Turning God into one Devil of a Problem

Publication Type

Book Chapter

Year of Publication

2000

Author

Phillips, D. Z. (Dewi Zephaniah)

Book

Recovering Religious Concepts: Closing Epistemological Divides

Pages

103-128

Publisher

Macmillan

Place Published

London

Language

English

Keywords


Annotation

There are references to Weil throughout this book, however it is in Chapter Thirteen, "God and Concept Formation" (pp.211-226) that one finds an extensive discussion of her thought. Here Phillips assesses Weil's 'grammatical insights' in relation to modern philosophy of religion. He begins by looking at the tension arising between human action and speculative philosophical systems. He is particularly interested in systems that attempt to discuss the 'concept' of God and how these systems differ from the way actual people 'use' the word in their lives. Drawing on Weil's writing on these topics scattered throughout her work, Phillips offers a well-informed, illuminating and critical analysis of Weil's thought on language about God and what it might mean to those who use it as well as those who might reject it.