Self and other: An introduction

Abstract

It is well known that the philosophy of religion has flourished in recent decades in Anglo-American philosophy where philosophers are bringing new techniques to bear on many of the traditional problems, including the rationality of religious belief, the attributes of God, religious language, the problem of evil, and religious diversity. Much of this discussion is carried on within the context of western religious belief and so-called classical or traditional theism. Although there is more diversity in Anglo-American philosophy of religion than is sometimes recognized, it nevertheless provides a body of literature with a recent history that is sufficiently coherent to enable commentators to identify the movement with some clarity. The story is somewhat different with the emerging field of recent continental philosophy of religion where many of the philosophers referred to are not generally known as philosophers of religion and where many of the approaches are based upon a critique of traditional western theories of rationality, experience and theism and an extension of more traditional boundaries of philosophical reflection on religion. The essays in this volume were invited with the hope that they might make more widely available and contribute to some of the discussions that are shaping recent continental philosophy of religion.