“A Shuddering Awareness of Death and Life Together”: Doing Justice to Ambivalence in the Philosophy of Religion

Ambivalence is a prominent feature of religious traditions, with respect both to the attitudes exhibited in faith many practitioners and qualities embodied conceptions divine. Yet these ambivalences have received little scrutiny from philosophy religion, especially its analytic mode. Helping address this lacuna, current article comprises critical constructive components. In vein, it challenges tendencies intellectualism moralism that encourage an overemphasis on intellectual or cognitive dimensions religion privileging forms accord investigator’s moral predilections. Constructively, looks Wittgenstein-inspired aspects anthropology phenomenology for conceptual resources deploy relation ambivalent, awesome, even terrifying divinity. aid enlarging scope (Western, principally analytic) beyond confines standard Christian-centric “theistic” strictures, examples ambivalent deities are drawn Hindu sources, most notably Bhagavad Gītā Śākta (Goddess-revering) traditions. The guiding purpose promote radically pluralist approach seeks do justice variety takes without imposing overintellectualized moralistic picture them.