Page History

...

Wittgenstein speaks of three fundamental experiences in connection with religion. The first two of these seem to me to be, in effect, the two aspects of what I distinguish as basic faith in the meaning of life. The first experience of wonder, not at what there is, but at the fact that there is something (notwithstanding that there could not even conceivably be nothing at all!), is the experience of something that makes my own existence and all existence really possible. Similarly, the second experience of feeling safe, no matter what happens (notwithstanding that what happens can always make a difference to one's safety!), is the experience of something that makes my own life (and by implication) everything else ultimately worth while.

As for the third experience Wittgenstein speaks of, i.e., the experience of guilt (notwithstanding that there's no reason to feel guilty about nothing in particular!), it is arguably the very experience that lies behind any axial, or--in or—in terms of Santayana's distinction--any distinction—any "ultimate" religion. As Santayana puts it, "The enterprise of life . . . is utterly irreligious. . . . It is precisely that from which a veritable religion would come to redeem us."

...