Mark Q. Gardiner

Ten Implications of Semantic Holism for Theories of Religion

This article proposes ten theses on the impact of semantic holism (an important philosophical view of meaning) on theories of religion. We argue that, if correct, semantic holism imposes metatheoretical constraints on the nature of such theories, theoretical constraints on the way that “religion” must be characterized, and methodological constraints on the way that religious phenomena must be analyzed.

Semantic holism and the insider–outsider problem

This article argues that – despite the value of distinguishing between insiders and outsiders in a contingent and relative sense – there is no fundamental insider–outsider problem . We distinguish weak and strong versions of ‘insiderism’ (privileged versus monopolistic access to knowledge) and then sociological and religious versions of the latter. After reviewing critiques of the sociological version, we offer a holistic semantic critique of the religious version (i.e. the view that religious experience and/or language offers sui generis access to knowledge). We argue that all evidence for mental states is overt, public, and observable, and, hence, that there can be no significant difference in the access to knowledge of insiders and outsiders.

More than belief, but not more than belief and desire

Manuel A. Vásquez’ More Than Belief: A Materialist Theory of Religion paints a rich picture of what a ‘non-reductive materialist framework for the study of religion’ would look like. Although it receives strong motivation from the inability of the predominant meta-approaches of theorizing religion to take seriously a range of materially grounded religious phenomena, it suffers somewhat from a lack of independent and autonomous argumentation. This article explores a convergence between Vásquez’ main points and the basic elements of one of the most influential positions within philosophical semantics – namely the semantic holism of Donald Davidson. Because Davidsons holism (assuming its correctness) provides constraints on all forms of theorizing, the fact that Vásquez’ position, unlike the ones he critiques, conforms to those constraints lends it a degree of rational presumption.

Semantics and the sacred

ABSTRACT This article looks at four different scholarly perspectives on ‘sacred’ – the ineffable sacred, the experienced sacred, the polarized sacred and the contextualized sacred – in order to draw out their implicit presuppositions about meaning. The first two stances presuppose that meaning depends on what bits of language are about (referentialism), and the other two stances presuppose that meaning depends on relations between bits of language (holism). The article concludes three things: these prominent views of ‘sacred’ rest on usually implicit or unrecognized assumptions about the nature of meaning; some of those assumptions explain why certain theories are contentious and problematic and others ground more promising and productive approaches.

Why Truth Matters for the Study of Religion: A Defense of a Truth-Conditional Semantics

Truth-conditional semantics holds that the meaning of a linguistic expression is a function of the conditions under which it would be true. This seems to require limiting meaningfulness to linguistic phenomena for which the question of truth or falsity is relevant. Criticisms have been raised that there are vast swatches of meaningful language that are simply not truth-related, with religion representing a particularly rich and prevalent source. I argue that if the concept of truth as used in a truth-conditional semantics is understood in ways other than correspondence to fact, there are suitable reformulations of a truth-conditional semantics that may be appropriate for understanding religion. I further argue that these reformulations offer considerable methodological advantages to the scholar of religion.

Truth-Conditions and Religious Language: Introduction

Introduction to the following set of papers: Lars Albinus, “A grammar of religious ‘truth’—pragmatic considerations on the nature of religious truth”; Terry F. Godlove, “Truth, meaning, and the study of religion”; G. Scott Davis, “Semantics and the study of religion”; Mark Q. Gardiner, “Why truth matters for the study of religion; a defense of a truth-conditional semantics”; Gabriel Levy, “Can fictional superhuman agents have mental states?”.

Reforming Philosophy of Religion: Some Methodological Cautions

Kevin Schilbrack’s Philosophy and the Study of Religion: A Manifesto proposes to reform the traditional Philosophy of Religion by reference to three goals that it should have. In pursuit of those goals he argues for a pair of hierarchical two-stage methodologies. I argue that there are tensions between his defence of these methodologies and the philosophical apparatus he brings to bear in explicating the goals themselves.