Hermeneutics and the Philosophy of Religion

Paul Ricur (1913-2005) was one of the most distinguished and prolific philosophers of religion in the second half of the 20th century. Through his wide-ranging writings, a self-reflective and critical approach to hermeneutics became an indispensable tool for the philosophical interpretation of the complex text worlds of religious traditions and for critical reflection on cultural phenomena. His philosophical hermeneutics was sensitive to the lack of transparency of the human self and the corresponding intricacies of direct and indirect communication in religion and culture. It was open to the analytic and phenomenological traditions but, by combining phenomenological description with hermeneutical interpretation, also decisively different from other contemporary approaches. On the occasion of the 100th anniversary of his birth this volume explores and evaluates Ricur's contributions to the hermeneutic turn in the philosophy of religion. His hermeneutical phenomenology enriches and reorients the contemporary practice of philosophy of religion, moving beyond the barren varieties of metaphysical theism and antitheism in both the analytic and post-analytic traditions.

Ingolf U. Dalferth (Herausgegeben von) Born 1948; 1977 Promotion; 1982 Habilitation; Professor Emeritus of Systematic Theology, Symbolism and Philosophy of Religion at the University of Zurich; Danforth Professor Emeritus of Philosophy of Religion at Claremont Graduate University in California; Fellow at the Stellenbosch Institute for Advanced Study in South Africa. Marlene A. Block (Herausgegeben von) Bachelor of Arts (Anthropology), University of Toledo; Master of Arts (Anthropology), University of Chicago; Master of Arts (Religion), Claremont Graduate University; Research Assistant and PhD candidate in Philosophy of Religion and Theology, Claremont Graduate University.