An Examination of the Relation of Religious Groundmotives and Philosophical Analysis

Abstract

To examine the relation of religious commitment and philosophical thought, with special reference to aspects of A.J. Ayer's Language, Truth and Logic, R.B. Braithwaite's An Empiricist's View of the Nature of Religious Belief, A.G.N. Flew's discussion of Falsification and P.M. Van Buren's The Secular Meaning of the Gospel. I begin with a presentation of certain influential views of the autonomy (i.e. independence from 'religion' ) of genuine philosophical investigation. I point out that such 'neutrality' does not seem to have been achieved in practice and raise the question as to whether it is possible in principle. Finally, in the light of the view that Western thought since the Rennaissance has actually been controlled by the dialectical religious nature-freedom ground-motive of Humanism I seek to examine the works mentioned above.