Rush Rhees

Rush Rhees (1905-1989) was a Welsh philosopher who studied under Ludwig Wittgenstein at Cambridge and became one of his literary executors. While primarily known for his work on Wittgenstein, Rhees made significant contributions to philosophy of religion through his distinctive approach to religious language and belief. He argued against treating religious statements as empirical propositions or metaphysical claims, emphasizing instead their role in religious life and practice. His essay "Religion and Language" (1969) explored how religious discourse operates within specific forms of life, resisting both reductionist and literalist interpretations. Rhees maintained that questions about God cannot be separated from the spiritual practices and ethical commitments in which they arise. His Wittgensteinian approach influenced subsequent discussions about the grammar of religious belief, particularly regarding the meaningfulness of religious language and the nature of religious certainty. His posthumously published works, including "On Religion and Philosophy" (1997), continue to inform debates about non-cognitive approaches to religious belief.