Abstract
We shall examine some conceptual tensions in Hick’s ‘pluralism’ in the light of S. Radhakrishnan’s reformulation of classical Advaita. Hick himself often quoted Radhakrishnan’s translations from the Hindu scriptures in support of his own claims about divine ineffability, transformative experience and religious pluralism. However, while Hick developed these themes partly through an adaptation of Kantian epistemology, Radhakrishnan derived them ultimately from Śaṁkara (c.800 CE), and these two distinctive points of origin lead to somewhat different types of reconstruction of the diversity of world religions. Our argument will highlight the point that Radhakrishnan is not a ‘pluralist’ in terms of Hick’s understanding of the Real. The Advaitin ultimate, while it too like Hick’s Real cannot be encapsulated by human categories, is, however, not strongly ineffable, because some substantive descriptions, according to the Advaitic tradition, are more accurate than others. Our comparative analysis will reveal that they differ because they are located in two somewhat divergent metaphysical schemes. In turn, we will be able to revisit, through this dialogue between Hick and Radhakrishnan, the intensely vexed question of whether Hick’s version of pluralism is in fact a form of covert exclusivism.
This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.
Similar content being viewed by others
References
Adams, R. M. (1997). Things in Themselves. Philosophy and Phenomenological Research, 57, 801–825.
Allison, H. (1983). Kant’s transcendental idealism. Connecticut: Yale University Press.
Alston, W. (1995). Realism and the Christian Faith. International Journal for the Philosophy of Religion, 38, 37–60.
Ameriks, K. (1982). Recent Work on Kant’s Theoretical Philosophy. American Philosophical Quarterly, 19, 1–24.
Barnes, L. P. (1983). Towards a Theology of World Religions: An Outline and Assessment of the work of John Hick. Churchman, 97, 216–231.
D’Costa, G. (1991). John Hick and Religious Pluralism: Yet another Revolution. In H. Hewitt (Ed.), Problems in the Philosophy of Religion: Critical Studies of the Work of John Hick (pp. 3–18). New York: St Martin’s.
Datta, D. M. (1963). Some Realistic Aspects of the Philosophy of Śaṁkara. In Kalidas Bhattacharya (Ed.), Recent Indian Philosophy (pp. 341–50) vol. 1. Calcutta: Progressive Publishers.
Eddy, P. R. (1994). Religious pluralism and the divine: Another look at John Hick’s Neo-Kantian Proposal. Religious Studies, 30, 467–478.
Forsthoefel, T. A. (2002). Knowing beyond knowledge. Aldershot: Ashgate.
Gardner, S. (1999). Kant and the critique of pure reason. London: Routledge.
Grant, S. (1999). Śaṁkarācārya’s concept of relation. Delhi: Motilal Banarsidass.
Halbfass, W. (1988). India and Europe: an essay in understanding. Albany: State University of New York Press.
Hasker, W. (2011). The Many Gods of Hick and Mavrodes. In Kelly James Clark and Raymond J. VanArragon (Eds), Evidence and Religious Belief. (pp. 186–98). Oxford: Oxford University Press.
Hedges, P. (2008). A reflection on typologies: Negotiating a fast-moving discussion. In P. Hedges & A. Race (Eds.), Christian approaches to other faiths (pp. 17–33). London: SCM.
Heim, S. M. (2001). The depth of the riches. Grand Rapids: William B. Eerdmans.
Hick, J. (1973). God and the Universe of Faiths. London: Macmillan.
Hick, J. (1980). God has many names. Philadelphia: The Westminster Press.
Hick, J. (1985). Problems of religious pluralism. New York: St. Martin’s.
Hick, J. (1995). The rainbow of faiths: Critical dialogues on religious pluralism. London: SCM Press.
Hick, J. (1997). The epistemological challenge of religious pluralism. Faith and Philosophy, 14, 277–286.
Hick, J. (2000). Religious pluralism and salvation. In P. L. Quinn & K. Meeker (Eds.), The philosophical challenge of religious diversity (pp. 54–66). Oxford: Oxford University Press.
Hick, J. (2004). An Interpretation of religion: Human responses to the transcendent. Basingstoke: Palgrave.
Hiriyanna, M. (1973). Essentials of Indian philosophy. Bombay: Blackie & Son.
Ho, C.-H. (2006). Saying the unsayable. Philosophy East and West, 56, 409–427.
Janz, P. D. (2004). God, the mind’s desire: Reference, reason and Christian thinking. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.
Kant, I. (1997). The critique of pure reason, translated and edited by Paul Guyer and Allen W. Wood. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.
Katz, S. (Ed.). (1978). Mysticism and philosophical Analysis. New York: Oxford University Press.
Knitter, P. F. (1987). Toward a liberation theology of religions. In J. Hick & P. F. Knitter (Eds.), The myth of Christian uniqueness (pp. 178–200). London: SCM.
Lipner, J. (1997). Śaṁkara on Satyam Jñānam Anantam Brahma. In P. Bilimoria & J. N. Mohanty (Eds.), Relativism, suffering and beyond: Essays in memory of Bimal K. Matilal (pp. 301–318). Delhi: Oxford University Press.
Mahadevan, T. M. P. (1957). The philosophy of Advaita. London: Luzac and Co.
Malkovsky, B. (Ed.). (2000). New perspectives on Advaita Vedanta. Leiden: Brill.
Mavrodes, G. (1997). A response to John Hick. Faith and Philosophy, 14, 289–294.
Netland, H. A. (1986). Professor Hick on Religious Pluralism. Religious Studies, 22, 249–261.
Palmquist, S. R. (1993). Kant’s system of perspectives: an architectonic interpretation of the critical philosophy. Lanham: University Press of America.
Plantinga, A. (2000). Warranted Christian belief. New York: Oxford University Press.
Potter, K. H. (1963). Presuppositions of India’s philosophies. Englewood Cliffs: Prentice-Hall.
Race, A. (1983). Christians and religious pluralism. London: SCM.
Radhakrishnan, S. (1923). Indian philosophy (Vol. 2). Oxford: Oxford University Press.
Radhakrishnan, S. (1927). The Hindu view of life. London: Unwin Paperbacks.
Radhakrishnan, S. (1932). An Idealist view of life. London: George Allen & Unwin.
Radhakrishnan, S. (1960). The Brahma Sutra: the philosophy of spiritual life. London: George Allen and Unwin.
Radhakrishnan, S. (1967). Religion in a changing world. London: George Allen and Unwin Ltd.
Raju, P. T. (1985). Structural depths of Indian thought. Delhi: South Asian Publishers.
Rambachan, A. (1994). The limits of scripture. Honolulu: University of Hawaii Press.
Ram-Prasad, C. (1993). Dreams and reality: The Śaṅkarite Critique of Vijñānavada. Philosophy East and West, 43, 405–455.
Satapathy, D. R. (1992). The Doctrine of Māyā in Advaita Vedānta. Calcutta: Punthi Pustak.
Shastri, A. B. (1936). Post- Śaṁkara Dialectics. Calcutta: University of Calcutta.
Singh, R. S. (1966). Radhakrishnan’s substantial reconstruction of the Vedānta of Śaṁkara. Philosophy East and West, 16, 5–32.
Vroom, H. M. (1990). Do all religious traditions worship the same God? Religious Studies, 26, 73–90.
Ward, K. (1990). Truth and the diversity of religions. Religious Studies, 26, 1–18.
Westphal, M. (1968). In defence of the thing in itself. Kant-Studien, 59, 118–141.
Wilkerson, T. E. (1976). Kant’s critique of pure reason. Oxford: Clarendon.
Wood, A. (2005). Kant. Massachusetts: Blackwell Publishing.
Yandell, K. E. (1993). The epistemology of religious experience. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Corresponding author
Rights and permissions
About this article
Cite this article
Barua, A. Hick and Radhakrishnan on Religious Diversity: Back to the Kantian Noumenon. SOPHIA 54, 181–200 (2015). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11841-015-0459-z
Published:
Issue Date:
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s11841-015-0459-z