Disciplines
• Philosophy
A shared history: Philosophy and religion
have a long history of inspiring, influencing
and challenging each other. In the process,
they have impacted how humans view their roles,
drives and ideals in the world in which we
live. Classical philosophers such as Socrates,
Plato and Aristotle influenced early Christian
thinkers. Early philosophers and religious
thinkers both competed with and borrowed from
each other to further explain and understand
their beliefs. Early Christians intertwined
their beliefs with classical learning, science
and philosophy, including ideas such as Plato
and Plotinus' notions that God could be found
through contemplation of beauty, or Gregory's
doctrine that God is incorporeal, a doctrine
from Platonic philosophy. Gregory's account
of the Trinity revolves around Aristotle's
idea that things could be divided into categories
and qualities.
Middle Eastern Christians
translated the works of Plato, Aristotle
and others into Middle Eastern languages
such as Syriac and Arabic, preserving their
ideas and influencing later Muslim philosophers.
More modern philosophers have also tackled
the role of faith in human experience and
societies; some supporting belief in a divine
creator and others dismissing it. Both philosophers
and religious thinkers continue to influence
humans' views of our place in the world,
our current religious struggles, world geography
and beliefs about what it means to be human
and what constitutes a virtuous life.
A few major philosophers
who have developed thoughts about religion
include:
Socrates - Socrates
(469-399 B.C.) was the first philosopher
to focus on the problems of "God, the
Good and the Beautiful." He examined
issues such as piety, morals, ethics and
religious practice. Socrates believed in
the existence of gods vastly superior to
ourselves in wisdom and power. However,
he was also a critic and reformer of the
religious tradition of his time and new
practices he encountered. Some experts argue
that Socrates saw religious commitments
as integral to his philosophical mission
of moral examination, and that this reformed
how religion was practiced in his time.
Socrates' contributions to the "rational
reformation" of Greek religion informed
the theology of his pupil, Plato.
Plato: A founding
father of Western philosophy, Athenian philosopher
Plato (427-347 B.C.) had a major impact
on religious and philosophical thought.
Plato felt gods should only be represented
as pious and good because goodness was the
nature of divinity. In "Philebus,"
he meditated on pleasure and the good life,
concluding that something's goodness lay
in the unity of beauty, symmetry and truth.
In "Phaedo," he argued for the
immortality of the soul. Plato expressed
how he believed the universe was created
- in the creator's likeness, out of pre-existing
chaos (contrasting with the later Christian
account that God created the universe out
of a void) - but also warned that, being
mortals, it was something none of us could
ever understand.
Artistotle - Aristotle
(384-322 B.C.) was not particularly religious
himself, but called theology "the most
divine knowledge." A student of Plato's
academy, Aristotle created the study of
formal logic and influenced the course of
Western intellectual history. He conceived
of a God operating outside of the world,
putting creation in motion and causing all
motion in nature. He did not attribute mercy,
love, sympathy or similar qualities to God.
But he believed that God was drawing all
things toward himself - that it was the
instinctive desire of all things to be drawn
to God in action, purpose and self-worth,
and especially to the divine design God
holds for their lives. He believed this
God or Supreme Form was uncreated, eternal
and unchangeable, and existed as "pure
intellect" and "fully realized
potential." He also believed that the
human intellect is connected with the divine
intellect, which gives humans their powers
of inspiration, insight and imagination.
Aquinas: Influenced
by Aristotle, philosopher and theologian
Thomas Aquinas (1225-1274), has had a huge
influence on Christian theology, especially
of the Roman Catholic Church. Aquinas believed
"that for the knowledge of any truth
whatsoever man needs Divine help that the
intellect may be moved by God to its act."
Aquinas defined the four (natural) cardinal
virtues as prudence, temperance, justice
and fortitude. His three (supernatural)
theological virtues were faith, hope and
charity. Aquinas viewed theology, or the
sacred doctrine, as a science whose data
consists of written scripture and church
tradition. He felt existence of God is neither
self-evident nor beyond proof, and described
God as simple, perfect, infinite, immutable,
and one. Aquinas' works influenced the literary
practice of modernist writer James Joyce.
Immanuel Kant: German
philosopher Immanuel Kant (1724-1804) asserted
that reason and philosophy are "in
reality directed to those three problems
only (God, Soul, Freedom)," meaning
that no one can really know if there is
a God and an afterlife. But no one can really
know that there is not a God and an afterlife
either. Kant believed that for the sake
of society and morality, people can be justified
in believing in them, even though they can
never know for sure whether they are real.
He believed that happiness is tied to morality,
and for this reason, people should choose
to believe in God, because the idea of God
can't be separated from happiness-morality
as the "ideal of the supreme good."
Kant's efforts to root religion in morality
had a significant impact on Protestant theology
in Europe, especially what is called "liberal
theology," which stressed the moral
content of Christianity, particularly for
social reform.
Søren Kierkegaard:
Danish philosopher and theologian Søren
Kierkegaard (1813-1855) is sometimes characterized
as a Christian existentialist. Popular ideas
included his "leap of faith,"
of how an individual could transcend rationality
in favor of something more uncanny such
as faith. He also surmised that to have
faith means also to have doubt, and that
a faith without doubting God's existence
or goodness is not much of a faith. Later
in life, he attacked Christianity and its
allegiance with the state, believing that
state-church union perverted the true meaning
of Christianity. He believed that in such
conditions, congregations are meaningless,
Christianity becomes secularized and political,
and the faith becomes empty.
Karl Marx: German
social philosopher Karl Marx (1818-83) wrote,
with Friedrich Engels, "The Communist
Manifesto (1848), which appealed to science
and reason as the basis for reform, rather
than the rights of man. His "Das Kapital,"
offered a critical analysis of capitalism.
Marx's ideas had a major influence on workers'
movements and Marxian ideas have impacted
many parts of the world. Marx famously wrote
in 1843: "Religious suffering is, at
one and the same time, the expression of
real suffering and a protest against real
suffering. Religion is the sign of the oppressed
creature, the heart of a heartless world,
and the soul of soulless conditions. It
is the opium of the people."
Friedrich Nietzsche:
German philosopher Friedrich Nietzsche (1844-1900)
produced critiques of religion, morality,
philosophy and contemporary society. His
"Thus Spoke Zarathustra," (1883
- 1885), a philosophical work of fiction,
imitated the style of the New Testament
and the Platonic dialogues. Nietzsche offered
interpretation of Western literary and philosophical
traditions through the character of Zarathustra
(a reference to the historic figure behind
Zoroastrianism, an ancient religion born
in what is now Iran). His "The Antichrist,
Curse on Christianity" (1888), attacked
the morals of Christianity. Though he gave
some respect to Jesus and some Christian
elements, Nietzsche proposed an "Anti-Christian"
morality that included reframing the perspective
of all values. In "The Gay Science,"
he ranked one's life as the sole consideration
when evaluating how one should act. The
book is best known for Nietzsche's statement:
"God is dead. God remains dead. And
we have killed him."
Issues today: The
pursuit of philosophy can bring greater
depth to discussion and understanding of
current issues such as end-of-life debates,
the death penalty, legal concepts, and the
role of democracy and religion in society.
Both philosophical and religious ideas are
used to define human values and ethics -
from the environment to poverty - and how
we define our responsibilities in the world,
human motivation and the human will. Those
interested in philosophy can examine the
beliefs, ideas, values, rituals and traditions
that have shaped various cultures. They
may also want to study the role of philosophy
today, on an individual and global scale
- what needs it fills, how one defines "philosopher"
in the day of blogging and pundits, and
how it can reflect the new technologies
and ethical issues of the modern age.
International
Journal for Philosophy of Religion
Journal
of Religious Ethics
Journal
of Ritual Studies
Journal
of Society and Christian Ethics
Science
and Christian Belief
Faith
and Philosophy
American
Academy of Religion Syllabi Search
Philosophy
of Religion
Brad Hadaway
Georgetown College
Philosophy
of Religion
Paul Leclerc
Community College of Rhode Island
Philosophy
of Religion
Chris Heathwood
University of Colorado
Philosophy
of Religion
Dr. C. David Grant
Texas Christian University
Philosophy
of Religion
Richard Taylor
University of South Florida
Eastern
Philosophy and Religion
Eric S. Nelson
University of Massachusetts Lowell
Philosophy
and the Study of Religion
Jeffrey Stout
Princeton
Association of Muslim Social Scientists of North America
Christian Academics
Evangelical Philosophical Society
Evangelical Theological Society
Mockler Center for Faith and Ethics in the Workplace
Society of Christian Philosophers
• See a full list of professional associations and resources here.
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