Human and Divine: An Introduction to the Philosophy of Religious Experience

Spiritual encounters and the problems raised by evil and suffering are the experiences that affect our religious beliefs most powerfully. In this new introduction to the philosophical study of religion Gwen Griffith-Dickson attempts to fill an important gap by considering these questions squarely in the context of the world's many religions and philosophical traditions, giving particular attention to Continental European and Eastern philosophy as well as to Anglo-American thinking. Philosophy of religion as the critique of religious beliefs is itself in need of examination. The book begins with a critical overview of the fundamental issues and assumptions of contemporary philosophy of religion, rationality and reason, commitment and belief, and the possibilities for religious language. The result is an approach to these issues and to the practice of philosophy of religion, which will be of interest to students and lecturers, as well as to those who wish to reflect more deeply on their own religious or anti-religious beliefs.

Gwen Griffith-Dickson is in charge of Religious Studies and Head of the School of Arts and Cultural Studies in the Faculty of Continuing Education, Birkbeck College, University of London. She is author of Johann Georg Hamann's Relational Metacriticism, and co-editor of Herman Browne: A Passion for Critique.