Dictionary of Philosophy of Religion

209

SCHOPENHAUER, ARTHUR

labeled “the father of modern theology,”
Schleiermacher was a German theolo-
gian, philosopher, and classicist. He was
born to a Reformed clergyman and was
initially educated at institutions of the
Moravian Brethren before enrolling at
the University of Halle. He passed his
theological exams in Berlin and served as
a pastor for several churches in Germany.
Influenced by his pietistic education,
Schleiermacher’s thought is also deeply
indebted to the work of Immanuel Kant
and the Romantic movement. His under-
standing of religion as a “feeling of abso-
lute dependence” on the divine countered
Kant and rationalist reductions of reli-
gion to the will or reason. Schleiermacher
turned specifically to religious “con-
sciousness” as an awareness of the unitive
ground of human activity and passivity.
In so doing, he married experience and
religion, freeing it from a reduction to
morality (contra Kant) or knowledge
(contra Hegel). His ethics, theology, and
philosophy were important for shaping
nineteenth- and twentieth-century liberal
theologies and sparked reactive arguments
from neoorthodox Christian thinkers like
Karl Barth. More recently, Schleiermach-
er’s contributions to hermeneutics have
been recognized by philosophers like
Dilthey, Gadamer, and Ricoeur. While
Schleiermacher was primarily concerned
with issues in biblical exegesis, he also
proposed a general (or universal) herme-
neutics, one in which misunderstanding
was assumed between the author and the
later interpreter of a text. His concern for

the subjectivity of the author and “under-

standing” through rigorous interpretive

strategies was a decisive moment in the

history of hermeneutical philosophy.

Schleiermacher’s key works include On

Religion: Speeches to its Cultured Despisers

(1799) and The Christian Faith (1820–

1821). After his death, one of his students

published Hermeneutics and Criticism

(1838), an overview of his hermeneutics

based on his lecture notes.

SCHOLASTICISM. From the Greek

scholasticos, implied as being substantive:

a learned person or scholar. Scholasticism

refers to the systematic philosophy and

doctrines cultivated in the Middle Ages

from the works of Aristotle and Augus-

tine and their Jewish and Arab commen-

tators, which was advanced by St. Thomas

of Aquinas and is measured to conform

to orthodox Catholic belief. “Schoolmen”

is a term for the adherents of Scholasticism;

they were typically scholars of the Chris-

tian university schools who came before

or resisted the Modern or Enlightenment

philosophies á la Descartes. The scholas-

tic method is continued by Catholic

philosophers who respect and commune

with their tradition and stress humility

above individual brilliance.

SCHOPENHAUER, ARTHUR (1788–

1860). Confirmed atheist and pessimist,

Schopenhauer is among the most important

figures of post-Kantian German idealism.