Questions tagged [philosophy-of-religion]

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. Note that term is somewhat ambiguous as questions regarding atheism, secular humanism and agnosticism is included in the discipline.

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What are the consolations of Atheism? [closed]

Religion is often popularly characterised by atheists as a consolation. One can turn this around and ask what are the consolations of atheism? To answer this question correctly is to mirror the usual ...
Mozibur Ullah's user avatar
7 votes
2 answers
20k views

What did Nietzsche mean by accusing Christianity of slave-morality?

In a piece of journalism I read today But I've come to believe that there's also something deeper at work: that most of the world's people live with the legacy of slavery. Even in a nominal ...
Mozibur Ullah's user avatar
2 votes
7 answers
1k views

Is there a way to prove that God, if he were to exist, can intervene upon human lives?

Suppose there are two people, one who believes in a god and one who does not. Both suffer from a common cold or some mild sickness. The person who believes in a god prays to ask his god to heal him of ...
OEWX's user avatar
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4 votes
9 answers
4k views

What is the difference between The one, Buddha-nature, Brahman and Tao?

God in Christianity, Dharmakāya in Buddism, Brahman in Hinduism, Beneath Abstraction in Taoism and Flying Spaghetti Monster in Pastafarianism are all plays as a ultimate, eternal and absolute being. ...
Popopo's user avatar
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2 answers
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The real question of the Holocaust is not ‘where was God?’, but ‘where was man?’ [closed]

For a debate I have to argue "The real question of the Holocaust is not ‘where was God?’, but ‘where was man?'" I am arguing for the point (not my personal view). So far the points I have got are: ...
Sebiddy's user avatar
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-1 votes
6 answers
1k views

If religion is a human trait, does that prove all religions are false?

Does the fact that there was prehistoric religion and that humans have displayed religious behaviour by worshipping gods long before the creation/rise of the Abrahamic religions (and the other major ...
United80's user avatar
1 vote
4 answers
585 views

What can suffice as a scientific proof for God? to what domain can such a proof belong to? [closed]

"Scientific" theories require proof, and there are certain guidelines and standards for the proofs to be acceptable to the "scientific" community in that domain (Algebra, Computer Science, etc.). ...
Ali's user avatar
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2 votes
1 answer
264 views

devolving or self-limiting omnipotence

A being that is omnipotent should have within its own scope of power possess the ability to deprive self of this omnipotence; limit own power, either permanently or for a time; alternatively to ...
SF.'s user avatar
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3 votes
5 answers
5k views

Is 'Transcendental' originally a philosophical concept or a theological one?

I had understood 'transcendental' to be religiously inspired terminology and in fact exclusively so, so it came as a surprise to me that it had a philosophical side to it - as a term it was introduced ...
Mozibur Ullah's user avatar
3 votes
0 answers
217 views

Does contemporary art embody the desacralisation of western culture?

It's noticeable that all the great artistic traditions embody their religious worldviews: Hindu temples, Christian churches, Greek statues of gods and heroes, Egyptian sarcophagi, etc. However, ...
Mozibur Ullah's user avatar
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1 answer
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How can I start learning about Philosophy of religion? [closed]

every religion has unique philosophy that may have Common Traits and Common definitions. What are the deals Philosophy of religion? What are the resources Philosophy of religion? How can people ...
saber tabatabaee yazdi's user avatar
1 vote
1 answer
227 views

Is gender a property of essence or existence?

In his address, the Holy Father said: According to the biblical creation account, being created by God as male and female pertains to the essence of the human creature. The use of the word "...
Wok's user avatar
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2 votes
1 answer
1k views

What differentiates a cult from a religion? [closed]

Say for example scientology from hinduism? What are the hallmarks of a cult that sets it aside from a religion?
Mozibur Ullah's user avatar
7 votes
3 answers
735 views

Do Nietzsches arguments against Christian morality also stand against the other main world religions?

All the major world religions, without being a specialist in theology, emphasise compassion. A quality that Nietzsche would find "feminine". Does his arguments apply only to Christian morality or ...
Mozibur Ullah's user avatar
1 vote
0 answers
242 views

Is there any connection between the catholic conception of confession and psychotherapy?

Confession is healing of the soul by repentence to God mediated by a priest, psychoanalysis indulges in a confession of the secrets of the soul in order to heal. Is there any connection here or am I ...
Mozibur Ullah's user avatar
34 votes
22 answers
6k views

In what sense is atheism scientific?

I have been reading a bit of Dawkins and the like and they all seem to hold a very strong viewpoint on atheism and its associated ideology. I have not found a direct citation for this but he ...
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0 votes
3 answers
1k views

The problem is choice, (paradox) Or is enhancing choice the solution to increasing free will [closed]

While reading Incognito by David Eagleman, there was a chapter about justice and the neural plasticity of the brain. The ability (or in some cases inability) to regulate "moral" functioning. The legal ...
Trevor Kenwrick's user avatar
2 votes
0 answers
173 views

How are we to interpret the logos with God in the beginning? [closed]

We've all heard of the Gospel of John and "In the beginning was the logos and the logos was with God." Many commentators and scholars have etymologically traced the term back to the notion of Word or ...
Paradox Lost's user avatar
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21 votes
12 answers
21k views

Are omniscience and omnipotence mutually inconsistent?

I see this in The God Delusion by Richard Dawkins: If God is omniscient, he must already know how he is going to intervene to change the course of history using his omnipotence. But that means ...
Yashar's user avatar
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1 vote
2 answers
446 views

Does Asharite atomism affirm that space & time must necessarily be atomic?

I've read (probably in wikipedia but can't track down the reference now) that the Asharite strand in Islamic theology couldn't accept that substance necessarily exists pre-eternally as the Quoran ...
Mozibur Ullah's user avatar
2 votes
1 answer
149 views

What is the reputation of Schuon in the Perennial Philosophy or Philosophy of Religon?

I've just come across the writings of Fritjof Schuon and they appear to be impressive. There is a hint of new-ageism about him, and having never heard of him before I have no idea of his general ...
Mozibur Ullah's user avatar
5 votes
1 answer
697 views

What is the origin of the concept of "axis mundi", and how has it influenced Western philosophy?

Historically, many civilizations have contained in their culture, in one way or another, the concept of the "axis mundi" or world axis. Examples of this include Yggdrasil from Norse culture and Mount ...
user1539's user avatar
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13 votes
16 answers
18k views

Does the notion of an all-powerful God conflict with the idea of free will?

In Abrahamic religions, God is often believed to be wholly omnipotent. People also seem to believe that humans have "free will", especially insofar that they feel they are in control of their own ...
apoorv020's user avatar
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4 votes
2 answers
595 views

What does this quotation suggest about Gurus in religion?

I was reading this article on the concept of "Gurus" in various religions, and the following quotation regarding Sikhism caught my attention: On the importance of guru, Nanak says: "Let no man in ...
user103241's user avatar
11 votes
2 answers
3k views

How does Kant's moral philosophy define "goodness" and evaluate the moral worth?

Philosophy.SE, this is my first time being here, hence please pardon my inexperience of phrasing the question. I was discussing the moral philosophy of Kant vs the moral philosophy of the Christian ...
Shuhao Cao's user avatar
10 votes
5 answers
5k views

Is reductio ad absurdum a valid logical proof?

It strikes me that atheists often in the religion debate will try to characterize religion in a funny or silly way, often comparing religion to belief in fairies or unicorns or flying spaghetti ...
Neil Meyer's user avatar
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8 votes
12 answers
2k views

Is it reasonable to arrive at a conclusion based on lack of evidence to the contrary?

I was having a discussion last night about my atheism, and it was suggested to me that agnostism is the only reasonable conclusion, as it leaves the door open for new information. This made me think, ...
Mild Fuzz's user avatar
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6 votes
1 answer
299 views

In what works does Nietzsche give a critique of Christianity?

I realize that it's in nearly all of his works that he does this, but does anyone happen to know in what sections of what books? I understand there's a great critique of Christianity in Human, All Too ...
Jonathan's user avatar
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12 votes
10 answers
7k views

What are the fundamental differences between the belief system of science and religious belief systems?

While most religious belief systems affirm the existence of certain things, the belief system of (natural) science tends to deny the existence of certain "not-reproducible" things. Let's look at two ...
Thomas Klimpel's user avatar
9 votes
6 answers
736 views

Do messenger-based religions contradict the idea of an all wise God?

Many religions believe that their holy book is the literal word of God (and not the word of the messenger). For instance, the announcement of "new rules" for humanity, such as Quranic injunctions like ...
Snowman's user avatar
  • 530
15 votes
12 answers
72k views

What is the difference between philosophy and religion?

How do you make the distinction between philosophy and religion? Are there some philosophies/religions that are hard to categorize as being one or the other?
language theorist's user avatar
-2 votes
1 answer
136 views

Do Traditionalists still exist? [closed]

I was wondering if the philosophy of Traditionalism (a la Rene Guenon and followers) still had followers and thinkers writing? If so, who?
BeauGeste's user avatar
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0 votes
2 answers
2k views

Is there something in the real world that cannot be proved nor disproved? [closed]

It is often said that you cannot prove nor disprove God. People who bring forward this kind of reasoning often try to persuade you that there is a kind of balance, a truce; you can't prove your point (...
vonjd's user avatar
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5 votes
6 answers
2k views

Which philosophers have argued that a God cannot exist?

Which philosophers have argued that a God cannot exist and why? What are some of the major positions involved, and perhaps some common responses?
Ben's user avatar
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1 vote
1 answer
274 views

Theology, "study of religion" or "study of God" [closed]

In wiktionary.org theology is defined as "study of God", while in Microsoft's Encarta Dictionaries, it's defined as "study of Religion". Can we use theology in terms of "study of religion"? I mean ...
Saeed Neamati's user avatar
8 votes
1 answer
539 views

Are there more modern schools that follow Epicurean philosophy?

As Wikipedia says in its article, Epicureanism in short means: pleasure is the highest good, thus gain it through living virtuous life and expecting less. Based on this definition, is there a ...
Saeed Neamati's user avatar
15 votes
5 answers
617 views

Is it inconsistent to praise God for apparent action while claiming that apparent inaction is a mystery?

Finally the site is open! I've been waiting to ask this for a week or so. I have been pondering typical responses concerning intercession and resultant positive/negative outcomes and am hoping someone ...
Hendy's user avatar
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0 votes
4 answers
332 views

Are the limitations of language proof against the divinity of holy books? [closed]

Many religions like Islam and Hinduism have holy books(the Quran and the Vedas, respectively) which claim some kind of superhuman origin. However, are the limitations of languages then counter to ...
apoorv020's user avatar
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