The Conditions of the Possibility of Philosophical Interfaith Dialogue
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The conditions of the possibility of philosophical interfaith dialogue: A theoretical and empirical exploration Christian Kästner Submitted in accordance with the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy The University of Leeds School of Philosophy, Religion and the History of Science November 2012 2 The candidate confirms that the work submitted is his own and that appropriate credit has been given where reference has been made to the work of others. This copy has been supplied on the understanding that it is copyright material and that no quotation from the thesis may be published without proper acknowledgement © 2012 The University of Leeds and Christian Kästner The right of Christian Kästner to be identified as Author of this work has been asserted by him in accordance with the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988. 3 Acknowledgments The Higher Education Academy’s Subject Centre for Philosophical and Religious Studies has generously funded my research. I am extremely grateful to the committee to whom I presented my research plan and who decided to award me the scholarship. The opportunity to engage in the research and writing of this thesis has opened up new horizons for me on many levels. I am also grateful to the Subject Centre for intellectual support and academic advice and especially to Dr Simon Smith, the Subject Centre's director during its existence and co- supervisor for the biggest part of my work on the thesis. I am grateful for his enthusiasm, guidance and valuable advice. I would also like to thank Dr Seán McLoughlin at the University of Leeds, who has acted as my primary supervisor for the entire span of my studies. I am tremendously indebted to his sympathetic and careful reading of the various drafts of the thesis and its parts, and for his patience, support and encouragement in directing me in the process. Other academics at Leeds who assisted me with constructive feedback have been Dr Mikel Burley and particularly Dr Melanie Prideaux, who not only shares my interest in the study of interfaith dialogue, but has also taken on the duties of co- supervising this thesis after the Subject Centre closed. I am grateful for her support during the writing up process and for the discussions we had throughout, which have helped me enormously to advance my understanding of the subject. The original inspiration to undertake the project of this PhD thesis I owe to Dr William Deadwyler (Ravindra Svarupa Prabhu). His theoretical and practical insight continues to enthuse me and I am deeply grateful to him. I would also like to thank Constantine Zakkaraoff and Mandala White. They have both been a significant and extremely valuable part of the experience of writing this thesis. I am grateful to the participants of the Walk in my Shoes programme test run who took the time to participate in the research. In order to preserve confidentiality I shall not name any in particular here. Lastly, I must thank my family, who have been patient, supportive and encouraging throughout, but particularly during the final months of the writing process. 4 Abstract Religious truth in the context of interfaith dialogue is a notoriously contentious issue. The notion of religious truth is usually taken to depend on a system of theological doctrines, the presence of which is not a general trait of all religious traditions. Furthermore, discourse on the truths of theological doctrines requires knowledge and skills that are not easily available to non-specialist lay believers, and it is uncertain how far such theological truth discourse impacts on how regular people of faith interpret and perform their religion on a day-to-day basis. Interfaith dialogue, particularly on the local and community level, has therefore come to be seen as an unsuitable setting for discussing issues of religious truth. It is in this context that this thesis explores both theoretically and practically how interfaith dialogue about religious truth, i.e. philosophical interfaith dialogue, is possible between non-specialist believers. The theoretical part of the thesis examines the history of the interfaith movement and discusses in which ways the inherent truth discourse is flawed. It then proceeds to analyse the nature of religious truth discourse by explicating the epistemological situation of religions vis-à-vis each other. Finally it discusses different ways to conceptualise what a religion is in order to extend the notion of truth discourse to practical reasoning which is accessible and relevant for non-specialist lay believers. The second part of the thesis has a practical focus. From the theoretical conclusions reached, a practical programme for philosophical interfaith dialogue is developed and the results of a test run are presented in the form of a discussion and interpretation of empirical data collected through field work research. The theoretical conclusion of this thesis is that reasoning about religious truth across the boundaries of religious traditions is generally not possible. However participants can understand each other and can even participate in the reasoning about truth within the framework of the respective other’s religion. The field work research suggests that doing so is a positive and valuable experience from the perspective of the dialogue participants. 5 Table of Contents 1 Introduction: methodological considerations and outline of the thesis ....... 10 1.1 Introduction ................................................................................................ 10 1.2 Theology, philosophy and religious studies ............................................. 12 1.3 Theology, philosophy, and religious studies in the context of interfaith dialogue from an epistemological perspective ......................................... 16 1.4 Location of the thesis ................................................................................. 17 1.5 Reflexivity ................................................................................................... 19 1.6 Outline of the thesis .................................................................................. 20 a. Chapter 2: Historical narration and analysis ........................................ 20 b. Chapter 3: Philosophy subordinated to the form of theology .............. 21 c. Chapter 4: From systems of doctrines to tradition-to-life reasoning ... 23 d. Chapter 5: From theoretical conclusions to a practical programme design ................................................................................................... 24 e. Chapter 6: Evaluating underlying principles and programme design .. 25 2 An account and analysis of the history of interfaith dialogue and the interfaith movement .......................................................................................... 27 2.1 Introduction ................................................................................................ 27 2.2 Interfaith dialogue prior to the World Parliament of Religions............ 29 2.3 The World Parliament of Religions in Chicago in 1893 ......................... 32 2.3.1 Representation ...................................................................................... 37 2.3.2 Christian bias ........................................................................................ 40 2.3.3 The role of academic discourse ............................................................ 42 2.3.4 Ulterior motives: Strategic Occidentalism ........................................... 47 2.3.5 Modern character: the philosophy of universalism .............................. 50 2.3.6 Summary .............................................................................................. 53 2.4 The interfaith movement of the 20th century.......................................... 54 2.4.1 Representation ...................................................................................... 64 2.4.2 Abrahamic faiths’ bias ......................................................................... 67 2.4.3 The role of academic discourse ............................................................ 68 2.4.4 Ulterior motives ................................................................................... 70 2.4.5 Modern character: the philosophy of pluralism ................................... 70 2.4.6 Summary .............................................................................................. 74 6 2.5 Recent UK-based developments in the field of interfaith dialogue ....... 76 2.5.1 Representation ...................................................................................... 80 2.5.2 World religions bias ............................................................................. 84 2.5.3 The role of academic discourse ............................................................ 87 2.5.4 Ulterior motives ................................................................................... 90 2.5.5 Modern character ................................................................................. 91 2.5.6 Summary .............................................................................................. 93 2.6 Chapter summary ...................................................................................... 95 3 The epistemological characteristics of religious teachings and their implications for philosophical interfaith dialogue ......................................... 97 3.1 Introduction: to disentangle discourses ................................................... 97