Putnamian Constraints on Pluralistic Theology of Religions

Piotr Sikora

Putnamian Constraints on Pluralistic Theology of Religions

Article

12/2 - Fall 2007, pages 379-392

Date of online publication: 15 novembre 2007

Date of publication: 01 novembre 2007

Abstract

There are many arguments that so-called pluralistic theologies of religions face difficulties in being sufficiently pluralistic. In order to meet such an objection, a pluralist offers different solutions. I argue that the range of plausible possibilities for a pluralist is strongly constrained by philosophical arguments which one can develop out of the philosophy of Hilary Putnam. In the first part of this paper, I sketch out three important strands of the Putnamian thought I consider worth defending. Given such presuppositions, I formulate two constraints on pluralistic theology of religions. In the last section of my paper, I briefly point out which of the particular standpoints, often labelled as “pluralistic theology of religions,” have problems with meeting formulated constraints, and which of the “pluralists” seem to be in accordance with them.

Keywords

Cite this article

Sikora, Piotr. “Putnamian Constraints on Pluralistic Theology of Religions.” Forum Philosophicum 12, no. 2 (2007): 379–92. doi:10.35765/forphil.2007.1202.28.

Bibliography

Griffiths, Paul J. “The Properly Christian Response to Religious Plurality.” Anglican Theological Review 79 (1997): 3–26.

Knitter, Paul F. Introducing Theologies of Religions. Maryknoll, N.Y.: Orbis Books, 2002.

Lindbeck, George A. The Nature of Doctrine: Religion and Theology in a Postliberal Age. Philadelphia: Westminster Press, 1984.

Putnam, Hilary. “Models and Reality.” Journal of Symbolic Logic 45, no. 3 (1980): 464–482.

Putnam, Hilary. Reason, Truth, and History. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1981.

Putnam, Hilary. Representation and Reality. Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press, 1989.

Putnam, Hilary. Realism with a Human Face. Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press, 1990.

Putnam, Hilary. Renewing Philosophy. Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press, 1992.

Putnam, Hilary. “Sense, Nonsense, and the Senses: An Inquiry Into the Powers of the Human Mind.” Journal of Philosophy 91, no. 9 (1994): 445–517.

Putnam, Hilary. Word and Life. Edited by James Conant. Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press, 1994.

Copyright

Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License