Religious Diversity and Conceptual Schemes: Critically Appraising Internalist Pluralism

Abstract

Is a philosophical theory needed to 'underwrite' attitudes of toleration and respect in a multicultural and religiously diverse world? Many philosophers of religion have thought so, including Victoria Harrison. This article interrogates Harrison's theory of internalist pluralism, which, though offering a welcome alternative to other theories, such as John Hick's 'pluralistic hypothesis', nevertheless faces problems. Questioning the coherence of the theory's account of how the existence of objects of worship can avoid being fully conceptual-scheme dependent, and raising doubts about its pretensions to promote interreligious harmony, I also critically discuss the common philosophical tendency to work with under-described and insufficiently analysed examples. What philosophy ought to be able to offer in relation to religious diversity, I propose, is attentiveness to nuances and particularities, thereby aiding religious understanding without the need for a general theory.Keywords Religious diversity . Internalist pluralism . Conceptual schemes . Victoria Harrison . Interreligious disagreement Many philosophers believe that philosophy's business is to devise theories in order to explain aspects of the world in which we live. So, when confronted with the phenomenon of religious diversity, philosophers of religion often treat it as a problem to be solved, and hence go looking for a theory to solve it. In the rush to find a theory, the task of articulating what the problem is supposed to be is frequently underexplored. For example, Victoria Harrison writes as follows:As societies become increasingly multicultural, there progressively arises a need for an appropriate theory that is capable of making sense of the various difficulties presented by religious diversity. To be precise, what seems to be required at SOPHIA https://doi

On What a Religion Is Not

“…My view is that the most important consequence of the refutation of substantivism towards religion can be individuated in the assumption of a methodological imperative to focusing on particularities and anecdoticity. Instead of developing highly abstract theories of religion, the philosophical analysis may add conceptual clarity and argumentative force to current debates in religious studies (Burley 2018). For an empiricist, the path to such an enterprise consists in introducing notions, distinctions, theories, and logical consequences within detailed case studies.…”

“…They are something which relates to common everyday actions, and are present in almost all respect of the life of ancient Greeks and Romans. Their presence in human life is as evident as anything which is natural (Vernant 1962;Bremmer 1999;Snell 2009).…”

Cross-Cultural Analysis of Spiritual Bypass: A Comparison Between Spain and Honduras

“…H1: Given the cultural difference in both samples (Honduras and Spain), it is expected that the R/S practices will differ in the two cultural contexts, with Honduras' amount of R/S practices higher. H2: Considering the importance of the cultural context in the R/S itself (Loewenthal, 2013;Burley, 2018), it is expected that SB scores will be different in Honduras than in Spain, with Honduras demonstrating higher scores on SB. H3: The appearance of SB will be greater in individuals who have suffered stressful events, have less social support and lower spiritual well-being, and who participate in a greater number of R/S activities.…”

“…Culture has also been defined as “a spiritual community which owes its unity to common beliefs and common ways of thought far more than to any uniformity of physical type ( Dawson, 1948/2013 , p. 36).” From this point of view, culture and religion influence each other ( Loewenthal, 2013 ), as culture constitutes the basis for religion and religion is affected by a given culture’s social structure and common beliefs. As expressed by other authors ( Burley, 2018 ), to gain a better understanding of why and how spiritual practices manifest, it is important to focus on the cultural environment in which they exist.…”

“…Considering the importance of the cultural context in the R/S itself ( Loewenthal, 2013 ; Burley, 2018 ), it is expected that SB scores will be different in Honduras than in Spain, with Honduras demonstrating higher scores on SB.…”