Should We Want to See God More Clearly? A Sketch from the Axiology of the Phenomenology of Religion
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.15633/lie.60201Keywords:
phenomenology of religion, axiology, hiddenness, Blaise Pascal, Joseph RatzingerAbstract
In contemporary analytical philosophy of religion, there is a discussion devoted to the problem of divine hiddenness. The main question it raises is “why isn’t God more obvious?” This discussion has a part in common with the discussion going on under the heading “axiology of theism”. The main question is whether we should want God to exist. Situated at the intersection of these two discussions is the so-called “axiological answer to the problem of divine hiddenness”. This answer is contained in the statement that a world in which God is not fully manifest is better than a world in which God’s obviousness would be greater. In this article I will follow in the footsteps of the proponents of the “axiological answer” to the question of divine hiddenness. The subject of my interest will be the question “should we want to see God more clearly?” Thus, I will consider the problem, which can be classified in the area of the “axiology of the phenomenology of religion”. Guides on the way to finding an answer to this question will be analytical philosophers of religion, as well as Blaise Pascal and Joseph Ratzinger. I will take up the consideration of the epistemic situation in which “ordinary” human beings find themselves, and expand it to include a Christological thread. I will present arguments for the thesis that we should not want to see God more clearly.
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