Religious Longing and Modern Life: Wittgenstein’s Uneasy Ambivalence
Wittgenstein had significant religious impulses, from his early <i>Notebooks</i> to his late entries in <i>Culture and Value</i>. Christian religious texts seemed to him to articulate significant human experiences that were worthy of respect. Yet he found himself consistently...
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2025-06-01
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| author | Richard Eldridge |
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| description | Wittgenstein had significant religious impulses, from his early <i>Notebooks</i> to his late entries in <i>Culture and Value</i>. Christian religious texts seemed to him to articulate significant human experiences that were worthy of respect. Yet he found himself consistently unable to commit himself to any organized institutional religious life. This essay investigates the reasons (as opposed to psychological peculiarities with causal force) that might lie behind Wittgenstein’s stance. Friedrich Schiller describes modern, socially induced unsatisfiable longings for meaningful life. Northrop Frye describes the rhetorical form of the Christian Bible as having an indispensable role in orienting us toward reconciled life, but in the end more imaginatively than in effective worldly practice. Against this background, Wittgenstein’s combination of passionate attraction to Christianity with an inability to accept it emerges as an exemplary expression of a widely shared modern human condition. |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj-art-fd56b4841689428f962d6952b96bbeaf |
| institution | Kabale University |
| issn | 2077-1444 |
| language | English |
| publishDate | 2025-06-01 |
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| series | Religions |
| spelling | doaj-art-fd56b4841689428f962d6952b96bbeaf2025-08-20T03:29:48ZengMDPI AGReligions2077-14442025-06-0116679510.3390/rel16060795Religious Longing and Modern Life: Wittgenstein’s Uneasy AmbivalenceRichard Eldridge0Department of Philosophy, University of Tennessee, Knoxville, TN 37996, USAWittgenstein had significant religious impulses, from his early <i>Notebooks</i> to his late entries in <i>Culture and Value</i>. Christian religious texts seemed to him to articulate significant human experiences that were worthy of respect. Yet he found himself consistently unable to commit himself to any organized institutional religious life. This essay investigates the reasons (as opposed to psychological peculiarities with causal force) that might lie behind Wittgenstein’s stance. Friedrich Schiller describes modern, socially induced unsatisfiable longings for meaningful life. Northrop Frye describes the rhetorical form of the Christian Bible as having an indispensable role in orienting us toward reconciled life, but in the end more imaginatively than in effective worldly practice. Against this background, Wittgenstein’s combination of passionate attraction to Christianity with an inability to accept it emerges as an exemplary expression of a widely shared modern human condition.https://www.mdpi.com/2077-1444/16/6/795commitmentmodern lifechange of heartFriedrich SchillerNorthrop Frye |
| spellingShingle | Richard Eldridge Religious Longing and Modern Life: Wittgenstein’s Uneasy Ambivalence Religions commitment modern life change of heart Friedrich Schiller Northrop Frye |
| title | Religious Longing and Modern Life: Wittgenstein’s Uneasy Ambivalence |
| title_full | Religious Longing and Modern Life: Wittgenstein’s Uneasy Ambivalence |
| title_fullStr | Religious Longing and Modern Life: Wittgenstein’s Uneasy Ambivalence |
| title_full_unstemmed | Religious Longing and Modern Life: Wittgenstein’s Uneasy Ambivalence |
| title_short | Religious Longing and Modern Life: Wittgenstein’s Uneasy Ambivalence |
| title_sort | religious longing and modern life wittgenstein s uneasy ambivalence |
| topic | commitment modern life change of heart Friedrich Schiller Northrop Frye |
| url | https://www.mdpi.com/2077-1444/16/6/795 |
| work_keys_str_mv | AT richardeldridge religiouslongingandmodernlifewittgensteinsuneasyambivalence |