Language

This chapter begins with Austrian philosopher Ludwig Wittgenstein's Philosophical Investigations, which offers seminal philosophical reflections on language. It looks at the numerous implications of Wittgenstein's observations in semiotics, cognition, sociology, and linguistics that testify to the acuteness of the problem of language for philosophy. It also examines how Wittgenstein delved into the way language functions and how he abandoned the hope of constructing a linguistic system based on representation. The chapter discusses the 'language game', which reflect different forms of life or the activities in which individuals engage on a daily basis. It talks about contemporary philosophers, which demonstrate that language does not describe an objective state of affairs but, rather, reveals a particular perspective and worldview that is rooted in culture.

Revelation

This chapter internalizes the postmodern critique of religion and explores the potential for a new theology of revelation. It integrates cultural particularism by maintaining the concept of revelation at the heart of Jewish theology, while recasting it as a non-metaphysical experience. It also tackles the problem of language through its textual manifestations and explores linguistic functions or 'signifiers' that reflect a communal reality. The chapter illustrates how language is used as an instrument to designate a variety of conflicting and complementary narratives rather than as a description of a metaphysical truth. It discusses Tamar Ross's non-realist application of mysticism to religious truth statements and Rav Shagar's denial of language's ability to refer to anything beyond itself.

Conclusion

This chapter explores how Tamar Ross and Rav Shagar advocate restoring theology according to the linguistic cultural turn and the postmodern critique. It shows tentative responses to postmodernism that bring creative and liberating insights into the wellspring of Jewish thought. It also looks at attempts at weathering the storm of challenges set by deconstructionism, relativism, and cultural particularism. The chapter examines the involvement of major theological reconfigurations that are designed to reshape traditional concepts in order to make them thrive alongside the postmodern critique. It reviews how Ross and Shagar outline a new methodology for the construction of a compelling Jewish theology in a postmodern age.

Culture

This chapter discusses 'cultural particularism' as a central feature of postmodernism. It refers to the position that claims that understanding and interaction with the world are contingent upon one's culture. It examines radical cultural particularism, in which there is no objective reality but only multiple different perspectives that are based on local perceptions and interpretations and anchored in a specific cultural context. The chapter looks at the notion of objectivity as a figment of one's philosophical imagination, which is conceived through the lenses of a particular culture. It mentions Austrian philosopher Ludwig Wittgenstein, who is widely considered the founder of several contemporary philosophical movements, such as notably analytic, post-liberal, and postmodern philosophy.

Introduction

This chapter provides a compelling theology for the postmodern, relativist age. It confronts the crisis of Jewish theology that is premised on a growing ambivalence towards the idea of absolute truth and perpetuated by postmodern cultural and philosophical critiques. It also analyses the central principle of postmodernism, such as culture and its linguistic parameters that determine what is true and that therefore there can no longer be any objective truth. The chapter examines how particular religious culture demonstrate its greater 'truthfulness' and outlines multiple aspects of contemporary Jewish life that are plagued with questions. It investigates the use of the term 'theological', which refer to discussions and explanations dealing with conceptions of God.