Moser, Ambiguity, and Christ-Shaped Philosophy

Graham Oppy argues that Moser’s call for “Christ-Shaped Philosophy” suffers from some serious ambiguities.

On the one hand, he fails to distinguish clearly enough between the contents of philosophical positions and the attitudes that are constitutive of philosophical engagement. On the other hand, he fails to distinguish clearly enough between the claim that Christian philosophy should be consistent with Christian doctrine, the claim that Christian philosophy should entail Christian doctrine, and whatever claims there might be that are intermediate between these two.

Oppy suggests that the most that “Christ-Shaped Philosophy” should require is that the attitudes that Christians take in their engagement with philosophy should be consistent with their Christian beliefs.

Finally, Oppy suggests that the claim that Christian philosophy should always entail Christian doctrine is plausibly at odds with attitudes that are constitutive of philosophical engagement (in particular, with commitment to the goal of achieving genuine understanding of diverse worldviews).

The full-text of his contribution is available for FREE by clicking here.