Thinking about Religion through Wittgenstein

Abstract

This essay is an attempt at thinking through Wittgenstein’s philosophy in order to clarify some aspects of what people call “religion.” Central to it is an exploration of the polarity between belief and practice and an attempt to reframe that polarity in terms of the mutually interconnected processes of being and learning. It seeks to address the old question of persuadability, of what makes for conviction and effective critique, particularly in relation to faith in God and in “another world.” It then attempts to apply Wittgenstein’s insights to fundamental disagreements in the Islamic tradition over the proper understanding of apparently contradictory representations of God in the Qur’an. Finally, it takes up the question of what Wittgenstein called “the craving for generality,” and thus the part abstraction plays in the progressive thrust of our secular, capitalist form of life.