A Bibliography of Wittgenstein & Religion
In the following bibliography of Wittgenstein in relation to philosophy of religion, I arrange the entries chronologically rather than alphabetically. I have done this mainly so that the interested reader can trace the history of developments in approaches to Wittgenstein and religion (something that is obscured if only an alphabetical system is used.) I revert to alphabetical ordering only where there is more than one entry for a given year. Each decade can thus be seen as its own sort of bibliography starting with the earliest available year.1920s
Wittgenstein, Ludwig Joseph Johann. 1921. Tractatus Logico-Philosophicus. trans. C. K. Ogden.
Anonymous. 1923. “A Logical Mystic,” [A review of the Tractatus - DA] Nation and the Athaeneum 32:657-658.
1940s
Wisdom, John. 1944-1945. “Gods.” Proceedings of the Aristotelian Society 45:185-206. [S: 851]
1950s
Kaufmann, Walter. 1952. “Wittgenstein and Socrates” in his Critique of Religion and Philosophy. New York: Harper & Row, 52-59.
Malcolm, Norman. 1952. “Knowledge and Belief” Mind (61):178-189
[Reprinted in his Knowledge and Certainty, 1963]
Wasmuth, Ewald. 1952. “Das Schweigen Ludwig Wittgensteins: Über das Mystische in Tractatus Logico-Philosophicus.” [German: “The Silence of Ludwig Wittgenstein: On the Mystical in Tractatus Logico-Philosophicus.”] Wort und Wahreit 7:815-822.
1953
Freundlich, R. 1953. “Logik und Mystik.” [German: “Logic and Mysticism”] Zeitschrift für Philosophische Forschung 7:554-557.
1954
1955
Braithwaite, R. B. 1955. An Empiricist’s View of the Nature of Religious Belief. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.
Flew, Anthony and Alasdair McIntyre (Eds.) [1955] New essays in philosophical theology. London: SCM Press 1955.
Wasmuth, Ewald. 1955. “Ludwig Wittgensteins tysnad. Om ‘det mystika’ i Tractatus Logico-Philosophicus.” [Swedish] Credo 36:118-125. [See Wasmuth 1952]
1956
1957
Hawkins, Denis John Bernard. 1957. Wittgenstein and the Cult of Language: A Paper Read to the Aquinas Society of London in 1956. Aquinas Society of London, no. 27. London: Blackfriars.
1958
Coulson, John. 1958. “Catholics and the Revolution in Philosophy.” Downside Review 76:31-40.
Wienpahl, P. D. 1958. “Zen and the work of Wittgenstein.” Chicago Review 12:67-72.
1959
Irving, J. A. 1959. “Mysticism and the limits of communication.” In Mysticism and the Modern World, A. Stiernotte, ed., New York: Liberal Arts Press.
Kenny, Anthony. 1959. “Aquinas and Wittgenstein.” Downside Review 77:217-235.
1960s
1960
Hoffman, Robert. 1960. “Logic, meaning, and mystical intuition.” Philosophical Studies: An International Journal for Philosophy in the Analytic Tradition. 11(5):65-70.
1961
Aldwincle, R. F. 1961. “Much ado about words: some reflections on language, philosophy, and theology (review article).” Canadian Journal of Theology 7:91-98. ( here)
Charlesworth, M. T. 1961. “Linguistic analysis and language about God.” International Philosophical Quarterly 1(1):139-157.
Daly, C. B. 1961. "New Light on Wittgenstein." Philosophical Studies (Ireland) 10:5-49.
Zuurdeeg, W. F. 1961 July. “Implications of Analytical Philosophy for Theology.” Journal of the American Academy of Religion 29(3):204-210.
1962
Britton, Karl William. 1962. “Philosophische Ethik der Gegenwart in England: übersetzt von J Schollmeier.” Zeitschrift für Evangelische Ethik 6:101-115.
Munson, Thomas N. 1962. “Wittgenstein’s Phenomenology.” Philosophy and Phenomenological Research 23(1):37-50.
Northrop, F. S. C. 1962. “Language, mysticism, and God.” In his Man, Nature, and God. New York: Simon & Schuster, 238-245.
1963
Blackstone, William T. 1963. The Problem of Religious Knowledge: The Impact of Philosophical Analysis on the Question of Religious Knowledge. Englewood Cliffs, NJ: Prentice-Hall.
Carnap. R. 1963. “Intellectual Autobiography” In The Philosophy of R. Carnap, ed. P. Schilpp. La Salle, IL:Open Court, 3-84.
Coburn, Robert. 1963. “A Neglected Use of Theological Language.” Mind 72:369-385.
Ernst, Cornelius. 1963. “Words, facts, and God: Problems set by Wittgenstein for metaphysical theology.” Blackfriars 44:292-306.
Hardwick, Charles S. 1963. “Doing philosophy and doing Zen.” Philosophy East and West 13:227-234.
Harrison, Frank R. 1963. “Notes on Wittgenstein’s use of ‘das Mystische’.” Southern Journal of Philosophy 1:3-9.
1964
Gill, Jerry H. 1964. “Wittgenstein and religious language.” Theology Today 21:59-72.
Harrison, Frank R. 1964. “Talk about God: Can God-Language Be Meaningful, Wittgenstein and Ayer.” Illif Review 21:49-54.
Plochmann, G. K. 1964. “A note on Harrison’s notes on ‘das Mystische’.” Southern Journal of Philosophy 2:130-132. [See Harrison 1963]
Zemach, Eddy. 1964. “Wittgenstein’s philosophy of the mystical.” Review of Metaphysics 18:39-57. [Reprinted in Copi and Beard (eds.) Essays on Wittgenstein’s Tractatus. New York: Macmillan, 1966, 359-376.]
1965
Bejerholm, L. 1965. “Logiken i ‘Guds ledning’.” [Swedish] Svensk Teologisk Kvartalskift 41:25-38.
1966
Apel, Karl Otto. 1966. “Wittgenstein und das Problem des hermeneutischen Verstehens.” Zeitschrift für Theologie und Kirche 63:49-87.
McGuiness, Brian F. 1966. “The mysticism of the Tractatus.” Philosophical Review 75:305-328.
1967
Carse, James P. 1967-68. “Wittgenstein’s lion and Christology.” Theology Today 24:148-159.
Clarke, Bowman Lafayette. 1967. Language and Natural Theology. New York: Humanities Press.
Ehrlich, Leonard H. 1967. “Mystery and mysticism in Wittgenstein, Aquinas, and Jaspers.” [Abstract] Journal of Philosophy 64:745-746.
Henry, G. C., Jr. 1967. “Mathematics, phenomenology, and language analysis in contemporary theology.” Journal of the American Academy for Religion 35:337-349.
High, Dallas M. 1967. Language, Persons, and Belief: Studies in Wittgenstein’s Philosophical Investigations and Religious Uses of Language. New York: Oxford University Press.
Nielsen, Kai. 1967. “Wittgensteinian fideism.” Philosophy 42:191-209.
1968
Bell, Richard H. 1968. “Theology as Grammar: Uses of Linguistic Philosophy for the Study of Theology with Special Reference to Ludwig Wittgenstein.” Ph.D. diss., Yale University.
Daly, C.B. 1968. "Polanyi and Wittgenstein." In Intellect and Hope, ed. Thomas Langford and William Poteat. Durham: Duke University Press.
Gill, Jerry H. 1968. “God-talk: Getting on with it. A review of current literature.” Southern Journal of Philosophy 6 115-124.
Hudson, W. Donald. 1968. “On two points against Wittgensteinian fideism.” Philosophy 43:269-273.
Hudson, W. Donald. 1968. Ludwig Wittgenstein. The Bearing of his Philosophy upon Religious Belief. Richmond VA: John Knox Press.
Xirau, Ramón. 1968. “Wittgenstein y ‘lo místico’.” [Spanish: “Wittgenstein and ‘the mystical’] Letras (Lima): 100-108.
1969
Bambrough, Renford. 1969. Reason, Truth, and God. London: Methuen.
Bell, Richard H. 1969. “Wittgenstein and descriptive theology.” Religious Studies 5:1-18.
Ehrlich, Leonard H. 1969. “Mysticism of metaphysics? A juxtaposition of Wittgenstein, Aquinas, and Jaspers.” In Akten XIV Kongress für Philosophie, Wien [Vienna], September 209, 1969. Wien [Vienna]: Herder, 651-659.
Nielsen, Kai. 1969. “Wittgensteinian fideism again: A reply to Hudson.” Philosophy 44:63-65.
Nielsen, Kai. 1969. “God and forms of life.” Indian Philosophical Review.
Rhees, Rush. 1969. Without Answers. London: Routledge & Kegan Paul; New York: Schocken Books.
Smart, Ninian. 1969. “Wittgenstein, death, and the last judgment.” In Philosophers and Religious Truth, 2nd revised ed. London-New York: St. Martin Press.
1970s
1970
Cleobury, F[rank]. H[arold]. 1970. “Wittgenstein and the philosophy of religion.” Modern Churchman. n.s. 13:174-180.
Cruikshank, A. 1970. “Wittgenstein and the language of the gospels.” Church Quarterly 3:40-51.
Hudson, W. Donald. 1970. Wittgensteinian Fideism (New Studies in the Philosophy of Religion). Garden City, NY: Doubleday, Anchor Books.
Laura, Roland S. 1970. “Epistemic considerations and the religious use of language.” Anglican Theological Review 52:142-150.
McDermott, R. A. 1970. “Religion game: some family resemblances.” Journal of the American Academy of Religion 38:390-400.
Strolz, Walter. 1970. “Das Problem bei Freud, Wittgenstein, Bloch.” In Atheismus, Ludwig Klin, hrsg [ed.]. München [Munich], pp 23-35.
1971
Campbell, James Ian. 1971. The Language of Religion. New York: Bruce Books.
Cell, Edward. 1971. Language, Existence, God. Interpretations of Moore, Russell, Ayer, Wittgenstein, Wisdom, Oxford Philosophy, and Tillich. Nashville, TN: Abingdon Press. 400 pp.
Frongia, Guido. 1971. “Ludwig Wittgenstein: etica, estetica, psicoanalisis e religione.” [Ludwig Wittgenstein: ethics, aesthetics, psychoanalysis, and religion] Giornale Critica della Filosofia Italiana [Critical Journal of Italian Philosophy] 50:120-130.
Garver, Newton. 1971. “Pantheism and ontology in Wittgenstein’s early work.” Idealistic Studies 1:269-277.
Hacker, P. M. S. 1971. “Wittgenstein’s doctrine of the soul in the Tractatus.” Kantstudien 62:162-171.
Laura, Roland S. 1971. “The positivist poltergeist and some difficulties with Wittgensteinian liberation.” International Journal for the Philosophy of Religion 2:183-190.
1972
Bildhauer, William M. 1972. “The Reality of God: An Investigation of the Adequacy of Wittgenstein’s Fideism.” Ph.D. Dissertation, Univ. of Arizona, 1972. Dissertation Abstracts 33 (1973):6394-6395A.
Callopy, Bartholomew J. 1972. “Wittgenstein and Religious Discourse: Some Possibilities for Theological Investigation.” Ph.D. Dissertation, Yale Univ. 1972. Dissertation Abstracts 33:2479a.
Downing, F. Gerald. 1972. “Games, families, the public, and religion.” Philosophy 47:38-54.
Durrant, Michael. 1972. The Logical Status of “God”. London: Macmillan.
Gastwirth, Paul. 1972. “Concepts of God.” Religious Studies 8:147-152.
High, Dallas M. 1972. “Belief, falsification, and Wittgenstein.” International Journal of Philosophy of Religion 3:240-250.
Kellenberger, James. 1972. “Language-game view of religion and religious certainty.” Canadian Journal of Philosophy 2:255-275.
Laura, Roland S. 1972. “Positivism and philosophy of religion.” Sophia 11:142-150.
Nielsen, Kai. 1972. Contemporary Critique of Religion. London: Macmillan.
Sherry, Patrick. 1972a. “Is religion a ‘form of life’?” American Philosophical Quarterly 9:159-167.
Sherry, Patrick. 1972b. “Truth and the ‘religious language-game.” Philosophy 47:18-37.
Van Buren, Paul Matthews. 1972. The Edge of Language: An Essay in the Logic of Religion. New York: Macmillan [Religious Implications of Philosophical Investigations].
1973
Antiseri, Dario. 1973. “La ‘mistica’ di un ‘logico’: ovvero la religione in Ludwig Wittgenstein.” Proteus 4:163-170.
Ferrelly, John. 1973. “Religious reflection and man’s transcendence.” The Thomist 37:1-68.
Hudson, H. 1973 “Wittgenstein and Zen Buddhism.” Philosophy East and West 23:471-481.
Hudson, W. Donald. 1973. “Using a picture and religious belief.” Sophia (July 1973):11-17.
Martin, Dean M. 1973. “Christian Consciousness: Its Emergence with the Mastery of Concepts within the Christian Community with Special Reference to Wittgenstein.” Ph.d. Dissertation, Baylor Univ., 1972. Dissertation Abstracts 33:5279A.
Nielsen, Kai. 1973. “The challenge of Wittgenstein. An examination of his picture of religious belief.” Studies in Religion (Toronto) 3:29-46.
⸻. Spanish trans. “El desafio de Wittgenstein. Un examen de su visión de la creencia religiosa.” Folia Humanistica 10 (1972):235-255.
Poulain, Jacques. 1973. Logique et Religion. L’atomisme logique de L. Wittgenstein et la possibilité des propositions religieuses. [Suivi de] Logic and Religion. A shortened and adapted version (Religion and reason, 7). The Hague-Paris: Mouton.
Thiselton, A. C. 1973. “Meaning of Σαρξ in I Corinthians 5:5; a fresh approach in the light of logical and semantic factors.” Scottish Journal of Theology 26:204-228.
1974
Beardsley, Patrick J. 1974. “Aquinas and Wittgenstein on the grounds of certainty.” Modern Schoolman 51:301-334.
Bell, Richard H. 1974. “Kierkegaard and Wittgenstein: Two Strategies for understanding theology.” Illif Review 31:21-34.
Burhenn, H. 1974. “Religious beliefs as pictures.” Journal of the American Academy for Religion 42:326-335.
Clayton, J. P. 1974. “Was ist falsch in der Korrelations-theologie?” Neue Zeitschrift für Systematische Theologie und Religionsphilosophie 16:93-111.
Dilman, Ilham. 1974. “Wittgenstein on the soul.” In Understanding Wittgenstein, Godfrey Vesey (ed.) London: Macmillan; New York: St. Martin’s Press. 162-192.
Evans, D. 1974. “Faith and belief.” Religious Studies 10:1-19.
Gudmunsen, Chris. 1974. “On the Mahayana and Wittgenstein.” Journal of Religion and Religions (London) 4:96-103.
Hudson, W. Donald. 1974. Philosophical Approach to Religion. London: Macmillan.
Muykens, James L. 1974. “Religious belief as hope.” International Journal for the Philosophy of Religion 5:246-253.
Raschke, Carl. 1974. “Meaning and saying in religion: Beyond language games.” Harvard Theological Review 67:79-116.
Shepherd, W. C. 1974. “On the concept of being wrong religiously.” Journal of the American Academy of Religion 42:66-81.
1975
Antiseri, Dario. 1975. “Empirismo odierno e teologia nel caso ‘Wittgenstein’.” In Filosofia e Teologia Contemporee. Atti del XXIX Convegno del Centro di Studi Filosofici tra professori universari, Gallarte, 1974. Brescia: Morcelliana, 1975, 109-116.
Bell, Richard H. 1975. “Theology as grammar: Is God an object of understanding?” Religious Studies 11:307-317,
Bramann, J. K. 1975. “Religious language in Wittgenstein and Kafka.” Diogenes no. 90:26-35.
Bramann, J. K. 1975. “Kafka and Wittgenstein on religious language.” Sophia (Australia) 14:1-9.
Canfield, John V. 1975. “Wittgenstein and Zen.” Philosophy 50:383-408. [See: Gudmunsen 1977 and Phillips 1977]
Chapman, Thomas. 1975. “Analogy.” The Thomist 39:127-141.
Dilman, Ilham. 1975a. “Wisdom’s philosophy of religion – Part 1: Religion and reason.” Canadian Journal of Philosophy 5:473-495.
Dilman, Ilham. 1975b. “Wisdom’s philosophy of religion – Part 2: Metaphysical and religious transcendence.” Canadian Journal of Philosophy 5:497-521.
Garceau, B. 1975. “La philosophie analytique de la religion: Contribution canadienne (1970-1975).” Philosophiques 2:301-339.
Gill, Jerry H. 1975. “Tacit knowing about religious belief.” International Journal for the Philosophy of Religion 6:73-88.
Goodman, Russell. 1975-76. “Style, dialectic, and the aim of philosophy in Wittgenstein and the Taoists.” Journal of Chinese Philosophy 3:145-157.
d’Hert, Ignace. 1975. Wittgenstein’s Relevance for Theology. Bern: Lang; Frankfurt: Lang. 237pp.
Hudson, W. Donald. 1975. Wittgenstein and Religious Belief. New York: St. Martin Press. London: Macmillan.
Nielsen, Kai. 1975-76. “Religion and the appeal to forms of life.” Agora 3:67-71.
Purtill, Richard L. 1975. “Intelligibility of disembodied survival.” Christian Scholar’s Review 5:3-22.
Radford, Colin. 1975. “Religious belief and contradiction.” Philosophy 50: 437-444.
Spieler, David A. 1975-76. “Disembodied existence and the private language argument.” The Drew Gateway 46:95-105.
1976
Aldrich, V. C. 1976. “Linguistic mysticism.” The Monist 59:470-492.
Almond, P. C. 1976. “Winch and Wittgenstein.” Religious Studies 12(4):473-482.
Burke, T. E. 1976. “Theological originality.” Religious Studies 12:1-20.
Burr, R. 1976. “Wittgenstein’s later language-philosophy and some issues in philosophy of mysticism.” International Journal of Philosophy of Religion 7:261-287.
Cox, C. H., and Cox, J. W. 1976. “Mystical experience: with an emphasis on Wittgenstein and Zen.” Religious Studies 12:483-491.
Dilley, Frank B. 1976. “The status of religious beliefs” American Philosophical Quarterly 13:41-47.
Grennan, Wayne. 1976. “Wittgenstein on religious utterances.” Sophia (Australia) 15:13-18.
Keightley, A[lan]. W. 1976. Wittgenstein, Grammar, and God. London: Epworth Press. 176 pp.
Phillips, D. Z. Religion Without Explanation. Oxford: Basil Blackwell. 200 pp.
Almond, P. C. 1977. “Review of D. Z. Phillips: Religion Without Explanation.” The Australasian Journal of Philosophy 55(3):218-221.
Saunders, Loyd. 1976. “Theological consequences of philosophy as immediacy.” American Academy of Religion. Philosophy of Religion and Theology Proceedings:255-264.
1977
Almond, P. C. 1977. “Wittgenstein and religion.” Sophia (Australia) 16:24-27.
Bruening, Willian H. 1977. “Aquinas and Wittgenstein on God-talk.” Sophia (Australia) 16:1-7.
Churchill, John H. 1977. “Wittgenstein and Philosophy of Religion.” Ph.D. Dissertation, Yale Univ. 1977, 342pp. Dissertation Abstracts 39(1978):1653-1654A.
Goldenberg, Daniel S. 1977. “A Comparative Analysis of Wittgenstein’s Tractatus and Samkara’s Advaita Vedanta.” Ph.D. Dissertation, Univ. of Hawaii, 1977, 248 pp. Dissertation Abstracts 38:2845A.
Gudmunsen, Chris. 1977. “The ’empty mind’ of Professor Canfield.” Philosophy 52:482-485.
Gudmunsen, Chris. 1977. Wittgenstein and Buddhism (Barnes and Noble books). New York: Harper & Row.
Hudson, W. Donald. 1977. “What makes religious beliefs religious?” Religious Studies 13:221-242.
Kalansuriya, A. D. P. 1977. “Wittgenstein, meaning-model, and Buddhism.” Indian Philosophical Quarterly 4:381-391.
Kalupahana, David J. 1977. “The notion of suffering in early Buddhism compared with some reflections of early Wittgenstein.” Philosophy East & West 27:423-431.
Keeling, L. Bryant and Morelli, Mario F. “Beyond Wittgensteinian fideism: An examination of John Hick’s analysis of religious faith.” International Journal for the Philosophy of Religion 8:250-262.
Phillips, D. Z. 1977. “On wanting to compare Wittgenstein and Zen.” Philosophy 52:338-343. [See Canfield 1975].
Sherry, Patrick. 1977. Religion, Truth, and Language-games. London: Macmillan, 1977. 234 pp.
1978
Ard, David J. 1978. “Language, Reality and Religion in the Philosophy of Ludwig Wittgenstein.” Ph.D. Dissertation, McMaster Univ., 1978. Abstracts 39:5570A.
Bell, Richard H. 1978. “The fire-festivals: Wittgenstein and theories of religion.” Religious Studies 14:113-124.
Fitzpatrick, Joseph. 1978. “Philosophy of religion: The linguistic approach.” The Heythrop Journal 19:285-297.
Fleming, Noël. 1978. “Seeing the soul.” Philosophy 53:33-50.
Reese, William L. 1978. “Religious ‘seeing-as’.” Religious Studies 14:73-87.
Richards, Glyn. 1978a. “Conceptions of the self in Wittgenstein, Hume, and Buddhism: An analysis and comparison.” The Monist 61:42-55.
Richards, Glyn. 1978b. “A Wittgensteinian approach to the philosophy of religion. A critical evaluation of D. Z. Phillips.” Journal of Religion 58:288-302.
1979
Almond, P. C. 1979. “On the Varieties of Mystical Experience.” Sophia (Australia) 18:1-9.
1980s
1980
1981
1982
1983
1984
1985
1986
1987
1988
Moore, Gareth OP. 1988. Believing in God: A Philosophical Essay. Edinburgh: T&T Clarke. 289 pp. out of print.
1989
1990s
1990
1991
1992
1993
Weeks, A. 1993. German mysticism from Hildegard of Bingen to Ludwig Wittgenstein: A literary an intellectual history. Albany (N.Y.): SUNY Press, X, 283 pp. (SUNY series in western esoteric traditions)
2000s
2000
Pritchard, Duncan. 2000. “Is ‘God exists’ a ‘hinge proposition’ of religious belief?” International Journal for the Philosophy of Religion 47:129-140.
2001
2002
2003
Pritchard, Duncan. 2003. “Reforming Reformed Epistemology.” International Philosophical Quarterly 43:43-66.
2004
2005
2006
Lazenby, J. M. 2006. The Early Wittgenstein on Religion (Continuum Studies in British Philosophy). London: Continuum. 126 pp. $40.50 hardcover.
2007
2008
2009
Labron, Tim. 2009. Wittgenstein and Theology (Philosophy and Theology). London: T&T Clark. 153 pp. $19.34 softcover.
2010s
2010
2011
Pritchard, Duncan. 2011. “Wittgenstienian Quasi-Fideism.” Oxford Studies in the Philosophy of Religion 4:145-159.
2012
Pritchard, Duncan (with A. Richmond). 2012. “Hume on Miracles.” In The Continuum Companion to Hume, (eds.) A Bailey & D O’Brian, 227-245.
2013
2014
2015
Mulhall, Stephen. 2015. The Great Riddle: Wittgenstein and Nonsense, Theology, and Philosophy (The Stanton Lectures, 2014). Oxford: Oxford University Press. 138 pp. $21.95 softcover.
Pritchard, Duncan. 2015. “Wittgenstein on Faith and Reason: The Influence of Newman”, In God, Truth and Other Enigmas, (ed.) M. Szatkowski, Walter de Gruyter, 141-64.
2016
Pritchard, Duncan. 2016. “From Epistemic Anti-Individualism to Intellectual Humility”(with J. Kallestrup), Res Philosophica (special issue on Philosophy and Theology of Intellectual Humility, (eds.) J. Greco & E. Stump), 93:533-52.
2017
Pritchard, Duncan. 2017. “Is There a Fundamental Tension Between Faith and Rationality?”, Philosophy, Science and Religion for Everyone (eds.) M. Harris & D. H. Pritchard, 53-61, (Routledge, 2017).
2018
Pritchard, Duncan. “Scepticism and Atheism”, Blackwell Companion to Atheism and Philosophy, (ed.) G. Oppy, (Blackwell, forthcoming).