Philosophy of Religion

Philosophy of Religion

Philosophy of religion can be broadly described as an inquiry into problems involved in religion or originated by religion from a philosophical point of view. Since, however, there are various understandings of religion and of philosophy and of the relation between them the field of philosophy of religion has become vast and varying. As a separate subject it originates from the European enlightenment, but its content can be traced back to the early stages of European philosophy, and there are rich traditions related to Hinduism, Buddhism, and Chinese religions. Islamic philosophers have also played an important role in the development of the subject. The focus of this entry lies on the Western philosophical tradition and its interplay with the Jewish and Christian religions.

The competence of reason. There is a widespread view according to which human reason lacks all ability to form any adequate idea of God. In the twentieth century the incompetence of reason in religious questions was clearly stated by the Swiss Protestant theologian Karl Barth (1886–1968) and his followers. The existence and actions of God can only be adequately dealt with in answer to the revealed word of God. Accordingly, religion and science belong to quite different sections of human activity, and ordinary philosophy is of minor importance compared to true religion. The bankruptcy of reason can hardly be defended by reasonable arguments, but it has an anchorage in feelings and experiences from various periods of the Christian tradition. The dominant view in Christian and Jewish traditions is that human reason is important for clarification of religious questions and that philosophy of religion provides a meeting ground for religion and science. A string of mysticism, however, often accompanies the religious thinking among those who defend the competence of human reason in the realm of religion.

Analysis of religious language. The use of symbols, metaphors, and analogies in religious language has attracted much philosophical interest, Thomas Aquinas's (c. 1225–1274) doctrine of analogy being an example. Analysis of language has been a main theme in modern philosophy of religion. Similarities to, and differences from, scientific language have been discussed. An analytic philosopher like Alfred J. Ayer denied the theoretical meaningfulness of religious language, but this was defended by John Hick, for example. A noncognitive view was developed by Richard B. Braithwaite, seeing God-talk as a commitment to an agapeistic form of life. Similar theories, as represented by D. Z. Phillips, have been developed on the basis of Ludwig Wittgenstein's later philosophy.

God in philosophical systems. The idea of God provides a cornerstone in the philosophical construction of the world by Plato and Aristotle. The influence from Plato and Aristotle in Western religious traditions can hardly be underestimated. Aristotle especially has often been a common point of reference both for scientists and theologians. Muslim philosophers, such as Averroës (1126–1198), brought the Aristotelian heritage to Christian scholasticism. Many arguments frequently used in later philosophy and relevant to the religion-science discussion are presented in the dialogue De Natura Deorum of Cicero (106–43 b.c.e.). In the further development of European philosophy, different concepts of God have played a decisive role, and the western philosophical tradition is hardly understandable without noticing the influence of Jewish and Christian theology. To the classical heritage from philosophy of religion belong Aquinas's philosophical arguments for the existence of God, the so-called Five Ways, the most influential being the cosmological and the teleological arguments.

René Descartes (1596–1650), who had great influence on the rise of modern science, offered many arguments for the existence of God, including the ontological one. An interesting pantheistic concept of God is important in Baruch Spinoza's (1632–1677) philosophy. He equates God and nature. A philosophical discussion that is especially fruitful for elucidating the relationship between religion and science followed the rise of so-called physico-theology and deism in the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries, its peak being Bishop George Berkeley's Alciphron (1732), Bishop Butler's Analogy (1736), and David Hume's Dialogues Concerning Natural Religion (1779). An idea of God separated from the theoretical and scientific realm is found in the philosophy of Immanuel Kant (1724–1804). God is a practical postulate, necessary for the development of morals. In twentieth-century philosophy, God as a principle involved in the development of nature can be encountered in Alfred North Whitehead's (1861–1947) complicated system.

Some modern philosophers of religion, including Frederick Copleston, Bernard Lonergan, and Richard Swinburne, argue that the traditional arguments for the existence of God can give a higher probability to the God hypothesis. Other modern philosophers, following Søren Kierkegaard (1813–1855), see the parallel between belief in God and a scientific hypothesis as completely misleading. According to Gordon Kaufman, the religious belief in God proceeds from an encounter with the holy, or, as William Alston argues, it can be founded on direct god-experiences. Inspired by the later Wittgenstein many philosophers have argued against all attempts to see doctrines of God as analogous to scientific theories.

Philosophical criticism of religion. The tradition of philosophical criticism of religion is often related to scientific development. It has been argued by Karl Marx (1818–1883), Sigmund Freud (1856–1939), and Emile Durkheim (1858–1917), among others, that the world can be understood without religious suppositions and the existence of religious ideas is explained by scientific arguments that contain no religious suppositions. A considerable part of the critical philosophy of religion, as represented by Hume, Kant, and Bertrand Russell (1872–1970), consists of criticism of the positive arguments indicated above. There are also classical debates focusing on contradictions in religious systems of doctrines; the best known is the relation between belief in a good God and the apparent evils of the world, as discussed by Gottfried Wilhelm Leibniz (1646–1716) and Voltaire (1694–1778). Since the 1970s, the religious consequences of the new evolutionary biology have been seriously debated, with some, like biologist Richard Dawkins, stating their atheistic implications, while others, including theologian Keith Ward, argue their compatibility.

Philosophical tools in religious thinking. The development of religious doctrines from the church fathers and onward is highly dependent on philosophical concepts. The tools from different branches of analytical philosophy have been used by Basil Mitchell and Antony Flew to clarify religious reasoning in the twentieth century. The same holds true for existentialism and other branches of contemporary philosophy, including postmodernism.

Many key questions in debates about the relation between religion and science emerge from the various fields of philosophy of religion presented above. Is it reasonable, for example, to seek a coherent model of the world, or is it impossible to advance further than developing good linguistic tools for different activities in life, such as prayer or physics? Can one base a worldview solely on scientific reasoning, and does it then contain or exclude the idea of a creator? Are there points of access to the real world other than purely empirical observation—religious and moral experiences for example? What happens when coherence is used as a criterion of truth in the totality of scientific, religious, moral, and aesthetic ideas?

See also Aristotle; AverroËs; Cosmological Argument; Descartes, RenÉ; Language; Ontological Argument; Pantheism; Plato; Teleological Argument; Theodicy; Thomas Aquinas

Bibliography

flew, antony, and macintyre, alasdair, eds. new essays in philosophical theology. new york: macmillan, 1955.

hick, john. philosophy of religion. englewood cliffs, n.j.: prentice hall, 1973.

phillips, d. z. faith after foundationalism. new york: routledge, 1988.

smart, ninian. historical selections in the philosophy of religion. new york: harper, 1962.

swinburne, richard. is there a god? london: oxford university press, 1996.

tracy, david. the analogical imagination: christian theology and the culture of pluralism. new york: crossroad, 1981.

anders jeffner