TY - THES U1 - Dissertation / Habilitation A1 - Sundh, Brendan Gerald T1 - Bleating sheep and shattered mirrors : an introduction to ironic theology N2 - The following dissertation addresses the longstanding problem of religious language. The work begins by explaining the shortcomings of the various philosophical approaches to religious language, before ultimately presenting a novel concept of religious language built upon Richard Rorty’s position of philosophical ironism. The freshly minted concept of ironic theology is further unpacked as building from Rorty’s own understanding of contingent final vocabulary. Section two shines a light on the ancestors of ironic thought by presenting an analysis of theologian Johann Gottfried Herder, as a proto-ironist figure. This point is argued based upon Herder’s own focus upon the historical contingency of language, as well as his potential to be read as a pragmatic thinker. Section three closes the dissertation by applying the theoretical framework of ironic theology to the on-going task of interreligious dialogue. Here it is argued that the principles of contingent language and philosophical humility can be applied as a grounds for maintaining healthy dialogue. This dissertation aims to shift academic theology beyond the realm of stale history-oriented theory and towards a variety of imaginative new forms of practical religious language and concepts. KW - Religiöse Sprache KW - Rorty, Richard KW - Herder, Johann Gottfried Y2 - 2019 U6 - https://nbn-resolving.org/urn:nbn:de:0295-opus4-17981 UN - https://nbn-resolving.org/urn:nbn:de:0295-opus4-17981 SP - 156 S. S1 - 156 S. CY - Neuendettelsau ER -