Dann, Gary2006-07-282006-07-2819991999http://hdl.handle.net/10012/438The intent of this dissertation is to set forth the philosophical and theological groundwork for appropriate Richard Rorty's metaphilosophical critique into theological terms. It is a work that bridges (or better, blurs the boundaries between) contemporary philosophy, the philosophy of religion, philosophical theology, and theology. It is a hermeneutical project situated within the death of God, at least as interpreted by the French theologian Gabriel Vahanian. The first chapter outlines Vahanian's sense of the death of God, and how it finds parallel with Rorty's understanding of the "demise of the philosophical tradition." Of importance is how these trends within theological and philosophical thought render obsolete traditional issues in the philosophy of religion. That is once objectivity, rationality, and truth are redefined, the antithetical polarization between faith-reason, science-religion, and objectivity-subjectivity are severed. This, in turn, renders appellations such as "atheist" and "theist" vestiges of a bygone era. Other debates, such as traditional arguments over the existence of God, become uninteresting at best. Chapter two is devoted to Rorty's analysis of traditional philosophy, traced from Philosophy and the Mirror of Nature to the third volume of his philosophical papers Truth and Progress. Of central importance is the language of traditional philosophy, with particular detail given to the nature of objectivity, rationality, the "scientific method," and truth. This traditional paradigm is in contrast to Rorty's sense of philosophical progress, described as the increase in solidarity. The third section of this chapter develops Rorty's distinction between systematic and edifying philosophies as described in his Philosophy and the Mirror of Nature. This distinction serves as the basis for a similar case made in theology. The third chapter explores the ethical implications of Rorty's position as applied to the philosophy of education. Here I compare a Rortyan, or pragmatic view of values education to that of a realist's account. I argue that the pragmatist's position serves better in the effort to develop the "rational and moral autonomy of children." The second part of this chapter examines Rorty's sense of ethics as the inculcation of sentimentality. In chapter four I explore how Rorty's distinction between systematic and edifying philosophies can be applied in the theological context, distinguishing between systematic and edifying theologies. With respect to systematic theology, I argue that similar philosophy, theological discourse (and hence the philosophy of religion) was infected by systematic philosophy, obscuring and redefining its theoretical and practical field of investigations. Edifying theology, similar to edifying philosophy, turns from robust metaphysical inquiry to the Deweyan problems of society. In the last part of this chapter I discuss how edifying theology, while sharing edifying philosophy's pragmatic concerns, remains uniquely theological. The fifth and final chapter turns to an account of the philosophy of religion as developed in a recent unpublished manuscript by Rorty. I pay particular attention to how this account is compatible with edifying theology. The second half of this chapter deals with Alvin Plantinga's forthcoming book on warrant and Christian belief. My interest liest particularly with a section in Plantinga's book that takes to task Rorty's view of truth. In this section Plantinga seeks to show that whatever sense can be made of Rorty's position, it does not offer "defeaters" for Christian belief. I argue that Plantinga is right but for the wrong reason. That is, while Rorty's view of truth does not offer defeaters for Christian belief, the reason is not because Rorty's view is incoherent. Rather, read fairly and charitably, Rorty's view is not only coherent, but as well quite compatible with some interpretations of Christian belief. In conclusion, this thesis is highly exploratory. Beyond applying metaphilosophical distinctions into the theological context. If successful the implications for the philosophy of religion would be significant. In short, it would result in nothing short of a complete reconfiguration of its subject matter. and so while the death of God, philosophically, theologically, and culturally brings to an end a number of traditions, it marks the beginning of a new frontier of investigations. It is hoped that this thesis makes a small step in that direction.application/pdf10450802 bytesapplication/pdfenCopyright: 1999, Dann, Gary. All rights reserved.Harvested from Collections CanadaDoctoral Thesis