The Role of Philosophy in Tillich's Theology

Abstract

"The relationship of philosophy to theology is a variable thing, depending in part on the views held from time to time of the nature of human reasoning and of proper philosophic method. Recent decades have seen a revolution in these views. Scientific empiricism and dogmatic rationalism have both had their day, and a wider and richer conception of philosophy and human reason is emerging in both analytic and phenomenological thought, one which goes beyond the forms of tradi- tional thought, not denying their validity but questioning the range of their application and the claims they make to objectivity. It is the assump- tion of this paper that analytic and phenomenological investigations have progressed to the point that we can no longer rest content with older notions of philosophic reasoning, but must take cognizance of the en- riched understanding of reason and experience, and of the resultant claim that truth cannot be reduced simply to empirical correspondence or rational coherence. Elsewhere I have attempted to outline an informal logic of religious belief in the light of these developments.' The purpose of the present paper is to examine Tillich's attempt to relate this concep- tion of philosophy and human reason to theology, in the hope that we may learn from him both some mistakes to avoid and some emphases to cultivate."