A Critical Assessment of Wittgenstein"s View on Religion: An Islamic Perspective

Wittgenstein"s views on religious language have been
taken by many of his commentators as a form of noncognitivism.
According to this view "religious statements
are regarded as exhortations to lead a certain sort of life,
or as prescriptions on how to lead one"s life, or as
expressing certain kinds of sentiments or attitudes, such
as encouragement to lead a moral life.� (Runzo 1993, 157)
John Hick recognizes the idea of "language game� that
belongs to the later philosophy of Wittgenstein as the root
of this non-cognitive interpretation that was developed by
D.Z. Philips and others. (Hick 1990, 96) Hick also appeals
to this non-cognitive character of religious language to
conclude that Wittgenstein held a non-realistic interpretation
of religion. Hick identifies non-cognitivism about
religious discourse with a non-realist interpretation of
religion, defining non-realism as a position that interprets
"religious language, not as referring to a transcendent
reality… but as expressing our emotions or our basic moral
insights and intentions or as referring to our moral and
spiritual ideals.� (Hick 1990, 7)