Essay on Philosophy’s Prejudice Towards Religion - 3943 Words

Philosophy’s Prejudice Towards Religion ABSTRACT: Religion acquired a bad press in philosophical modernity after a rivalry developed between philosophy and theology, originating in philosophy’s adopting the role of our culture’s superjudge in all of morality and knowledge, and in faith’s coming to be seen as belief, that is, as assent to propositional content. Religion, no longer trust in the face of mystery, became a belief system. Reason as judge of propositional belief set up religion’s decline. But spirituality is on the rise, and favors trust over reason. Philosophy could make space for the spiritual by acknowledging a difference between belief as propositional assent and religious faith as trust, a distinction lost with the†¦show more content†¦Conceived as a rival of philosophy, in providing some coherent account of things religion lost respect. Kai Nielsen is a well-known representative of this line in his thought. I doubt whether philosophy would have dismissed religion if a rivalry between philosophy and theology had not developed. There certainly was no need for it to develop. Philosophy, as a rationally coherent account of how things, generally speaking, hang together, would not need to see a rival in stories and rituals in which people tell of and nurture their trust in our origin and destiny, search for healing in our pain and sickness, hope to be comforted in death and disaster, and find wisdom in the face of evil. Philosophy, as an endeavor in which rational argument brings us to broad conclusions intended to contribute to our power and control in the world, need not be in conflict with religion in which prophetic wisdom attempts to comfort and direct us in relation to realities over which we will never have much rational power or control. Philosophy develops the broadest possible framework of conceptual understanding. Religion fosters attitudes towards things not understood that way at all. Nevertheless, rivalry came about when philosophy came to be regarded as what has been called our culture’s superjudge, adjudicator of all claims to knowledge or morality. In this way philosophy came to adopt some traditional functions of religion, of priests and prophets. In addition,Show MoreRelatedThe Moral And Ethical Dilemmas Facing The Lawyer And The Philosopher s Search For Truth2469 Words   |  10 Pagesconsidered its meaning to be an indefinable concept. In contrast, the lawyer’s understanding of truth may be disordered. There is a lack of definition, critique and analysis of truth within the law in comparison to other matters, such as philosophy, religion and social science. Within law, there are long held views that truth is subservient to justice. Further, it is widely accepted that truth is not the major concern of the justice system, and that proving facts rather than proving truth is the primary