Faith after Foundationalism

Foundationalism is the view that philosophical propositions are of two kinds, those which need supporting evidence, and those which in themselves provide the evidence which renders them irrefutable. This book,originally published 1988,describes the battle between foundationalism, which places belief in God in the first category, and various other approaches to the problem of faith – ‘Reformed Epistemology’,hermeneutics; and sociological analysis. In the concluding section of the book, an examination of concept formation in religious belief is used to reinterpret the gap between the expressive power of language and the reality of God.

Preface Part 1: Can There Be a Religious Epistemology? 1. Foundationalism and Religion: a Philosophical Scandal 2. The Reformed Challenge to Foundationalism 3. Preliminary Criticism of the Reformed Challenge 4. Basic Propositions: Reformed Epistemology and Wittgenstein’s On Certainty 5. Epistemology and Justification by Faith 6. Religion and Epistemology 7. A Reformed Epistemology? 8. Religious and Non-Religious Perspectives 9. Philosophy, Description and Religion Part 2: Manners Without Grammar 10. The Hermeneutic Option 11. Optional Descriptions? 12. The Hidden Values of Hermeneutics 13. The Sociologising of Values 14. Religion in the Marketplace Part 3: Grammar and Theology 15. Grammar and the Nature of Doctrine 16. Grammar and Doctrinal Disagreement 17. Grammar Without Foundations 18. Grammarians and Guardians Part 4: Religion and Concept-Formation 19. Epistemological Mysteries 20. A Place for Mystery 21. Morality, Grace and Concept-Formation 22. Religious Concepts: Misunderstanding and Lack of Understanding

D.Z. Phillips