One God of All? : Probing Pluralist Identities

Description

The claim has repeatedly been made, and has often been contested, that a single transcendent being is present or active in all of the world's major religions. In this view, names such as OC God, OCO OC Allah, OCO OC nirvana, OCO OC Vishnu, OCO and OC BrahmanOCO all refer to the same transcendent reality. Absent from the debate and here provided is a serious study of such claims in the light of the most pertinent philosophical literature, namely that concerning questions of identity and individuation. Of necessity, the terms that the claims employ are very general and abstract: the worldOCOs religions, it is said, all refer to the same OC thing, OCO OC being, OCO or OC reality.OCO Although analogy, rightly understood, can back the transcendent extension of descriptive expressions such as OC wise, OCO OC good, OCO and OC powerful, OCO it cannot do likewise for expressions such as OC one, OCO OC same, OCO and OC many.OCO So pluralistsOCO identity claims appear empty. Hallett scrutinizes the soundness of this critique, its broad implications, and the possibility of replacing empty identity claims with suitable parables or comparisons."