The Traditions of Fideism

Abstract

Since Kai Nielsen’s widely read essay ‘Wittgensteinian Fideism’ was first published in 1967, philosophy of religion influenced by Wittgenstein has often been associated with fideism (Nielsen, 1967). One need not search far to see how extensive this association is, and it has affected what philosophers understand fideism to be. Definitions and explorations of fideism since 1967 rarely fail to mention Wittgenstein’s thought on religion. While much has been published on whether or not Wittgenstein or Wittgensteinian philosophers are in fact fideists (McGovern and Szabados, 2002), comparatively little has been written on fideism itself.¹