Review of Nick Trakakis, The End of Philosophy of Religion
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Review of Nick Trakakis, The End of Philosophy of Religion London: Continuum, 2008, ISBN: 978-8470-6534-6, hb viii + 172pp. J. Aaron Simmons
Published online: 19 August 2012 # Springer Science+Business Media B.V. 2012
In a recent article, Nicholas Wolterstorff reflects on the state of contemporary philosophy of religion and the influence that Alvin Plantinga has had upon it (‘Then, Now, and Al,’ Faith and Philosophy 28, no.3 (July 2011): 253–66). In brief, Wolterstorff suggests that philosophy of religion is a robust and exciting discourse with a promising future. In reply to Wolterstorff, Plantinga is also optimistic about the future of philosophy of religion: A danger we now face, perhaps, is triumphalism. . . . nonetheless the number and quality of young Christian and theistic philosophers is wonderfully heartening, and an occasion of joy and thanksgiving. (‘Response to Nick Wolterstorff,’ Faith and Philosophy 28, no. 3 (July 2011): 267–68) In light of these claims by Wolterstorff and Plantinga, and considering the prominence and influence of numerous journals and professional societies devoted to the philosophy of religion, it might seem odd to find a book whose title announces The End of Philosophy of Religion. Although Nick Trakakis’s title might be a bit more rhetorically provocative than it needs to be (I think a title more reflective of his argument would have been A Shared Future for Philosophy of Religion or Philosophy of Religion Beyond the Continental/ Analytic Divide), his basic claim is that analytic philosophy of religion faces significant problems that all philosophers would do well to consider. ‘Much of philosophy that is studied and practiced in the academies today,’ Trakakis claims, ‘appears “colorless” and monotonous, even mournful and melancholic in its endlessly futile attempts to render everything rationally comprehensible’ (1). Given this situation, Trakakis sets out ‘to show that the analytic tradition of philosophy, by virtue of its attachment to scientific norms of rationality and truth, cannot come to terms with the mysterious transcendent reality that is disclosed in religious practice’ (2). Trakakis’s project is not merely critical,
J. A. Simmons (*) Furman University, Greenville, SC, USA e-mail: [email protected]
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J.A. Simmons
however. He argues that if philosophy of religion draws more deeply upon ‘explicitly narrative and literary approaches’ (2), then it might survive its own ‘end’ and emerge as a discourse more adequate to religion as an existential reality. Although it might seem that a move to such alternative methodologies would be a simple matter of arguing for a dialogue across philosophical traditions, Trakakis claims that the prospects for such a dialogue are not good: ‘By situating themselves in such different genres, analytic and Continental philosophers have inevitably developed contrasting, if not mutually exclusive, methods for pursuing the philosophy of religion’ (3). In the attempt to open lines of possible conversation, Trakakis spends the majority o
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