What is Apophaticism? Ways of Talking About an Ineffable God
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Open Access
- 22 December 2016
- journal article
- research article
- Published by Verein zur Forderung der Fachzeitschrift European Journal for Philosophy of Religion in European Journal for Philosophy of Religion
- Vol. 8 (4) , 23-49
Abstract
Apophaticism – the view that God is both indescribable and inconceivable – is one of the great medieval traditions of philosophical thought about God, but it is largely overlooked by analytic philosophers of religion. This paper attempts to rehabilitate apophaticism as a serious philosophical option. We provide a clear formulation of the position, examine what could appropriately be said and thought about God if apophaticism is true, and consider ways to address the charge that apophaticism is self-defeating. In so doing we draw on recent work in the philosophy of language, touching on issues such as the nature of negation, category mistakes, fictionalism, and reductionism.Keywords
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