Nothing is hidden: nonsense and the revelation of limits
In this article, I aim to raise questions for natural theology by casting doubt on the intelligibility of absolute limit concepts, like ‘reality’, through comparing the reception of Wittgenstein by two English Dominicans, Cornelius Ernst and Herbert McCabe. First, I briefly examine the evolution of...
| Main Author: | |
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| Format: | Electronic Article |
| Language: | English |
| Check availability: | HBZ Gateway |
| Journals Online & Print: | Drawer...
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| Fernleihe: | Fernleihe für die Fachinformationsdienste |
| Published: |
Taylor & Francis
2024
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| In: |
International journal of philosophy and theology
Year: 2024, Volume: 85, Issue: 1/2, Pages: 80–94 |
| Standardized Subjects / Keyword chains: | B
Ernst, Cornelius 1924-1977
/ McCabe, Herbert 1926-2001
/ Wittgenstein, Ludwig 1889-1951
/ Nonsense
/ God
/ Secret
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| RelBib Classification: | KAJ Church history 1914-; recent history NBC Doctrine of God TK Recent history VA Philosophy |
| Further subjects: | B
Nonsense
B Mystery B Natural Theology B McCabe B Wittgenstein |
| Online Access: |
Volltext (kostenfrei) |
| Summary: | In this article, I aim to raise questions for natural theology by casting doubt on the intelligibility of absolute limit concepts, like ‘reality’, through comparing the reception of Wittgenstein by two English Dominicans, Cornelius Ernst and Herbert McCabe. First, I briefly examine the evolution of the Tractarian conception of a limit that demarcates sense from nonsense as it morphs in Wittgenstein’s middle period before being abandoned entirely. Ernst is consciously aware of this shift and concerned about its implications for theology. After establishing Ernst’s more wary reading of Wittgenstein, I then consider McCabe’s approach to the question of God as a question regarding absolute limits. Ultimately, I suggest that the sheer nonsense of such terms fails to provide a basis for natural theology, but that divine revelation can legitimise this talk of limits by revealing the absolute contingency of all ‘created’ things as an eschatological limit placed upon history from within history. Ironically, though, McCabe’s eschatological vision is not the crossing of this limit, but its inevitable erasure when we find that God is not ‘other’ but ‘all in all’. |
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| ISSN: | 2169-2335 |
| Contains: | Enthalten in: International journal of philosophy and theology
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| Persistent identifiers: | DOI: 10.1080/21692327.2024.2377628 |