CFP: "Mashup Philosophy of Religion" - Special Issue of the Journal for Cultural and Religious Theory

Call for Papers - Journal for Cultural and Religious Theory

Special Issue: “Mashup Philosophy of Religion”

Guest Editor: J. Aaron Simmons (Furman University)

Despite the fact that some philosophers are now claiming that we live and work in a “post-divide” context, the oppositional realities of a historical continental/analytic opposition are still all too prominent in the philosophy of religion. For example, the recent emergence and influence of “Analytic Theology,” which seems to reinforce the importance of doing philosophy and theology in an “analytic mode,” represents a valuable interdisciplinary opportunity, but unfortunately potentially maintains all too rigid conceptions of philosophical style, methodology, and perhaps even content. Alternatively, some calls for overcoming the divide seem to suggest that the goal is to simply decide in favor of one or the other alternative as the “best,” or “most appropriate,” way of doing philosophy of religion.  As such, continental proclamations of “the end of philosophy of religion,” can seem to be little more than suggestions that philosophy of religion should be done in line with one’s own philosophical preferences. 

Rather than overcoming the divide, it seems worthwhile to try to engage in philosophical inquiry in a way that would recognize the importance of philosophical and dialogical pluralism. Drawing on the idea of “mashup music,” philosophers might do well to engage in constructive work that draws on a variety of resources—all of relevance to the questions at hand.  Instead of deciding in favor of analytic rather than continental, say, the hope is that by drawing on varied traditions philosophy of religion is able to offer new answers to old questions and new questions to old answers.  Importantly, though, just as mashup music does not attempt simply to dissolve musical styles, but rather to maintain distinctive styles while deploying them in constructive ways, mashup philosophy of religion does not attempt to overcome the analytic/continental divide by deciding in the favor of analytic philosophy or continental philosophy.  Rather, the task is to engage in productive question-driven philosophy of religion without losing the distinctive contributions offered by the different approaches.  

 For this special issue, papers are requested from philosophers, theologians, and scholars of religious studies that put this “mashup philosophy of religion” into practice in determinate ways.  Possible topics might include such things as:

• Drawing on William Alston’s account of “perceiving God” and recent French phenomenology to rethink religious experience.
• Bringing Richard Swinburne’s or William Lane Craig’s into conversation with John Caputo’s “apology for the impossible,” as a way of thinking about postmodern apologetics.
• Engaging recent trends in “skeptical theism” alongside apophatic moments in deconstruction in order to reconsider what would count as evidence in religious belief.
• Using debates about “critical realism” as a way of engaging discussions in Analytic Theology about metaphysical realism.
•   Drawing on continentally inspired work in “theories of religion” (e.g., Russell McCutcheon, Timothy Fitzgerald, etc.) as a productive way of considering debates about religious phenomena.
• Using post-Heideggerian philosophies of time as a way of working through contemporary analytic metaphysical debates dealing with divine temporality (e.g., in relation to open theism).

Deadline: September 1, 2014

Submission Instructions: Inquiries about possible topics and ideas are welcome at any time. Please send complete papers of 6,000-8,000 words, prepared for blind review, to J. Aaron Simmons at [email protected]. Please also send a separate cover sheet with complete contact information for the author(s).