Overview
- Shows that negative theology is an integral part of how Christians have thought about God
- Emphasizes the work of a strand of philosophical theology influenced by Wittgenstein as well as Aquinas
- Makes the case for a broader understanding of analytic theology, grounded in a broader understanding of the analytic tradition
Part of the book series: Palgrave Frontiers in Philosophy of Religion (PFPR)
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About this book
This book is the first treatment at length of negative, or apophatic, theology within the analytic tradition. Apophatic theology holds that there is a significant sense in which we cannot say what God is. Important negative theological elements are present in a host of Christian thinkers, from Gregory of Nyssa to Aquinas, and yet apophaticism is neglected in philosophical theology as practiced within the analytic tradition. By contrast, Hewitt shows how apophatic theology is integral to how Christians have thought about God, and how it can be defended against standard attacks in the philosophical literature.
Hewitt diagnoses the unease with apophaticism amongst contempory philosophical theologicans as rooted in a certain picture of how language functions, here called referentialism. Arguing that this picture is not compulsory, an account of language which sits more comfortably with negative theology (originating from work of later Wittgenstein) is invoked, and appliedto key themes in philosophical theology including divine personhood, the Trinity, the Incarnation and the afterlife.
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Keywords
Table of contents (10 chapters)
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Front Matter
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Back Matter
Authors and Affiliations
About the author
Simon Hewitt is Leverhulme Early Career Fellow in the School of Philosophy, Religion and the History of Science at the University of Leeds, UK.
Bibliographic Information
Book Title: Negative Theology and Philosophical Analysis
Book Subtitle: Only the Splendour of Light
Authors: Simon Hewitt
Series Title: Palgrave Frontiers in Philosophy of Religion
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-49602-9
Publisher: Palgrave Macmillan Cham
eBook Packages: Religion and Philosophy, Philosophy and Religion (R0)
Copyright Information: The Editor(s) (if applicable) and The Author(s), under exclusive license to Springer Nature Switzerland AG 2020
Hardcover ISBN: 978-3-030-49601-2Published: 18 August 2020
Softcover ISBN: 978-3-030-49604-3Published: 18 August 2021
eBook ISBN: 978-3-030-49602-9Published: 17 August 2020
Series ISSN: 2634-6176
Series E-ISSN: 2634-6184
Edition Number: 1
Number of Pages: XXIV, 191
Number of Illustrations: 1 b/w illustrations
Topics: Philosophy of Religion, Christian Theology