What is this thing called Philosophy of Religion?

Elizabeth Burns

• Publisher: Routledge
• Year: 2017
• Print ISBN:
  9781138817777
• eBook ISBN:
  9781317595465
• Topic: Philosophie
• Subtopic: Histoire et théorie de la philosophie

What is this thing called Philosophy of Religion? grapples with the core topics studied on philosophy of religion undergraduate courses including:

• the meaning of religious language, including 20th century developments
• the nature of the Divine, including divine power, wisdom and action
• arguments for the existence of the Divine
• challenges to belief in the Divine, including the problems of evil, divine hiddenness and religious diversity
• believing without arguments
• arguments for life after death, including reincarnation.

In addition to the in-depth coverage of the key themes within the subject area Elizabeth Burns explores the topics from the perspectives of the five main world religions, introducing students to the work of scholars from a variety of religious traditions and interpretations of belief.

What is this thing called Philosophy of Religion? is the ideal introduction for those approaching the philosophy of religion for the first time, containing many helpful student-friendly features, such as a glossary of important terms, study questions and further reading.

1

^• what is philosophy of religion?

• INTRODUCTION

Broadly speaking, philosophy of religion is a branch of philosophy which uses the tools of philosophy to ask questions about the nature and existence of the Divine, the supreme being or value. (This may be God or Allah, but the term is intended to be inclusive of traditions in which the ultimate being or value is something other than God.) Philosophy of religion is usually conducted from a neutral standpoint, whereas philosophical theology, from which it is sometimes distinguished, takes place within a religious tradition and examines how the doctrines of that tradition, both individually and together, can best be understood in order to provide philosophical support for the beliefs of that tradition.

When beginning to study the philosophy of religion, for at least two reasons it is important to have a clear idea of what philosophers of religion do, and why they do it. Firstly, if you are simply thinking about an inherited list of topics without much conception of what you are trying to achieve and why, it is easy to become bogged down in complex ideas and technical details and lose sight of your sense of purpose. Philosophy of religion can come to seem like an intellectual game which is of little or no practical importance. Secondly, what you think you are doing when studying the philosophy of religion can affect the kind of questions you ask, and the methods you use to try to answer them.

But before we can consider further what philosophy of religion is, and why we study it, we need to examine the meaning of its component parts – that is, ‘religion’ and ‘philosophy’.

• WHAT IS RELIGION?

Although philosophy of religion is usually, in some circles at least, regarded as a branch of philosophy, it might be argued that you cannot be a good philosopher of religion unless you have a clear understanding of what it is that you are asking philosophical questions about. An inadequate understanding of the nature of religion can lead some to reject religion without considering that there may be many ways in which it is possible to be ‘religious’. For example, the comedian Marcus Brigstocke gives a description of the God in whom he does not believe which includes the following: ‘[B]earded, bathed in light, lives up in Heaven, has a staff of angels … the fella with the booming voice’ (2011: 87). Although all of these characteristics are derived from biblical and/or artistic attempts to portray the Divine, un-nuanced accounts of them such as that offered by Brigstocke may be at least partly responsible for the rejection of religious belief by the so-called ‘new atheists’.

Since it is difficult to define religion in such a way that systems of beliefs and practices which are normally called ‘religious’ (for example, Theravada Buddhism) are included, while those which are not (for example, Marxism) are excluded, scholars often recommend the ‘family resemblance approach’, according to which there is a range of features, no single one of which a religion must possess, but at least some of which any religion must possess. Various features have been suggested, but they might include at least some of the following:

1 Belief in an Ultimate Reality, the Divine (which may be personal and/or impersonal) and/or a system of doctrines which give ultimate meaning and purpose to human life.

2 Belief that the existence and nature of the Divine is revealed to human beings by means of sacred writings, religious experiences and/or human reason.

3 Belief that the Divine and/or the system of doctrines requires adherence to a specified code of behaviour.

4 A sense of dependence upon and reverence for something of ultimate importance and external to oneself.

5 The making of a commitment, often recognised by means of a ceremony, to a system of beliefs and a way of life.

6 The use of sacred writings, symbols, sounds and personal and community rituals which help believers to recognise and acknowledge the Divine and adhere to a specified code of behaviour.

7 The use of a building/place or the gathering of a community which provides ‘sacred’ space for communal worship and/or contemplation of the Divine, and the performance of ceremonies and rituals.

8 The offer of ‘salvation’ – a better, and perhaps eternal, state of being. This might take the form of forgiveness following repentance of sins, freedom from fear, a new or renewed sense of purpose, continued existence after death or reincarnation leading eventually to nirvana, the end of suffering with the extinction of the individual.¹

Reflection

To what extent does any religion of which you have knowledge possess these characteristics?

Can you think of a form of religious belief which could not be described in this way? Or a secular belief-system which could?

• DEFINING THE DIVINE

The type of religion which is most usually discussed by philosophers of religion is generally known as ‘classical theism’. Broadly speaking, this is the view that God created time, the world and everything in it from nothing, and everything depends for its continued existence on God. On this view, God has a range of attributes, but most commonly is said to be a person or personal, omnipotent (all-powerful), omniscient (all-knowing) and good. There are, however, many other ways to understand the Divine, some of which, along with classical theism, are defined in the table which may be found in Appendix 1.

• WHAT IS PHILOSOPHY?

Like ‘religion’, ‘philosophy’ is difficult to define. Literally it means ‘love of knowledge’, from the Greek philos, ‘love’, and sophia, ‘knowledge’. In recent years it has become common to distinguish between ‘analytic philosophy’ and ‘continental philosophy’.

The analytic tradition of philosophy is said to have begun with the work of Gottlob Frege (1848–1925), G. E. Moore (1873–1958) and Bertrand Russell (1872–1970), to propose hypotheses and test them in the light of data in the manner of scientific enquiry, and to aim to achieve clarity and rigour. Arguments are often formalised to assess their deductive validity (whether they lead to a certain conclusion) or inductive strength (whether the steps of the argument make the conclusion more likely), and are assessed for explanatory power, simplicity and fit with background knowledge. Analytic philosophy is usually divided into sub-disciplines, of which philosophy of religion is one. Others include epistemology (the study of how and what we can know), methodology (the study of the methods commonly used in philosophical inquiry), logic (the study of good and bad reasoning), metaphysics (the study of abstract concepts such as the nature of being or time) and philosophy of mind (the study of the nature of mind and its relationship to the body and to the world more generally). All of these sub-disciplines overlap with and are used by philosophers of religion.

By contrast, philosophy in the continental tradition is based on the philosophy of Georg Hegel (1770–1831), Edmund Husserl (1859–1938) and Martin Heidegger (1889–1976), and adopts a style which is more literary than scientific. It aims not to say something precisely or to show that it is well established but to deconstruct common ways of thinking in order to show how they are socially and/or spiritually disadvantageous, and to provide a new vision which will inspire everyone to struggle for ‘liberation’. Philosophers writing in this tradition may choose a view on the basis of its ethical and socio-political implications, the psychological motivations which caused it to be adopted or the extent to which it promotes particular values, or fits in with and informs our experience of human life. Continental philosophy therefore draws on various fields from the humanities, including literary and cultural theory, politics and psychoanalysis, and uses these as the model for philosophical discourse. Ultimately, it seeks not knowledge but wisdom, a way of thinking which focuses on the application of knowledge to practical issues, such as how to live a good and/or happy life. (This and the preceding paragraph are informed by Trakakis, 2007.)

These two philosophical traditions are now perhaps better characterised as philosophical styles because their identification with geographical locations is becoming less clear. The dividing line between them is also becoming less clear, since the work of some philosophers contains features of both styles of philosophical writing.

• WHAT IS THE PHILOSOPHY OF RELIGION?

Analytic philosophers of religion tend to focus on questions concerning whether the concept of the Divine is coherent by examining the meaning and implications of attributes which are commonly applied to the Divine, either individually or in conjunction with others. For example, the Divine is often said to be omnipotent, omniscient and good, and philosophers examine what it means to apply each of these to the Divine, and whether a Divinity who is omnipotent, omniscient and good can allow evil (the problem of evil). They also consider whether there is any evidence to justify belief in the existence of a Divinity who has these attributes, especially in the light of current scientific theories about the origin and continued existence of the universe.

Philosophers of religion working in the continental tradition tend to consider a wider range of possible ways of thinking about the nature of the Divine. They also tend to focus on practical ways in which religious belief can help us to address the problems of human life – in particular, the problem of how to deal with suffering, and the way in which we can focus on ethical behaviour as a means both to combat suffering and to live a meaningful life.

• STUDYING THE PHILOSOPHY OF RELIGION

Although studying the philosophy of religion can sometimes seem challenging, both because it may force you to question and perhaps threaten to undermine your existing beliefs about religion, whatever they may be, and because we can never be sure that we have reached the ‘right’ answer to our questions, I would suggest that the benefits of studying this subject far outweigh the difficulties, for the following reasons:

1 It is good to question our own beliefs about religion to ensure that we have the best possible reasons for what we believe and, therefore, how we choose to live our lives. Although studying the philosophy of religion may lead you to change some of your beliefs, beliefs which have withstood questioning are much more secure than those which have not been subjected to careful scrutiny.

2 Religion is a widespread and important cultural phenomenon. According to a recent study, the world currently contains about 5.8 billion religious believers, including 2.2 billion Christians, 1.6 billion Muslims, 1 billion Hindus and about 500 million Buddhists (The Pew Research Center, 2012). Religious beliefs are not just abstract concepts; they have a significant impact – both positive and negative – on societies throughout the world. It is therefore important that as many people as possible are able to contribute thoughtfully to discussion about them. Talk changes beliefs, which change behaviour. As the author of Ecclesiasticus said, many centuries ago: ‘Discussion is the beginning of every work, and counsel precedes every undertaking. The mind is the root of all conduct’ (The Holy Bible, 1989, Sirach [second century BCE] 37:16–17).

3 As Charles Taliaferro (2013) suggests, philosophy of religion can enhance cross-cultural dialogue. It looks for both common and distinguishing features of religious belief and practice, and this may improve the relationship between religions, and between religions and secular institutions.

4 Although the philosophy of religion can never provide definitive answers to any of the questions which it addresses, it can help to rule out some possible answers, particularly those which might be regarded as superstitious or fanatical. Indeed, uncertainty about the answers to philosophical questions about religious belief might even be viewed as a positive feature of the discipline, on the grounds that certainty about such answers can lead to superstition and fanaticism. A developing international awareness of the shakiness of the philosophical ground upon which religious fanatics stand could therefore make a major contribution to the improvement of global security.

• HOW TO USE THIS BOOK

For the most part, the aim of this book is to provide you with the tools to formulate your own view, rather than to argue for a particular view. It focuses primarily on analytical philosophers’ analysis of classical theism but endeavours to include arguments offered by scholars writing from the perspective of each of the world’s major religions.

In Chapters 2 and 3, the difficulty of talking about the nature of the Divine in ordinary, everyday language is acknowledged in a discussion of several ways in which this problem has been addressed. Chapters 4 to 8 consider a range of common questions about the nature of the Divine, while Chapters 9 to 13 examine key arguments for belief in the existence of the Divine. Three significant objections to such belief are discussed in Chapters 14 to 16. The relationship between reason and faith is discussed in Chapters 17 and 18, and the book conc...

Table of contents

• Cover
• Half Title
• Title Page
• Copyright Page
• Table of Contents
• Acknowledgements
• 1 What is philosophy of religion?
• 2 Ways with words: the meaning of religious language
• 3 Religious language: twentieth-century developments
• 4 Personal and impersonal interpretations of the divine
• 5 Divine power
• 6 Divine wisdom
• 7 Divine action
• 8 Petitionary prayer
• 9 Arguments for the existence of the divine: cosmological arguments
• 10 Arguments for the existence of the divine: design arguments
• 11 Arguments for the existence of the divine: moral arguments
• 12 Arguments for the existence of the divine: arguments from religious experience
• 13 Arguments for the existence of the divine: ontological arguments
• 14 Arguments against belief in the divine: the problem of evil
• 15 Arguments against belief in the divine: the problem of divine hiddenness
• 16 Arguments against belief in the divine: the problem of religious diversity
• 17 Voluntarist theories of religious belief
• 18 Reformed epistemology
• 19 Life, death and hope
• Appendix 1: Defining the divine
• Appendix 2: List of further reading on the varieties of religious belief
• Appendix 3: List of anthologies and their contents by topic
• Appendix 4: Glossary
• Index