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Does Philosophy of Religion Exist?
Abstract
Philosophy of religion as a science of so-called religious beliefs is examined here. As the concept of religion is extremely vague, philosophy of religion lacks a well-defined objective. It also lacks a method and any valuable contribution in the field is either crypto-theology or crypto-metaphysics. The thesis “God is almighty” is analysed as a case study. It is shown to have one settled meaning and justification within the confines of Catholic theology and another in metaphysics. There is no space for a third way of explicating or justifying theses of the kind; therefore, there is no space for philosophy of religion as a separate branch of knowledge. It is suggested that when allegedly pursuing philosophy of religion, in point of fact, philosophers create their own private religions, and they actually prophesy, and then think those religions through. It is also suggested that, unlike the spurious science of religious beliefs, a philosophical analysis of the notion of religion could make a legitimate and significant body of philosophical knowledge. However, religion as a subject of philosophical analysis is to be understood as a property of men rather than of beliefs, the very property that makes man religious (faithful).
Keywords:
God, omnipotence, religion, theology, metaphysicsDetails
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This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 International License.
