...Introduction Philosophy of religion is a branch of philosophy concerned with questions regarding religion, including the nature and existence of God, the examination of religious experience, analysis of religious vocabulary and texts, and the relationship of religion and science. It is an ancient discipline, being found in the earliest known manuscripts concerning philosophy, and relates to many other branches of philosophy and general thought, including metaphysics, logic, and history. Philosophy of religion is frequently discussed outside of academia through popular books and debates, mostly regarding the existence of God and problem of evil. The philosophy of religion differs from religious philosophy in that it seeks to discuss questions regarding the nature of religion as a whole, rather than examining the problems brought forth by a particular belief system. It is designed such that it can be carried out dispassionately by those who identify as believers or non-believers. Religion: A Part of Metaphysics Philosophy of religion has classically been regarded as a part of metaphysics. In Aristotle's Metaphysics, the necessarily prior cause of eternal motion was an unmoved mover, who, like the object of desire, or of thought, inspires motion without itself being moved. This, according to Aristotle, is God, the subject of study in theology. Today, however, philosophers have adopted the term philosophy of religion for the subject, and typically it is regarded...
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...RST3709 Assignment 1 Write an essay on the God of the philosophers. Who or what is God according to traditional Classical philosophy? Refer in your answer specifically to Plato and Aristotle’s objective idea of God. Also refer to Augustine’s response to Classical philosophy. Conclude your essay with your own critical assessment. Do you agree or disagree with the philosophers? Use Chapter 4 of your prescribed textbook (‘The God of the Philosophers’) in order to answer the question. Contents 1. Brief summary of the God of the philosophers 2. The traditional God and gods 3. Plato and Aristotle’s objective ideas of God 4. Conclusion 5. References 1. Brief summary of the God of the Philosopher: In the book ‘God: A guide for the perplexed’ Keith Ward goes into fascinating debate and detail of ancient philosopher, their writings and the way the world understood them. Each philosopher mentioned in Chapter 4; Socrates, Plato, Aristotle and Augustine had their own image and debate on what the godswere and how they perceived them and how they believed they came to be and what they are capable of. Plato, when learning about the Greek gods, never understood why they were there or where they came from. He believed that good was the only essence that mattered in all the beliefs and religions and ways of life. He believed in a god that was faultlessin everything he did and that is why the universe was created. (Ward 2002: 145) Socrates on the other hand...
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...Albert Rosales Professor: Gill Intro Philosophy: 213 In writing this paper, I was apprehensive by the immensity of the task that was required of me, having never studied Philosophy and philosophers before this class and not having a good understanding of it. I could not begin to comprehend Metaphysics, Ethics Epistemology etc. if it was not for this course. This may sound ignorant but I had never really given any thought to my worldview. If asked what I believed about something I would give my belief and that was that. What exactly is a worldview? A worldview is what it sounds like. It is the way one may see the world or as Nash puts it in his book Life’s Ultimate Questions “the sum total of a person’s answers to the most important questions in life(392).” Everyone has a worldview whether we realize it or not. How does one get their worldview? Our education, our upbringing, the culture we live in, the books we read, the media and movies we watch, all can help shape our worldview. Nash says, “Worldviews contain at least five clusters of beliefs, namely, beliefs about God, metaphysics (ultimate reality), epistemology (knowledge), ethics and human nature (14).” Using these five sections I will share my worldview. In general my worldview is a Christian one. I believe that there is one God who exists in three forms who created the Heavens and the earth. In the Bible Genesis 1:1 tells of how God is the beginning of everything; he created the heavens and the earth out of nothing...
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...CHAPTER 1 INTRODUCTION In this chapter the researcher will give the topics that he will discuss. The topic of this chapter includes an introduction of the topic, statement of the problem, significance of the study, delimitation and methodology. 1. Introduction The rise of modern science had created a great impact in the lives of each individual especially in the environment where human being lives. Inclusive of this great impact, innovations in every aspect was rapid. Looking at the different angles of innovations of modern science greatly affect individuals by putting man at the center of the world. The growth of technical knowledge through application of scientific discoveries has brought human beings the luxury of spoiling their resources. Man focused more on the thing that can make him happy, feel comfortable, relax and even more have an easy life. Without all of these, he is being driven to do inhumane things like killing for the sake of having such. The absence of technology for man is misery. In this time of modern age, man is being blinded from the effects of the innovations that the modern world had introduced. He does not have any idea of his termination in the world while exhausting his body to the luxury of technology. That’s why, at certain events, man’s close encounter of death confronts him. “How many of us, though, can succeed in feeling these truths as consolations? We are not good at coping with death, especially in our contemporary materialistic age,...
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...Plato Review Plato’s distinction between body and soul in the foundation unit so that you can make comparisons with the thinking of Hick and of Dawkins. John Hick Philosophy of Religion (1973); Death and Eternal Life (1976) • The soul is a name for the moral, spiritual self formed by the interaction of genes and environment. The human is a psychophysical person with a divine purpose. • The person shall be resurrected through a divine act of recreation or reconstitution in resurrection, rather than reincarnation as Plato would have it, through God’s creative love. • The new body is not the old one brought back to life but a spiritual body inhabiting a spiritual world just as the physical body inhabited a physical world. • Hick conducts a thought experiment with a hypothetical person called John Smith. Smith disappears from the USA and reappears in Calcutta, India. He is physically identical with the same memories, emotions, fingerprints, and so on. People would agree he was Smith. If he died and reappeared in this world, again identical, people would agree he was Smith. If he died and reappeared in another world with other resurrected people, he would be Smith. This is called the replica theory. • God is not restricted by death and holds man beyond natural mortality. • Martin Luther wrote: Anyone with whom God speaks, whether in wrath or mercy, the same is certainly immortal.’ Richard Dawkins The Selfish Gene (1976); River out of Eden (1986);The Blind Watchmaker...
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...Name: Instructor: Course: Date: Does God exist? If so, why is there evil? Like St. Augustine, I do acknowledge that ``God exists”. In order to explain his ideology, Augustine refers to the life of a tree, rock, dog and human beings. He argues that among the things aforementioned, only human being posses the ability to think and act thus meaning that among the creations on earth, the human being is the intelligent creature. Further, he expounds his argument by stating that if another being is intelligently superior to human beings, then it has to be God. However, St. Augustine acknowledges the presence of evil. St. Augustine’s opinion of sin is linked to the freedom to exercise ``freewill” by individuals an aspect that results to ``moral evil”. Free will forms the basis by Augustine that God should not be blamed for ``the existence” of sin. To expound on his argument, Augustine informs his readers that he like many other people has been subject to sin due to his desire to realize what sin entails and urges the people not to dwell so much on sin rather than the existence of God(pg,164). In conclusion, I support Augustine’s argument that no one can understand the thinking of God thus we should focus on his goodness rather than sin existence. Are Human Beings Selfish? I believe that every ``human being” is selfish. The selfish nature of human beings is evident from the daily activities that we engage in during our lifetime and routines. In the current society, it is common...
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...The Cosmological argument argues for the existence of God a posteriori based on the apparent order in the universe. For Aristotle, the existence of the universe needs an explanation, a cause, as it could not have come from nothing. Nothing comes from nothing so since there is something, there must have been some other thing that is its cause. Aristotle rules out an infinite progression of causes, so, that led to the conclusion that there must be a First Cause. Likewise with motion, there must have been a first cause; Aristotle calls this the ‘Prime Mover’. There is a God, says Aristotle -for how else does motion begin? Whilst this argument does generally offer some support for the existence of God, it does not prove his existence. Aquinas believed that, since the universe is God's creation, evidence of God's existence can be found in his creation using intellect and reason, as such a concept of God is beyond all direct human experience. Hence, he devised his 'Five Ways,' 5 a posteriori arguments for the existence of God, based on our empirical experience of the universe. The Cosmological argument rests on the first three of Aquinas' Five Ways. The first way is called the argument from motion or ‘change’. It is in this first way that Aquinas follows Aristotle’s ‘prime mover’ thesis. The first way (The 'Kalam' argument) follows as: • Everything in the world is moving or changing • Nothing can move or change by itself • There cannot be an infinite regress of things changing other...
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...Philosophy of Religion Essay: Religious experience at Ram Mandir Hinduism is one of the oldest religions since the beginning of time and has grown from its ancient roots to become the third largest religion in the world. The majority of its followers originate in India and Nepal. Hinduism is a religion based on traditional values and philosophies that have evolved in India over period of more than a thousand years. On my visit to the Ram Mandir while I experienced a puja, “which is a name for prayers in Hinduism”. (V,2011) among the people, I noticed two different patterns that they follow, and observed that Hinduism has related the patterns to Emilie Durkheim’s and Stuart Hall’s theories of social solidarity and culture respectively through use of prayers and congregations, which is going to be the main focus of my essay in Hinduism the distinct patterns while performing the prayers. The two patterns are congregation who came together for the ritual performed by the Pundits( priests) and the book that priest themselves distributed to the people. The first pattern that was visible to me in the Ram Mandir was based on the congregation who came together for the ritual performed by the Pundits (priests). This gathering of people had a majority of Asian descendants which were mostly North Indians that spoke Hindi. Also, there were different languages that were being spoken by south Indians that are dark skinned, which were easy to distinguish. Since, Hindi is the most common...
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...Buddhism is a religion and philosophy that developed the teachings of buddha. About 3 million people believe in the religion of Buddhism. Buddha is known as to teach the purpose of life and the teaching lead to true happiness. Buddha was a teacher in Northern India. People became interested in Buddhism because it is thought to answer many of the worlds answers and a deep understanding of the human mind. Buddha was not claiming to be a God or was Buddha was just a man who taught his own path and way of life. One of the major beliefs is Karma. Karma is that everything you do has an effect. If you spread good karma so you do good things to people around you something good will happen to you. If you spread bad Karma then something bad will happen...
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...Adalah. Concepts of accountability, transparency and trustworthiness 2 . What do you understand by the Worldview? INCEIF 3 WORLDVIEW Worldview explain how man perceives this world. It denotes “a set of implicit or explicit assumptions about the origin of the universe and the nature of human life”. INCEIF 4 SECULAR WORLDVIEW Every community or system is controlled or influenced by its own worldview. different worldviews among communities or among systems lead to dissimilar end means of human life. The MAN’S WAY OF LIFE FROM SECULAR VIEW Separation between religion and other aspects of life, Materialistic, Individualistic, Less socio-economic justice, Less public relations, less concern with the Hereafter life. 6 INCEIF MAN’S WAY OF LIFE IN ISLAM Belief in a dual worldviews: this world & the hereafter. Religion is part of his/her daily life. Maslahah of the ummah (public benefit), Accountability, Trustworthiness, Transparency etc. 7 INCEIF WHY ALLAH (SWT) CREATED MAN? INCEIF 8 CONT. WHY ALLAH CREATED MAN?. According to Islamic belief, Allah has created man (and jinn)only to worship Him. INCEIF The word worship here encompasses all permissible human activities and intentions as part of the general act of acceptable worship (ibadah). Within the...
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...FirstName LastName Instructor’s Name Course Name Due Date (01 January 2000) Title of Paper Begin your paper here. Your first paragraph should introduce your topic and give the reader an overview of what you plan to discuss. Don’t skip lines between paragraphs or hit enter after each of your lines. Word will do this for you. Be sure to indent your first line of each paragraph a ½ inch (use the Tab key). There shouldn’t be any information in the rest of your paragraphs that isn’t mentioned in your introduction here. After your introduction, you will need body paragraphs to support your topic. The number of body paragraphs you have will depend on the amount of information you have to cover. Be sure to check the minimum length of the assignment to ensure you have met the minimum requirement. If your paper requires outside sources, “You will need to include quotes like this” (LastName 99). You can also include paraphrases of someone else’s work, as long as you cite the information in the same way (LastName 22). Remember that Wikipedia is never a reliable source! Anyone can go to Wikipedia and edit the information there. While the information there might be true, it might also be totally incorrect. Since it isn’t a reliable source, it should not be used as a source in academic writing. However, a good Wikipedia article should have outside sources listed at the bottom. If you follow those links, you should get access to more reliable sources. Your last paragraph should...
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...Faith Philosophy has had a powerful influence on human beliefs and reason. It asks questions about the meaning of life and the purpose that humans have in the world. These philosophical ideas have carried much interest regarding religion and the underlying concept of God. Faith and reason have played a fundamental role in advocating religious beliefs for people of all different religions. There are various distinct religious beliefs around the world, but there are also people such as Atheists, who do not believe in the existence of a higher power. Religion has been a pivotal topic of discussion for individuals such as Kierkegaard, who used his faith to prove the existence of God as opposed to atheists such as Sigmund Freud, who denied the existence of any religion or belief in a higher power. To begin with, Kierkegaard proclaimed that faith was an essential factor in his belief of God. Faith is such a powerful force for religions who believe in a higher power that is far beyond our human understanding. Many philosophers find so much uncertainty in religious advocates of Christianity because there is so much question and uncertainty in proving that God does exist. In class, Professor Embree stated, “The issues of religion and philosophy are highly overlapping. Philosophy focuses on questions. Religion is based on faith. Faith is sometimes antagonistic to philosophy. Don’t question it, you will lose your faith” (February 6, 2014). What humans believe will influence everything...
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...Study Guide: Lesson 16 Philosophy of Religion: Introduction Lesson Overview: With this lesson, we begin our unit on philosophy of religion. Religious questions are among the most important for the vast majority of persons: Is there a God? Is there an afterlife? Why does God allow evil and suffering? How can we know God? Are miracles possible? What is the relation between faith and reason? In this first lesson, we explore exactly how philosophy and religion relate to each other. Can we objectively explore religion from a philosophical vantage point? We will critically examine 2 extreme answers to this question and then arrive at a proposed way that religious beliefs can be philosophically investigated. Tasks: Read chapter. 1 of Philosophy of Religion: Thinking About Faith, “What is Philosophy of Religion?” As you read, make sure you understand the following points and questions: * Explain the distinctions between philosophy of religion and sociology, history, theology, and religious philosophy. * Explain the arguments for and problems with fideism. * What 2 factors do Evans and Manis raise in answering the fideist claim that critical reflection about religious beliefs is arrogant and presumptuous? * According to Evans and Manis, is it possible to be completely neutral, and is it valid? * How is critical dialog a balance between fideism and neutralism? * What are some criteria for testing basic religious beliefs, suggested in Evans and Manis’...
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...PHILOSOPHY OF RELIGION Philosophy of religion is the examination of the core concepts and themes involved in religious practices. Searching for a rational and logical explanation for every aspect of religion it also investigates the significance religion and spirituality plays on society. (Taliaferro, 2007) The examination of forms of religion and spirituality including geosophical and theosophical, analysing an argument that support these core values includes the cosmological argument where interconnected yet divergent notions are established. Geosophical religion and spirituality is profoundly linked to the land. Through a mental, physical and spiritual connection by which the land and people are interconnected, all objects are alive and share the same spirit. (Grieves, 2015) This argument is demonstrated through Australian aboriginal spirituality in which their behaviours in everyday life are a clear reflection of their beliefs....
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...Renaissance to Revolution Term Paper Abbas Ali David Hume and the Fallacy (Philosophy) of Religion David Hume is considered the greatest philosopher Britain has produced and an intellectual hero to many atheists. His arguments against religion are clear, incisive and devastating. However, some people have misconstrued his agnosticism to represent faith and claim that while Hume challenged conventional religion, he himself believed in God. In this paper I will attempt to refute some of these claims by briefly highlighting some of Hume’s most compelling arguments against religion and showing how they leave little room for belief. I will also delve into some of the context surrounding Hume’s work to show how speaking against religion was a dangerous game in those times and restricted Hume’s ability to speak freely. Some of the primary sources used for this paper include Hume’s most famous works on religion, including The Natural History of Religion and Dialogues concerning Natural Religion. Secondary and tertiary sources include scholarly critiques of Hume’s texts as well as reviews and journals interpreting his work one way or another. To start with, lets have a look at an excerpt from, The Natural History of Religion, published in 1757. In the following passage, Hume summarizes his views on religion as “sick men’s dreams”: What a noble privilege is it of human reason to attain the knowledge of the supreme Being; and, from the visible works of nature, be enabled to infer...
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