ABSTRACT
The early part of the 20th century saw the emergence of what became the dominant way of practicing philosophy in the English-speaking world, usually known as ‘analytic’ philosophy. Influenced by the preoccupations of the Vienna Circle of the 1920s and 1930s and the early philosophy of Ludwig Wittgenstein, the practice of philosophy became intimately connected to the analysis of language. Feminists have been in the vanguard when it comes to thinking differently about the ways in which the meaningfulness of religious practice and narrative might be understood. Of particular, significance for establishing alternative ways of shaping a philosophy of religion are the practices of the so-called ‘Continental’ European tradition. What passes for philosophical enquiry looks rather different when considered through this lens. While it is concerned with the application of critical thought, crucially it is also conceived to be a creative enterprise that involves engaging with a range of intellectual disciplines. Psychoanalytic theory, literature, sociology, and history all have their parts to play in an approach that seeks to model philosophy as engaged with the concrete experiences of human beings, located in specific historical and geographical locations.
