Ingolf U. Dalferth (born 1948) is a Lutheran 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.
Since 1998, Dalferth has served as the Director of the Institut für Hermeneutik und Religionsphilosophie at the University of Zürich, and since 2007 held the Danforth Chair in Philosophy of Religion at Claremont Graduate University. He is the editor of the journal Theologische Literaturzeitung (Leipzig, Germany), and book series Philosophy of Religion and Theology (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 inspector of the Tübinger Stift, lecturer in Durham, and professor in Tübingen, Uppsala and Frkfurt aM. Since 1995 he has been a professor of systematic theology, symbolism and philosophy of religion at the University of Zürich and since 2007 the Danforth Professor of Philosophy of Religion at Claremont Graduate University. In 2005 and 2006 he was awarded honorary doctorates from the Universities of Uppsala and Copenhagen.
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) and ecumenism (Lutheranism and Anglicanism). His work also includes several functions within the Swiss and German church and the ecumenical movement.