The Intersection of Religion and Philosophy
Studies in Religion is often referred to as a multi-disciplinary field of inquiry. To what extent does this statement accurately reflect the field?
Religion refers to set of beliefs and dogmas that can define the relationship between that of human being and that of divinity. Most of the religions in the world have developed from that of revelation which is based on that of exemplary history pertaining to a nation. Studies in relation to religion can be thought of to be a multi-disciplinary field and it comprises aspects of different kind of studies. This essay discusses regarding the fact that why religion can be considered to be a multi-disciplinary field and whether the statement helps in the accurate reflection of the field.
Religion can be said to be related to the disciple of philosophy as it discusses about the different kinds of philosophical traditions and the different kinds of intellectual ventures that the human beings undertake. Potent questions in relation to existentiality arise in that of the human life and it compels an individual in thinking about the meaning of the reality[1]. Philosophy delves into these aspects and pursues many kinds of philosophical questions. In the same manner, religion also delves deep into the aspects of philosophy and religion helps in answering important questions regarding the mysteries of the universe. Religion aims at generating interpretations in relation to all kinds of religious phenomena that spans from that of the mundane to that of the sublime. Philosophy also aims at answering the hidden mysteries pertaining to the universe and philosophy explains the significance of meaning and truth. Religion can help an individual in assessing himself in a better manner and in the similar manner philosophy helps in unravelling important answers relating to the journey of the human being[2]. Both religion and philosophy play an important role in making man optimistic and religion helps in providing religious data to that of philosophy. Religion evolves from the teachings of a famous prophet and in the similar strain philosophy emerges from the sayings of famous leaders. Religion helps in preaching a definite manner pertaining to life which is on the basis of philosophy in relation to life. Both religion and philosophy can help in making man optimistic and they show man the true path. Religion comprises of set of beliefs in the unseen power that is God and in the similar manner philosophy consists of set of principles.
The Role of Theology in Religious Studies
Theology refers to the critical study of that of the divine and it mainly concerns itself with the deity. Theology starts by assuming that divine exists in the universe in some kind of form like that of physical or that of social realities. Theology deals with the questions that are directed towards that of transcendence. It incorporates the doctrinal issues and it arises from that of faith. Religion can be said to be similar to theology as it helps in the interpretation of faith. Theology can be said to be thinking about religion from that of within the religion. Religion comprises of a set of beliefs that can be said to be the end-result of that of theological conclusions. The different theologies will give rise to different kinds of practices in the society. There are different religions that the human beings abide by and each of these religions have different kinds of practices associated with it. In the similar manner, differing theologies pave the path for various practices within the society. Islamic theology can be stated to be diverse as it comprises of different schools of the jurisprudential thought within that of the Sunni tradition[3]. There is a thin line between that of theology and that of religious practice. Local culture arises from that of years of traditions or from that of cultural exchange. The traditions in due course of time are identified as a religion and theology is conceived of to be an afterthought. The study of the religions depends on theologians and they can help in getting an accurate sense regarding what the religion teaches. Theologians look forward to religious studies so that they can get the “social science” perspective in relation to their faith or that of another faith. It can hence be stated that the different areas overlap. The theologians take recourse to different kinds of analysis along with argument for understanding, explaining and testing different kinds of religious topics. In relation to that of philosophy of ethics the arguments assume the form of previously resolved question and analogies are used for drawing new inferences in the case of the new situations.
Science and religion are indicative of two cultural identities within the world and he work of famous scientists like that of Copernicus and Darwin prompts questions that has huge implications on that of humanity. There is a deep relation between that of science and that of religion. Both science and religion can be stated to be complex cultural endeavour that differ across that of different cultures[4]. A large part of the technical innovations before that of scientific revolution was achieved by the societies that was organized by that of religious traditions. Elements pertaining to scientific method was pioneered by that of pagan along with Christian scholars. It has been stated that science comprises of paradigms that rises from that of cultural traditions. It can be stated to be similar to secular perspective in relation to religion. The physicists have pointed out that methods pertaining to science along with religion can be said to be based on a common pattern. Science is not only about factual statements and the cosmologists speak in a meaningful manner regarding the existence of the other universe. Religion also goes beyond that of values along with morals. Science can be stated to be a cultural institution that needs a unique soil so that they can flourish. Modern science can be stated to be child of that of European civilization on account of the contribution of Christian faith to that of Western culture. It has been stated that Christian world has given rise to the experimental method of that of science. Christianity perceives the world as being divine and as the natural product of the transcendent creator who brought religion into being. The world can be stated to be a rational space that can be explored and discovered. The scientific enterprise is on the basis of assumptions that cannot be proved by using the scientific method but by the guarantee of the Christian world view. The different assumptions of science are that of law pertaining to logic and nature of that of the external world. Science exists with the help of these assumptions and the assumptions can be proved in the scientific method[5]. The philosophical assumptions can be stated to be a part of the Christian world. Religion can be said to be important for science and it provides the conceptual framework within which science exists. Science can be nurtured only with the help of religion. There was a view in ancient times that sky used to rest on that of the shoulders of Atlas. The medieval Church condemned Galileo for believing that Earth used to move around that of the Sun. Scientific evidence was able to falsify this notion and the Church finally admitted their mistake.
The Relationship between Science and Religion
History can be said to be an important tool that helps an individual in understanding the situation and establishing of identity. The different religious groups have acted as producers in relation to the historical narratives. The religious groups have from time to time made use of historical narratives so that they can construct their identities[6]. Many thinks of the United States to be a Christian nation that was founded on the basis of Christian principles. Religion plays an important role in that of the American public life and religion acts as the cornerstone in relation to American societal life. When a culture falls prey to the aspect of materialism then religion has played an important role in bringing the society out of the dismal state[7]. The wars of history along with that of religion are intertwined and the study of the history cannot be devoid of the aspect of religion. The religions have played an important role in changing the face of history and thus there exists a deep relation between that of history and that of religion.
Religious philosophy can be said to be a multidisciplinary comparative enquiry that can rise above that of disciplinary parochialism along with covert religious bias that plagues some of the traditional forms of religion. Religion is not simply directed towards that of the identity interest of a religious community but it can assist in the process of gaining self-understanding that can enable an individual in gaining deep understanding of the mysteries of the universe.
The word inquiry means solving the problem by making use of a rational procedure which helps in providing an answer to that of the problem. Ideal pertaining to truth seeking is embedded within the idea of that of inquiry even when the inquiry is infallible. Truth-seeking has become controversial in relation to contemporary western philosophy that directs the assertions pertaining to rational truth seeking has become uncommon. There is a visible ideal in relation to inquiry of the sciences or that of history. Philosophy pertaining to science along with historiography have helped in disclosing the truth. Loss of confidence pertaining to truth-seeking inquiry can be said to be the step-child of that of big-question philosophy. The creative philosophers were sure about the constructive models and they made definitive claims for those models [8]. The quest of big-question philosophy needs large scale interpretations that makes use of vague ideas that can help in linking the different levels and kinds of phenomena. It can be said that there is logic in relation to vagueness but it is applied at the semantic level of the concepts as compared to that of syllogistic analysis[9].
The Importance of History in Religious Studies
Kant’s offering pertaining to parallel arguments marks the birth of that of comparative philosophy on behalf of that of a negative conclusion. The problem is created on account of the fact that inquiries are concerned with that of transcendental assertions that lays claim regarding what is beyond the field of that of possible experience. At that of the logical level, the presentation of Kant about the antimonies helps in abstracting the arguments from the point of view of modelling effort that can produce them. Surrendering of the foundationalist aspiration proves to be a boon for that of big question philosophical enquiry. Nonfoundationalist approach provides invitations to the philosopher that can help them in exploring the philosophical territory for locating the resources that can help in correcting the hypotheses[10]. All the streams of that of nonfoundationalist philosophy can help in resisting the discussion of the metaphysics. Integrated knowledge of the natural, social along with the cognitive sciences can change the prospect in relation to big-question philosophy. At present, scientific picture in relation to the natural world can be said to be not seamless but a semi-consistent patchwork of that of robust theories. Scientific view of the world has serious weakness in handling aspects related to reality which is beyond the reach of that of physical sciences. The scientific picture pertaining to the natural world hold great amount of promise for that of big question philosophy.
The modern era has seen the birth of that of comparative philosophy and big-question philosophy has adopted a cross-cultural aspect. The comparison of the answers of the big philosophical questions can give rise to inference-to-best explanation argument[11]. Direct inference approach can be exemplified with the help of cosmological argument pertaining to existence of God. Religion deals with the aspects of philosophy and it can help in answering questions related to mysteries of universe[12]. Religion can generate the interpretations in relation to all aspects of the religious phenomena from mundane to sublime[13]. Theology is aimed at that of transcendence and it incorporates issues related to that of faith. Religion and theology are similar as both deal with interpretation in relation to faith[14]. There exists deep relationship between science and religion. They are complex cultural endeavours that differ across that of different cultures. Technical innovation was accomplished by the societies which was organized with the help of religious traditions. History can help an individual in establishing the identity. Different religious groups act as the producer of that of the historical narratives. The religious groups make use of historical narratives for the construction of identities. Religion can hence be called a multi-disciplinary field in relation to enquiry and the statement rightly reflects the field
Comparative Inquiry and Religious Philosophy
References:
Beardslee, Michael D. “The Dogma of History.” Religion and Theology 24, no. 3-4 (2017): 295-320.
Bidlack, Beth, Matthew C. Baker, and Nisa Bakkalbasi. “Is There Anything New under the Sun?(Ecclesiastes 1: 9): A Local Report on the Research Practices of Scholars in Religion and Theology.” (2016).
Buber, Martin. Eclipse of God: Studies in the relation between religion and philosophy. Princeton University Press, 2015.
Chilton, Paul, and Monika Kopytowska, eds. Religion, Language, and the Human Mind. Oxford University Press, 2018.
Choudhury, Masudul Alam. “Religion and social economics (a systemic theory of organic unity).” International Journal of Social Economics 43, no. 2 (2016): 134-160.
Coleman, Simon, and Peter Collins, eds. Religion, identity and change: perspectives on global transformations. Routledge, 2017.
Desmond, William. The Intimate Universal: The Hidden Porosity Among Religion, Art, Philosophy, and Politics. Columbia University Press, 2016.
Freathy, Rob, Jonathan Doney, Giles Freathy, Karen Walshe, and Geoff Teece. “Pedagogical bricoleurs and bricolage researchers: The case of Religious Education.” British Journal of Educational Studies 65, no. 4 (2017): 425-443.
Goodchild, Philip. Religion and European Philosophy: Key Thinkers from Kant to Žižek. Taylor & Francis, 2017.
Jonas, Silvia. “Ineffability and its metaphysics: The unspeakable in art, religion, and philosophy.” (2016).
Lynerd, Benjamin T. Republican theology: the civil religion of American Evangelicals. New York: Oxford University Press, 2014.
Neville, Robert Cummings. Religion: Philosophical Theology, Volume Three. Vol. 3. SUNY Press, 2015.
Rieger, Joerg. “Rethinking the New Materialism for Religion and Theology.” In Religious Experience and New Materialism, pp. 135-156. Palgrave Macmillan, New York, 2016.
Vyhmeister, Nancy Jean, and Terry Dwain Robertson. Quality research papers: for students of religion and theology. Zondervan, 2014
Choudhury, Masudul Alam. “Religion and social economics (a systemic theory of organic unity).” International Journal of Social Economics 43, no. 2 (2016): 134-160
Freathy, Rob, Jonathan Doney, Giles Freathy, Karen Walshe, and Geoff Teece. “Pedagogical bricoleurs and bricolage researchers: The case of Religious Education.” British Journal of Educational Studies 65, no. 4 (2017): 425-443.
Chilton, Paul, and Monika Kopytowska, eds. Religion, Language, and the Human Mind. Oxford University Press, 2018.
Vyhmeister, Nancy Jean, and Terry Dwain Robertson. Quality research papers: for students of religion and theology. Zondervan, 2014.
Neville, Robert Cummings. Religion: Philosophical Theology, Volume Three. Vol. 3. SUNY Press, 2015
Bidlack, Beth, Matthew C. Baker, and Nisa Bakkalbasi. “Is There Anything New under the Sun?(Ecclesiastes 1: 9): A Local Report on the Research Practices of Scholars in Religion and Theology.” (2016).
Lynerd, Benjamin T. Republican theology: the civil religion of American Evangelicals. New York: Oxford University Press, 2014
Beardslee, Michael D. “The Dogma of History.” Religion and Theology 24, no. 3-4 (2017): 295-320
Coleman, Simon, and Peter Collins, eds. Religion, identity and change: perspectives on global transformations. Routledge, 2017
Desmond, William. The Intimate Universal: The Hidden Porosity Among Religion, Art, Philosophy, and Politics. Columbia University Press, 2016
Goodchild, Philip. Religion and European Philosophy: Key Thinkers from Kant to Žižek. Taylor & Francis, 2017
Jonas, Silvia. “Ineffability and its metaphysics: The unspeakable in art, religion, and philosophy.” (2016).
Rieger, Joerg. “Rethinking the New Materialism for Religion and Theology.” In Religious Experience and New Materialism, pp. 135-156. Palgrave Macmillan, New York, 2016
Buber, Martin. Eclipse of God: Studies in the relation between religion and philosophy. Princeton University Press, 2015
Order an Essay Now & Get These Features For Free:
Turnitin Report
Formatting
Title Page
Citation
Outline
