[Eng] John Hick: Philosophy of Religion

[Eng.] John Hick: “Philosophy of Religion”

Xingding 发表于 2007-02-02 10:49:07

[Eng.] John Hick: Philosophy of Religion, translated by He Guanghu, proofread by Gao Shining, Sanlian Bookstore, January 1988

This book is probably the first translated work on philosophy of religion published in mainland China. In fact, even up to now, there are still very few fairly good overview or introductory books on philosophy of religion on the market. The original works one can mention include Xie Fuya (1998), Shan Chun (2003), as well as the one in the recently published translation series of classic foreign philosophy textbooks from the Renmin University Press. Compared with them, Hick’s book, as an introductory or popular work on philosophy of religion, is perhaps still the best of the lot.

In this book Hick does not emphasize his personal views too much. For example, in the final chapter on religious conflict, he only goes as far as discussing inclusivism, without giving any further introduction to his pluralism. The book is mostly organized around “problems”: it first sets out some representative arguments, and then introduces critiques of those arguments. Of course, Hick does throughout add his own position, but he does not make argumentation the focus. At the end of each problem, the final assessment Hick reaches is often: “not proven.” Hick leaves room for further thought to the reader—and, of course, to himself as well. This little book can serve readers as a guide for further understanding and reflection on philosophy of religion; for Hick himself, it can be seen as a warm-up before he unfolded his doctrines of religious interpretation, religious epistemology, plural religions, and so on.

2007年2月2日11时2分

关键词(Tag): Religion Philosophy

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Translated from the Chinese original with AI assistance. The original text is authoritative.