Philosophy Of Religion Research Articles

From Philosophy of Religion to Philosophy of Religious Experience: On New Tendencies in French Phenomenology of Religion

Contemporary thinking on religion is confronted with the challenge of shifting from a ‘philosophy of religion’ to a ‘philosophy of religious experience’. This challenge, on which the common future of philosophy and theology depends, is not to draw a line between the two, but rather to cross that very line. Crossing the boundary between philosophy and theology, which is what is being discussed here, means transcending its naive geometric understanding in order to take up the old task of thinking in a new way. This is a challenge to both philosophy and theology because it is an existential, or rather an experiential, task. It is about a specific experience and a specific way of life that emerges from it, which must be described in philosophy and at the same time elaborated in theology. This is perhaps the greatest challenge to religious thought. The most representative recent attempts to meet this challenge will be traced below. As we shall see, the best method for both philosophical and theological description of religious experience seems to be phenomenology. The latter allows a free exploration of this experience, while avoiding the trap of falling into the limitations set by either philosophy or theology unduly separated by the boundaries set by a conventional academic rigor. The problem of this article is the quest of exploring religious experience itself: the possibility of such an undertaking, its method, and its future. The considerations presented beneath will lead us to conclude that religious thought, to survive and develop further, needs a specifically understood conversion: its future lies, namely, in converting to experience.

The mythic narratives of Candomblé Nagô and what they imply about its Supreme Being

Abstract In this article, I explore the mythic narratives of the Yoruba-derived tradition of Candomblé Nagô to discern the attributes of its Supreme Being. I introduce Candomblé, offering an overview of its central beliefs and practices, and then present theological perspectives on the Supreme Being in African Traditional Religion as a basis for comparison with the myths I will examine. I consider the primary creation myths of Candomblé, emphasizing references to the tradition's Supreme Being and, analysing these myths, I argue that Candomblé's Supreme Being, as depicted in these narratives, amounts to a limited god. This portrayal accounts for the absence of a problem of evil within the tradition. It suggests the moral ambivalence of Candomblé's Supreme Being and other high deities, as well as the world itself. This exploration sheds light on a lesser-explored tradition and its unique approach to philosophical dilemmas, distinct from the predominantly theistic framework of most philosophy of religion, and evinces that philosophizing through immersion in myths should involve appreciating the complexities and richness inherent in these forms of life, free from the imposition of external assumptions or biases.

The Impact of Knowledge on the Interpretation of Ethics

The overall theme of this article is the relationship between knowledge, religion, and ethics in Islam. The first goal is to show how the concept of knowledge has been understood in relation to religion and intellectual life and what the relationship is between universal, philosophical, and religious knowledge. The second goal is to show, using examples from Islamic philosophy of religion, how a certain concept of knowledge affects the interpretation of morals and Islamic ethics. This implies, among other things, a discussion of epistemology, the interpretation of the Qur'an, and the definition of ethical principles. A general assumption is that the definition of a Muslim as a moral agent – which is considered one of the central issues of the Qur'an, Sunnah, and Islam in general – is not given as an unequivocal category, but is subject to constant discussion that takes place at different levels and areas. This is especially evident in modern Islamic philosophical-theological discourse, where Fazlur Rahman, Mohammed Arkoun, Hassan Hanafi, Abdolkarim Soroush, and Amina Wadud are only some of the important actors of the discussion.

Analytic patristics

AbstractGeorges Florovsky, in 1936, called for a revival of the teaching of the Church Fathers. At the same time, Fr. Joseph Bocheński formulated the program for the renewal of Thomism by means of formal logic. In this paper, I propose to integrate these two projects. Analytic Patristics aims at expressing and developing patristic thought with the tools of analytic philosophy. The broad program of the logic of religion formulated by Bocheński included semiotics, methodology, and the formal logic of religion. I present here three examples of the integration of analytic philosophy and patristics in these three areas. I discuss first Basil Lourié’s paraconsistent interpretation of Dionysius the Areopagite’s theory of the divine names, then Richard Swinburne’s efforts to revive Orthodox natural theology, and finally Beau Branson’s reconstruction of Gregory of Nyssa’s metaphysics of the Trinity. These examples perfectly illustrate how analytic philosophy can contribute to the development of patristics, and how the tradition of the Church Fathers can inspire contemporary analytic philosophy of religion.

The Concept of Spirituality in the Philosophy of Religion of D. V. Pivovarov

The Concept of Spirituality in the Philosophy of Religion of D. V. Pivovarov

ФИЛОСОФСКОЕ ПРОСТРАНСТВО Д. В. ПИВОВАРОВА

The relevance of the study of D.V. Pivovarov’s work is connected with the fact that today it is important to realise the achievements of domestic science, including in the field of philosophy, which carries the worldview meanings of the time. The purpose of the article is to show the scale and depth of the philosophical space created by the jubilee, as the object of his comprehension became various spheres of human life – from science to religion; to reveal the influence of the personal qualities of the thinker on the formation of the problems and features of the philosophical approach of D.V.’s scientific school «Synthetic Paradigm in Philosophy». The article uses the method of analyzing those areas of philosophical knowledge, which are developed in the scientific school of D.V.; his work is presented in a historical perspective; the method of constructing a psychological portrait to present him as a creative personality is used. As a result of the conducted research we come to the following conclusions. D. V.’s contribution to the development of theoretical philosophy is undoubted – he is one of the few Russian philosophers who substantiated the need to rehabilitate ontology in post-Soviet philosophy; he made a breakthrough in the field of gnoseology by introducing two types of cognition – «alienation» and «assimilation» and their corresponding types of truth – external/epistemic and internal/existential. The originality of the principle of synthetism in the scientific school created by him is connected with the possibility of applying the principles of theoretical philosophy to the philosophical issues of diverse spheres of human activity – art, science, law, technology, religion, and others. The innovative ideas expressed by DV in the field of philosophy of religion should be especially noted. The practical significance of the conducted research is seen in the fact that it can attract the interest of the teaching corps to the methodology developed by the scientific school of D. V. «Synthetic paradigm in philosophy», which allows consciously mastering the most diverse spheres of human life activity.

Thoughts on Reading Kierkegaard in a Pluralist Society

Soren Kierkegaard’s Lutheran existentialism represents a distinctively postmetaphysical philosophy of religion, focused in particular on a Christian vision of ethical authenticity. His philosophy continues to pose challenging questions for postmetaphysical philosophers in contemporary pluralistic settings. Focusing on specific works of Kierkegaard, this essay develops three such questions: (1) Can philosophy in a postmetaphysical vein still give advice for the pursuit of the good life, today’s diversity of life styles and values notwithstanding? (2) How can a postmetaphysical philosophy relate to the ethical teachings and truth claims of religious doctrines? (3) Is postmetaphysical philosophy still capable of an “upbuilding and awakening” discourse that can induce and stabilize an ethical self-consciousness?

Logical Pluralism and Paradoxical Assertions in the Philosophy of Religion

AbstractMany authors show how useful logic can be as a tool for building theories that can account for problems in the philosophy of religion, such as paradoxical assertions. As a consequence, one's philosophy of logic is crucial as well, since it determines which logics, from the set of available and constructible logics, one can use to build a theory. In this paper, we present the relatively recent debate between logical pluralism and monism because the positions in this debate determine which logic(s) can, with justification, be applied to build a theory that addresses problems in the philosophy of religion. We begin by presenting the problem of paradoxical assertions and the debate over logical pluralism that bears on the addressing paradoxical assertions. We then canvass strategies for arguing in favor of logical monism, and pluralism; ultimately, we conclude that the Western tradition has reached a stalemate on this issue. We then turn our attention to the potential for Indian religious traditions to contribute to the debate. We present the five‐step‐syllogism from Nyāya‐Hindu philosophy, the four corners of reasoning from Buddhist philosophy, and the seven‐fold theory of predication from Jaina philosophy. The upshot of our presentation is to lay the groundwork for cross‐traditional logical debate by identifying the ways in which Indian discussions of debate and dialogue relate to modern approaches to logic and the philosophy of logic.

COMPREHENSION OF THE “RELIGIOUS REVOLUTION” OF THE 1960–1980s IN THE WORKS OF ALAN WATTS AND ROBERT BELLAH

The purpose of the article is a historical and philosophical analysis of the English-language material devoted to the phenomenon of “religious revolution” in the second half of the 20th century. The relevance is due to the need to fill in the “white spots” (analysis of ideas from the materials not translated into Russian) in the study of the history of foreign religion philosophy of the 20th century, by supplementing the domestic historical and philosophical discourse with the analysis of Alan Watts’ “Beyond Theology”, Robert N. Bellah’s “New Religious Consciousness and the Crisis of Modernity” and works of his colleagues, which are valuable for exploring the philosophical foundations and explaining the causes of the “religious revolution” of the 1960–1980s. This topic can also be of value as a support for clarifying other little-studied fragments in the world historical and philosophical process.

FREUD’S VIEW ON THE ORIGIN OF RELIGION AND ITS CRITICISM ACCORDING TO ‘AQL AND NAQL

The origin of religion is one of the important issues in the philosophy of religion and new theology (kâlâm), which has always been the source of suspicion among some materialists and atheists. The answer to this question determines the identity of religion and reveals its divine or human aspect. From the perspective of God-believing thinkers, religion has a divine origin and has been legislated by God and Prophets for the guidance of people. On the other hand, materialists and atheist philosophers consider religion an estimate of human will, lust, and ignorance, and instead of a heavenly origin, they believe that religion has an earthly origin, and religion cannot be attributed to an origin beyond this material world and material man. Meanwhile, Sigmund Freud (1856-1939) sees the origin of religion in human complexes and instincts, and beyond this, he does not consider any other origin for religion. In this article, with a descriptive-argumentative method and an analytical approach, an attempt is made to investigate and criticize Freud's point of view on the origin of religion. Freud's point of view in terms of reason (‘aql) and inspired transmission (Quranic and hadith principles of Islam, naql) faces some challenges and impasses, such as the inexplicability of the mechanism that instinct of the origin of religion, the mythology of father-son relationship and its uniqueness in Christianity, the irrationality of believing in totemism, ethnic and limited view, as well as Freud's view on the origin of religion. This view conflicts with many Quranic verses and human nature.

Pantheism from the Perspective of Wittgensteinian Nonoverlapping Magisteria (WNOMA)

This essay examines pantheism within the framework of the ‘faith and reason’ field in the philosophy of religion, with an emphasis on the question of the relationship between pantheism and empirical–scientific rationality. I address this question from what I call the Wittgensteinian Nonoverlapping Magisteria (WNOMA) approach to religion and science. WNOMA affirms a categorial difference between religious and scientific language and attitudes. This difference is interpreted with the help of Wittgenstein’s distinction between religious and scientific beliefs and van Fraassen’s distinction between religious and empiricist stances. This means that WNOMA is antievidentialist regarding religious beliefs and sees the experiential and instinctive aspects of religion as more fundamental than the systematic–intellectual aspect. Part of the variety in contemporary pantheism relates to the question of whether the emphasis is on the experiential–spiritual side of pantheism or its intellectual side, i.e., whether pantheism is ‘hot’ or ‘cold’. I examine a few telling examples: Spinoza, Einstein, the World Pantheism Movement and a recent awe-some argument for pantheism by Ryan Byerly. The main contribution of this paper is a critical reading of these versions of pantheism from a WNOMA perspective, through which I hope to establish the plausibility and show some of the persuasive force of the WNOMA approach to pantheism, focusing on the relation of pantheism to scientific rationality on the one hand and felt experience on the other. I argue that hotter kinds of pantheism can be intellectually virtuous if they find a way to combine the empiricist stance and pantheist religious stance, even without a developed philosophical or theological system. I also argue that colder and philosophically rigorous pantheism can be problematic if it assumes religious evidentialism, neglects the experiential part of pantheism in favor of intellectualism or/and confuses the spheres of science and religion.

What is the Philosophy We Need?

The study provides an overview of the discussion “What is the philosophy we need?”, that took place in the frames of “Modern Ontology - XI: Ontology and Religion” International Scientific and Practical Conference. The discussion spread around three main areas of philosophy teaching: philosophy as the history of philosophy, philosophy as the basis for the worldview, and philosophy as a system-categorical knowledge about the world as a whole. Supporters of the first position demonstrated the content diversity of philosophy, often emphasizing the teacher’s right to choose historical and philosophical material, this position caused criticism from other conference participants, whose main argument was the erosion of the philosophy content. Regarding the second position in the frames of discussion, its participants either denied the involvement of philosophy in the worldview formation, or believed that philosophy is the basis for the worldview, and the task of philosophy, in particular, is to form the worldview of students. As arguments, supporters of this approach cited the need for the philosophy in the transformation of modern spiritual life in Russia. This approach was in harmony with the position of the discussion participants, who advocated a system-categorical approach in philosophy teaching. This approach supposed the combination of abstract section (Ontology) with a specific section, where it would be necessary to consider the three following sections of philosophy: 1 - philosophy of nature, 2 - philosophy of socio-anthropological reality, 3 - philosophy of religion. At the same time, the supporters of this approach suggested using the substantive part of Soviet philosophy as a basis, which needs to be transformed taking into account the achievements of modern knowledge.

Eric Mascall and the making of an Anglican Thomist, 1937–1945

Abstract This article examines the early career of E. L. (Eric) Mascall, Anglican Catholic priest, theologian and philosopher of religion, late of Christ Church Oxford and King’s College London. Mascall spent the years between 1937 and 1945 teaching at Lincoln Theological College, in a time of acute political and intellectual unsettlement and (in due course) world war. Mascall rebelled against the previously dominant liberalism of the 1930s while also rejecting both Barthian Protestantism and certain currents in Orthodox theology, both of which were products of the same turmoil. The article documents his turn instead to the natural theology of Thomas Aquinas, and examines both its sources and its particular articulation in Mascall’s work. Even though relatively few in England followed Mascall down this particular path, his formation in the 1930s and 1940s reveals much about the temper of the moment.

Notes on the Cambridge translation of Kant’s Religion within the Boundaries of Mere Reason

This article mainly discusses translation issues in the two Cambridge editions of Kant’s Religion, while engaging in a briefer discussion of Pluhar’s translation of the same work. The aim is to correct single errors as well as patterns of questionable translation, and to do so guided by criteria of consistency in relation to Kant’s use of key terms. I argue that the English translations have contributed to misinterpretations of Kant’s philosophy of religion, although I make only passing references to the secondary scholarship.

Konsep Lera-Wulan Tana-Ekan Orang Lembata dalam Tinjauan Filsafat Agama Hegel: Suatu Upaya Berdialog

Faith and culture are often considered as interesting areas of topics for the academic discussions. They can become fruitful dialogue partners in the search of truth. Each area refers to the sources of truth at different levels compared to others outside of their areas. This article is an effort to reconcile the truth claims on the ontological and empirical levels by way of dialogue. The dialogue raised here brings together religion in Hegel’s philosophy and the cultural belief of the Lembata people called Lera-Wulan Tana-Ekan. Both are on different paths, one is a series of philosophical ideas while the other is a local wisdom from a certain part of Indonesia, particularly among the Lembata people in East Nusa Tenggara. This article aims to elevate the claims of truth that exist in a belief from a certain culture to the public domain of philosophy. The method used in this writing is dialectical by analyzing whether the ideas in Hegel’s philosophy of religion are in line with the beliefs held by the Lembata people. The belief in the universe, the highest morality, and the origin of creation are analyzed in relation to the movement of the Spirit discussed by Hegel in the natural religion, the religion of art, and the revealed religion.

The Unity of Religious Experience: An Analytic Reading of Friedrich Schleiermacher’s Second Speech On Religion

Abstract In this paper, I present a conception of individual religiousness in terms of religious experience. Using ideas of the early Friedrich Schleiermacher, I will claim that religious experiences are contemplative experiences of the totality of being. This understanding of religious experiences presents an alternative to how religious experience is often epistemologically thought about in the more contemporary analytic philosophy of religion. Furthermore, it has systematic advantages: It can construe religious plurality in terms of different ways to experience the totality of being, it stays neutral to metaphysical and moral debates such as whether there is a God whose laws we should obey, and it allows for an explanation of how religious intuitions and religious emotions relate to one another as well as of why religiousness and art often go hand in hand. Even though understanding religiousness in terms of contemplative experience also bears revisionary potential, I will discuss how more doxastic elements of religious people’s lives can be reintegrated into this picture.

Analytic theology

AbstractAnalytic theology is often described as something like the application of analytic philosophy's tools to theological studies, but what this means can be unclear. In this paper, I offer a primer on analytic theology which clarifies this common description of the field. Particularly, following Sarah Coakley, I sketch an account of analytic theology on which it consists of a relation of familial resemblance. That is, analytic theologians are those who investigate theological loci in ways akin to those seen in contemporary analytic philosophy. In so doing, I also briefly describe how analytic theology is conceptually distinct from both philosophical theology and analytic philosophy of religion. I then provide a threefold typology for understanding analytic theology's literary landscape whereby its practitioners can generally be understood to produce works which are either philosophically‐inclined, theologically‐inclined, or mixed in their inclination. Finally, I offer a brief survey of new frontiers being explored by analytic theologians.

Arguments Favoring Epistemic Justification of Religious Belief: A Critique

In the epistemological trajectory of Philosophy of Religion, contemporary religious epistemologists seem to have undertaken the task of attestation of religious beliefs, their defence, ascertainment and justification, resorting to sanctioned methods of epistemic justification. The models of epistemic justification of religious beliefs they have adopted were intended to bring in a kind of objectivity into religious realm and make meaningful assertions on shared experiences. The acclamation of such esteemed epistemic attempts should be viewed as feverish attempts made by religious epistemologists to subject religious beliefs to standard epistemic treatment. In this paper, three contemporary models of justification of religious beliefs by three outstanding religious epistemologists, namely, Alvin Plantinga whose theory of proper basicality and the warrant, the epistemological holism with the application of Lakatosian principle in Philosophy of Science by Nancey Murphy and the cumulative case evidentialism by Richard Swinburne are critically analyzed using the parameters of logical consistency, methodological acumen, norms of belief formation, the role of subjectivity, features of religious language and the hermeneutic dynamics.

PHENOMENOLOGY OF DIVINE REVELATION: THEOLOGY AND PHILOSOPHY IN DIALOGUE

AbstractAlthough the relationship between theology and philosophy is a perennial issue in the history of thought, recent debates surrounding the so‐called theological turn of continental phenomenology have created a new space in which it can be explored from a fresh perspective. In this vein, I propose three theses concerning the relationship between theology and philosophy of religion, with particular focus on the phenomenon of divine revelation. First, a philosophy of religion that ignores theology's claim about divine self‐revelation will remain incomplete and unsatisfactory, at least from the perspective of a Christian theology which begins with the faith in God's self‐revelation in one particular human person. Second, a theology that does not acknowledge the possibility of philosophical reflections on the human aspect of divine revelation will not be able to escape blind dogmatism, but rather will isolate itself from the academic community. Third, and finally, despite the concerns of both parties, a dialogue between theology and philosophy centred on the phenomena of revelation can develop into mutually critical and mutually constructive interactions.

Speaking of God in the Realm of Aesthetics: Religion in Hölderlin

This article considers the work and reception of Friedrich Hölderlin with regard to the impact of German Idealism on religion. To this end, two questions must be clarified in advance: can Hölderlin, who is known primarily as a poet, also be placed in the context of German Idealism, and does his work have a significant relationship to religion? I argue that both questions should be answered in the affirmative. Ernst Cassirer’s study Hölderlin und der deutsche Idealismus (1918/19) clearly laid the foundation for appreciating Hölderlin’s place within German Idealism, and the question of God is a leitmotif of Hölderlin’s entire oeuvre. I seek to trace Hölderlin’s influence on understanding religion in three steps: First, I want to show that Hölderlin, in a critical continuation of Kant, does not consider religion solely within the matrix of practical reason, but brings into play the dimension of aesthetics. By situating religion in relation to the two focal points of ethics and aesthetics, a fundamental question of the philosophy of religion is addressed. Second, I employ several examples to show the various conceptions of the divine that the poet elucidates and juxtaposes in his work (Christian motifs, Greek mythology, pantheistic concepts, etc.). This leads to a philosophy of religion that is not determined by dogmatic boundaries. Third, I point out how religion plays a major role in the reception of Hölderlin.