Resources On John Wisdom's "Gods" and The "University Discussion"
ten lectures in video and podcast format on two key works in the philosophy of religion
In the mid-20th century, one of the topics that drew major interest within the philosophy of religion in the English-speaking world was the meaning of language about religious matters.
The philosophy of language had transformed into a central occupation for the fairly new “analytic” philosophy. One particular preoccupation of the time was understanding the meaning of statements, claims, and even entire theories in terms of whether or not they could be verified or falsified, and under what conditions. And philosophers and theologians were trying to make sense of new conceptions of and developments in religion, in particular, Christianity.
One particularly underrated (from the vantage of the present) analytic philosopher, who is well worth reading, is John Wisdom. He had a solid background in the typical interests of analytic philosophers, but also took religion, literature, and aesthetics more seriously than many of his contemporaries, and grappled with “continental” movements of ideas, including existentialism and Freudian psychoanalysis.
Among the many interesting articles he authored, the one that has been anthologized the most frequently, often just one portion of it, is his piece “Gods”. Wisdom explores a number of ways we can understand what religious people actually mean or are committed to when they say things like “There is a God”, or “God cares about all of us human beings”. In the course of his explorations, in chapter six, he sets out a parable, that of the “invisible gardener”, the original version of it. “Gods” would later be included in Wisdom’s book of essays, Philosophy and Psychoanalysis.
That parable would feature, in a clearly reworked form (if you compare the two) in the first entry in a later exchange called the “University Discussion” about theology and falsification, between three analytic philosophers: Anthony Flew, R.M. Hare, and Basil Mitchell. That in turn, was included in the book New Essays in Philosophical Theology, edited by Flew and a young Alasdair MacIntyre.
Each of those three philosophers would set forth a philosophical position on religious language and the issue of falsification, Flew leading off, Hare and Mitchell responding with their own proposals, and then Flew responding to the two of them. Each of them would also offer an evocative parable to the reader.
When I teach Philosophy of Religion classes, I include these two works, “Gods” and the “University Discussion” in the portion of it devoted to religious language. The students in general find them quite engaging, and they provoke a lot of good discussion and response posts or papers.
Last year, I produced a set of video lectures covering the key ideas of both works, and then converted them into podcast episodes. Here they are:
John Wisdom, “Gods”
Differences Between Theists And Atheists | watch video | listen to podcast
Sources Of Questions About God(s) | watch video | listen to podcast
The Invisible Gardener Parable | watch video | listen to podcast
The Logic Of Disputes About God(s) | watch video | listen to podcast
Connecting, Disconnecting, And Unspoken Connections | watch video | listen to podcast
Considering Belief In Gods | watch video | listen to podcast
The “University Discussion”
Anthony Flew, Assertions And Qualification | watch video | listen to podcast
R.M. Hare, Bliks About The World | watch video | listen to podcast
Basil Mitchell, Ambiguity In Interpretation | watch video | listen to podcast
Anthony Flew, Criticisms To Hare's And Mitchell's Responses | watch video | listen to podcast
So there you have them. Ten lectures in video and downloadable podcast formats on these fascinating short works in 20th century philosophy of religion. I hope you enjoy them!