NTT Journal for Theology and the Study of Religion - Volume 38, Issue 3, 1984

The author has investigated some transformations in the metaphorical play of the concepts of ‘inside’ and ‘outside’ in the philosophies of some outstanding representatives of hermeneutics, like the romantic conception of Schleiermacher, the applicative hermeneutics of Gadamer, the semiological and rhetorical thought of Derrida, and Ricoeur’s critical hermeneutics. Finally an outline is given of one possible further move in the game hermeneutics plays with us: the sceptical point of view.

A Plea for a Philosophy of Religion ‘from within’

The paper makes a case for a philosophy of religion ‘from within’. Five concepts of religion in which the opposition between an approach from within and an approach from without plays a role are distinguished, viz. religion as an independent level of (conceptual) organization, as a language game, as an intentional phenomenon, as inwardness and as a reflex of a divine reality. Any of these contexts can be taken to be relevant for a philosophy of religion ‘from within’ if two criteria are met, namely that the form of the opposition between ‘from within’ and ‘from without’ which it contains can be rationally accounted for and that the approach from within is at least as plausible as the opposed one. The paper discusses the five contexts and concludes that in principle all of them are relevant.

It is argued in this article that the question, whether religion should be studied ‘from within’ or ‘from without’ constitutes a false dilemma, as far as Religionswissenschaft is concerned. Adoption of this dilemma and of the metaphor on which it is based, inevitably leads to ideological bias. The Religionswissenschaftler, therefore, cannot but approach his object ‘from without’. Regardless of his convictions about religion as a private person, as a scientist he is necessarily an outsider.

To come to terms with the meaning of ‘from within’ and ‘from outside’ in the philosophy of religion the paper discusses, first, the relation between religion and philosophy. How do we have to think of religion, if we intend to reach it as an object of thought and reflection? What are the conditions under which we perceive of religion both as object and as subject matter of philosophical questions? By outlining the universality of ‘from within’ and ‘from outside’, the paper establishes, in a next step, the categorical and ontological significance of these two metaphors. Finally, the paper discusses some of the features that belong to the use (and usage) of ‘within’ and ‘outside’ in the study of religion.