Engagement and dialogue: Pluralism in the thought of Joseph B. Soloveitchi

Throughout the chapters of this study, entitled "Engagement and dialogue: pluralism in the thought of Joseph B. Soloveitchik," run two concerns: Soloveitchik's epistemology and metaphysics, and his account of inter-religious dialogue. Critically and creatively engaging important currents in twentieth century thought such as Neo-Kantianism, phenomenology, pragmatism, and post-classical physics, Soloveitchik borrows and combines elements from each, developing a position that emphasizes the close connection between the human way of knowing and reality's way of being. Developed in his early writings, his epistemology and metaphysics bring together the constructive and receptive elements proper to cognitive experience and describe reality as processive, multi-dimensional, and capable of being handled according to different systems of thought. In his later writings, no longer concerned with refining his philosophical system, Soloveitchik considers the status of inter-religious dialogue. Distinguishing between participation in the general cultural enterprise of humankind and inter-religious dialogue, Soloveitchik contends that members of different faith communities are mandated to confront one another and acknowledge the uniqueness of their different faith commitments and theological logoi . Soloveitchik's epistemological pluralism and the metaphysics underlying it thus complement his later and sometimes ambiguous avowal of religious pluralism and parity.