The Study of Religious Belief after Donald Davidson

Scholars in religious studies are increasingly drawing important insights from Davidson's philosophy of language. Unfortunately, the most prominent of Davidson's interpreters in religious studies have been Rortian neopragmatists who, I argue, have read into Davidson views which are not his own. This essay seeks to disentangle Davidson's stance from its neopragmatist interpretations. The goal is to understand his stance in order to see how one might approach the study of religious beliefs, and in particular religious metaphysical beliefs, from a Davidsonian perspective.