordon Graham is Henry Luce III Professor of Philosophy and the Arts at Princeton Theological Seminary. He previously taught philosophy at the University of St Andrews and from 1995-2005 was Regius Professor of Moral Philosophy at the University of Aberdeen. He has published sixteen books as well as many articles and reviews, and is founding editor of the Journal of Scottish Philosophy. He has broadcast regularly with the BBC, and is as an Anglican priest has served as an associate at several Episcopal churches in Scotland and the United States