The Philosophy of Religion

Abstract

In the last chapter we examined some of the central concepts and methods of the natural sciences, such as ‘explanation’, ‘hypothesis’ and ‘theory’. The philosophy of religion is concerned similarly with certain concepts which are fundamental to the religious practices and beliefs of mankind. This brings us at once to the question of definition: what is meant by ‘religion’ and ‘religious’. The major religions of the world differ greatly, and from earliest times there have of course been many other faiths with their own special features. The Babylonians, Egyptians, Greeks and Romans believed, for the most part, in many Gods (they were ‘polytheists’). Judaism, Christianity, and Islam, however, are ‘monotheistic’ religions; their adherents believe in one supreme deity. In Hinayana Buddhism the concept of a personal God is absent. In trying to define the ‘essence’ of religion various writers have tended to emphasize different aspects or functions. Thus religion may be seen as involving a feeling of dependence on a higher ‘power’, as providing an ultimate foundation for morality, or as encapsulating the ‘truth’ about the universe and man’s place in it. However, most philosophers today would probably accept that an attempt to find a single definition embracing all religions is likely to be as unsuccessful as the attempt to discover what games as diverse as football, tennis, hurling, chess, and patience have in common.