Does Wittgenstein’s philosophical anti-scientism allow for supernaturalism
Bibliographic Data
| ID | 21336241 |
|---|---|
| Authors | Aleksei Rakhmanin (0000-0002-9677-9244), Aleksei Yuryevich Rakhmanin (University of Helsinki, corresponding author) |
| Year | 2026 |
| Volume | 99 |
| Issue | 2 |
| Publication date | 2026-04-01 |
| Peer Reviewed | Yes |
| Open Access | Yes |
| Type | ARTICLE |
| Venue | International Journal for Philosophy of Religion (JOURNAL) |
| Journal identifiers | ISSN: 0020-7047 • E-ISSN: 1572-8684 |
| Publisher | Springer Science and Business Media LLC (PUBLISHER) |
| DOI | 10.1007/s11153-026-10000-0 |
| OpenAlex | W7143437078 |
| Language | EN |
| References cited | 20 |
While in recent decades there have been interpretations of Wittgenstein’s philosophy as naturalistic, this possibility has not yet been fully explored in the philosophy of religion. The main obstacle to this seems to be twofold. First, it is often claimed that Wittgenstein’s philosophy was anti-scientistic in spirit (and thus cannot be naturalistic by definition) and, second, his views on religion left room for supernaturalist claims. I argue that Wittgenstein’s philosophy is naturalistic precisely because of its anti-scientistic underpinnings, which stem from the idea of the autonomy of philosophical practice. On this basis, I show that Wittgenstein’s allegedly acknowledging the supernatural content of religious utterances does not lead him to incorporate this content into his philosophical practice. Moreover, in the light of his anti-scientism, the established distinction between cognitivist and non-cognitivist approaches to religion might be reconsidered. Based on Wittgenstein’s anti-scientism, I show that although his philosophy of religion may be characterized as cognitivist, it still does not allow for supernaturalism. In the end, I demonstrate how Wittgenstein’s combination of anti-scientism and non-supernaturalism can contribute to rethinking methodological naturalism in philosophy of religion
Autonomy · Content (measure theory) · Modern philosophy · Naturalism · Philosophical methodology · Philosophy of mind · Philosophy of religion · Philosophy of science · Western philosophy · Epistemology, Ethics, and Metaphysics · Karl Barth and Christian Theology · Wittgensteinian philosophy and applications
The Big Typescript TS 213
Cognitivism about religious belief in later Wittgenstein
‘Everybody would agree’ – a novel Wittgensteinian approach to philosophy of religion
Between knowledge and certainty
Prolegomena to a Buddhist philosophy of religion
Approaches to philosophy of religion
For If There Is No Resurrection of the Dead, Then Christ Has Not Been Raised Either
Sheer Poison? Wittgenstein's Philosophy of Religion
| Citation velocity | historical |
|---|---|
| Highly cited | No |