Abstract

This thesis investigates the possibility of religious philosophy by examining two contemporary, continental examples of what we call 'situated philosophy's'. In Chapter One we see that this philosophy questions philosophy's ability to rise above the situation of the philosopher. Yet a philosopher who is religious may feel able to proceed beyond his individual understanding because there is that in his situation which provides a certainty grounded in a Power beyond the human. Different religions may guide philosophy differently. To investigate this, we turn to Paul Ricoeur and Franz Rosenzweig, a Protestant and a Jew. ;In Chapter Two we see that Ricoeur's aim is to extract from the terms of our self-understanding, which necessarily reflect their origin in a parochial situation, an understanding of human nature as such. Chapter Three looks at two important issues in Ricoeur's work to see how he actually proceeds and to gauge how much his religious starting point influences the philosophy that arises from it. Chapter Four draws conclusions about his thought: we find that he has been greatly influenced by his own Christian situation. ;Chapter Five argues that Rosenzweig is a situated philosopher, and discusses the nature of his Jewish situation. We turn then to The Star of Redemption, his major work, which he declares to be both philosohical and inescapably Jewish. In Chapter Six we look at the structure of the Star, examining its purely philosophical claims and the manner in which Rosenzweig sees these expanded by its relation to his Jewish experience. Chapter Seven addresses his notion of truth, according to which both Judaism and Christianity are true, and the ultimate justification for the Star in Rosenzweig's Jewish situation. ;Chapter Eight discusses the differences between Ricoeur and Rosenzweig and the religious nature of philosophy