Ingolf Ulrich Dalferth (born 9 July 1948) is a philosopher of religion and theologian. His work is regarded as being on the methodological borderlines between analytic philosophy, hermeneutics and phenomenology, and he is a recognized expert in issues of contemporary philosophy, philosophy of religion, and philosophy of orientation.
From 1995 to 2013 Dalferth was Full Professor of Systematic Theology, Symbolics and Philosophy of Religion at the University of Zurich and from 2007 to 2020 he held the Danforth Chair in Philosophy of Religion at Claremont Graduate University. From 1998 to 2012 he served as the Director of the Institute of Hermeneutics and Philosophy of Religion at the University of Zürich. Since 2013 he is professor emeritus at the University of Zurich, since 2020 professor emeritus at Claremont Graduate University. From 2000 to 2020 he was editor-in-chief of the journal Theologische Literaturzeitung (Leipzig, Germany), of the book series Religion in Philosophy und Theology (Tübingen, Germany) and of the book series Claremont Studies in the Philosophy of Religion, from 1996-2018 also editor of the Hermeneutische Untersuchungen zur Theologie (Tübingen, Germany).
Ingolf U. Dalferth studied theology, philosophy, and linguistics in Tübingen, Edinburgh, Vienna, and Cambridge. After receiving his doctorate and habilitation in theology at the University of Tübingen, he held various positions including director of studies at the Tübinger Stift, lecturer in Durham, and professor in Tübingen, Uppsala and Frankfurt a. M. From 1987 to 1989 he was Hulsean Lecturer at the University of Cambridge, 1995 the Samuel Ferguson Lecturer at Manchester University, in 2008 the Bapsybanoo Marchioness of Winchester Lecturer at the University of Oxford. In 2019 he gave the Prabhu Interfaith, Peace and Justice Lecture at Cal State Los Angeles, in 2020 (together with Claudia Welz) the Tillich-Lecture 2020 in Frankfurt am Main, in 2021 die Davide Zordan Lecture in Trento/Italy, and in 2022 the Marsilius-Lecture in Heidelberg. From 1986-1988, 1996-1998 and 2004-2006 he was President of the European Society for the Philosophy of Religion. From 1999-2007 he was the founding President of the German Society for Philosophy of Religion. In 2015-2016 he was President of the Society for Philosophy of Religion in the USA. From 2001-2013 he served as a Member of the Norris-Hulse-Standing Commission, University of Cambridge, from 2001 to 2013 he was a member of the Advisory Board of the Center for Subjectivity Research Copenhagen, and since 2002 he has been at Board of the Søren Kierkegaard Research Centre Copenhagen. From 1981 to 1990 Dalferth was Lecturer and University Professor of Systematic Theology at the University of Tübingen, from 1990 to 1995 Professor of Protestant Theology (Dogmatics) and Philosophy of Religion at the University of Frankfurt, from 1995 to 2013 Professor of Systematic Theology, Symbolics and Philosophy of Religion at the University of Zürich. From 2007 to 2020 he was the Danforth Professor of Philosophy of Religion at Claremont Graduate University. From 1991-1994 he served as the Dean of the Faculty of Protestant Theology at the University of Frankfurt, Germany, and from 1998 to 2002 as the Dean of the Faculty of Theology at the University of Zurich. From 2004 to 2009 he was Research Fellow at the Collegium Helveticum in Zurich, from 2005 to 2006 Fellow at the Institute for Advanced Study in Berlin. In 2020 he was the first IRF Fellow at the Institute for Research on the Philosophy of Religion at Goethe University Frankfurt am Main, and in 2023 Fellow at the Stellenbosch Institute for Advanced Study in South Africa. In 2005 and 2006 he was awarded honorary doctorates from the Universities of Uppsala and Copenhagen. 2017-2018 he held the Leibniz-Chair at the University of Leipzig. In 2022 he received the Marsilius Medal for promoting conversation between the cultures of science and knowledge at the University of Heidelberg. In 2018 he was honored with a Festschrift: Das Letzte – der Erste. Gott denken. Festschrift für Ingolf U. Dalferth zum 70. Geburtstag. Ed. Hans-Peter Großhans, Michael Moxter, and Philipp Stoellger, Tübingen 2018. pp. XI, 504.
The primary research areas of Ingolf U. Dalferth include Christological, ecclesiological, and methodological issues in systematic theology, religion, philosophy (analytic philosophy of religion and phenomenology), semiotics and hermeneutics (theory of signs, language processes, forms of understanding), theories of God, emotions, trust, evil and time, and ecumenism (Lutheranism and Anglicanism). His work also includes several functions within the Swiss and German churches and the ecumenical movement. From 1993 to 2004 he was co-chair of the Theological Board of the Meissen Commission. In 1997 he was Visiting Professor of Dogmatics at the University of Fribourg, Switzerland; in 1998 Visiting Professor at the Faculty of Theology at the University of Utrecht; in 2004 Visiting Professor of Philosophy of Religion at the Center for Subjectivity Research in Copenhagen (Denmark); in 2006 Visiting Professor at the Faculty of Theology at the University of Aarhus; from 2004 to 2009 Director of the Research Group ›Religion and Emotion‹ at the Collegium Helveticum in Zurich; from 2005 to 2013 Co-Director of the University Research Priority Program on the Foundations of Human Social Behavior at the University of Zurich; from 2009 to 2013 Director of the Interdisciplinary Research Project ›Understanding Trust‹ at the University of Zurich; from 2009 to 2019 Research Professor at the Swiss Federal Institute of Technology Zurich (Collegium Helveticum); from 2013 to 2015 Director of the Research Project ›Christian Truth in the Context of Postmodern Pluralism: Revelation between Tradition and Deconstruction‹; from 2014 to 2016 Director of the Interdisciplinary Research Project ›Prayer as Embodied Understanding‹ at the University of Zurich.
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