The Rationality of Religious Belief and the Autonomy of Religious Language: A Comparative Study of the Views of Brand Blanshard and Ludwig Wittgenstein
Subject Areas : Islamic theology
nasim zarei
1
,
mohammadreza shamshiri
2
,
Mehdi Dehbashi
3
1 -
2 - Department of Philosophy, Is.C., Islamic Azad University, Isfahan, Iran
3 - Department of Philosophy and Islamic Theology, Khorasgan Branch, Islamic Azad University, Isfahan, Iran
Keywords: Brand Blanshard, Ludwig Wittgenstein, reason and faith, language game, religious language, the unspeakable, rational theology, minimal theology.,
Abstract :
The question of the possibility of meaningful and rational discourse about God has long been a central debate in the philosophy of religion. In this context, Brand Blanshard—as an heir to the tradition of rational idealism—maintains that belief in God is acceptable only when weighed against the standard of a necessary rational system; outside this framework, speaking of God lacks epistemic legitimacy. At the opposite pole, Ludwig Wittgenstein—first by declaring the Transcendent "unspeakable" in the *Tractatus Logico-Philosophicus*, and later by introducing the concept of "language games"—fundamentally removes religious propositions from the realm of theoretical reason, regarding religion instead as a "form of life" that finds its meaning and justification within the community of faith. Using a comparative approach, this article examines the confrontation between these two opposing perspectives. The central question is whether it is possible to speak rationally about God, or if religious language is confined to the self-contained rules of a language game. The findings indicate that the Wittgensteinian critique confronts Blanshard’s rational theology with the serious challenge of the privatization of faith; conversely, however, the Wittgensteinian approach’s complete rejection of rational justification severely undermines the possibility of defending religious claims within the public sphere and interfaith dialogue. In conclusion, although Wittgenstein’s approach offers a realistic description of the "function" of religious language, the need for a form of "minimal rationality"—to avoid relativism and the discursive isolation of religion—ensures that Blanshard’s rational model retains its status as a critical benchmark.
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