ABSTRACT
Whether one is rethinking the content of a course and the place of one's study in the context of broader curriculum or whether there is a moment of fundamental questioning which grows out of rereading a classic text or engaging in contemporary debates, such moments of questioning are essential. This essay proposes one of those simple and general questions: in what does the work of the philosophy of religion consist? My consideration of the question, as will become evident, is an exercise in prolegomena. Following a brief introduction there will be two parts to my essay in which the context for a full answer to the question will be explored before a summary conclusion will propose an agenda for further work. Though conceptual clarification is essential to philosophical reflection, attention to historical development is of equal importance. The two inner parts of this essay will give attention to both, first by discussing a specific text and author, and then by sorting out some fundamental matters of definition.
