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can you be religious and do philosophy?hmmmm...

Seriously?.....lol my course as the teacher says ' we learn there isn't really a god' .... I think it kinda kills it, u have to be open minded i guess...i told my absoloutist hindu mate he really wouldnt like it..
i'm an athiest/agnostic myself.. so im open to anything really, and can judge what convinces me most. You learn, in my case, u don't have to be religious at all...instead just have your life's own philosophy :smile:

xxx

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Reply 1

Laus

Sounds to me like you've got the right idea. I'm an agnostic/contemplative Christian. Studying philosophy has made me more quizzical. It's a good and a bad thing. On the one hand, I doubt some of my beliefs but on the other, I enjoy delving deeply into issues that don't seem to matter to anyone else. As the saying goes... 'An unexamined life is not worth living'! I don't think you have to be religious to study philosophy :smile:

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xx

Reply 2

Laus

Ops, just re-read your question - can you be religious and study philosophy. I'd say yes. I guess it depends how strong your faith is...

Reply 3

generalebriety

Course you can, just like you can be an atheist and study theology.

Reply 4

AIUK

Laus

Ops, just re-read your question - can you be religious and study philosophy. I'd say yes. I guess it depends how strong your faith is...

Lol yeh. But 1 things for sure its messed my mind up at times....it makes u think out of the box... and when ur in the box at times that doesn't help, but it sorta gives this whole insignificance that makes u think of the wider picture than rather just day to day usual 'unphilosophical' life. We study a really restricted range of material coz they SUCK THE FUN RIGHT OUT OF EDUCATION AT A LEVEL b******* :wink:

but philosophys everything really. But i know that being religious can be tricky with it, but yeh i guess its having faith that counts. xxx

Reply 5

FoeGeddaBowDeet

Philosophy in no way indicates the absence of a god.

Reply 6

AIUK

SixMinuteMile

Philosophy in no way indicates the absence of a god.

hmmm true but the aqa course im doing sorta at least convinces that the definition of god offered by traditional christianity may not be right... rather a feeling within oneself etc. x

Reply 7

rachd_22

im Christian, but open to other views (do philosophy as part of RS). It does make me question stuff, but surely thats what it's for?

On the other hand, there is a devout Christian in my class and she often strongly disagrees with views put forward by people on the topics we are studying. She often takes it extremeley personally, and at times we have made her cry (unintentionally) when expressing our views.

So yes, it is possibly, but it can be tricky.

Reply 8

Levity

Sara x

xxx

Of course you can be religious and study philosophy... Most areas of philosophy do not relate to religion, and there are many religious philosophers. Your teacher saying "we learn there isn't really a god" seems a pretty extreme and contraversial thing to say, and like with your hindu friend that's going to put people off taking philosophy. That comment isn't really appropriate and most people wouldn't say that.

Reply 9

AIUK

Levity

Yeh I know....well our department tries not to influence any views but I do attend a Christian school, its private so we have chapel etc. etc. but yeh i agree with you totally. I used to be a strong theist, just felt it really. But its slipping away now rapidly. But I am open to philosophical views on how to live life rather more so that who created it. If we are here despite all the arguments we debate each other with in philosophy, surely we should just make use of it and be good people. Thats what its taught me.

x

Reply 10

afua12

How can you be religious and NOT study the philosophy of religion? Seriously, i mean you haven't studied the theory of God... how can you know if he does or does not exist? You have not studied the subject...The only way you can believe in a God without studying the philosophy of religion is to just believe what other people have told you.

Reply 11

AIUK

but isnt that what we learn in the phil of religion..... like plantinga asserted...beleif in god can be properly basic. some people just have faith. they just feel it. I'm convinced by every argument there is no God, but sometimes I think otherwise cause you sorta do feel it.

Reply 12

Kilgore Trout

Yes, in answer to the question.

Sara from what you said in your last post perhaps Freud's idea of the conscience, and specifically the Super-ego (scroll down) might appeal to you (though it's about ethics and not the existence of God as such).

Reply 13

Seanisonfire

Dammit, why couldnt I do philosophy at AS?

Oh well, I'm sure you can. I'd quite happily study theology, doesnt mean I'd suddenly find God though.

Although as a philosophy philistine (couldnt resist), can someone explain if philosophy is a particularly un-Godly subject?

Reply 14

Kilgore Trout

What do you mean by 'un-Godly?'

Reply 15

Seanisonfire

Well some people here seem to be acting like studying it will destroy your faith......I was wondering if that was true.

Reply 16

Kilgore Trout

No, not really. Only 1 of the 6 units actually deals with God, and none of the arguments you look at are very convincing.

Though I suppose if your faith was very weak there are plenty of good arguments you could use as an excuse to reject God's existence.

Reply 17

StandingOnAir

Of course. I do philosophy as a part of my RS course, and I don't find it to be biased either for or against theism. There are people in my class who say they are now more open to the idea of God's existence (though not necessarily the Christian God).

If your course and teachers are good, you will be learning both sides of every argument, and you will be able to come to your own conclusions. It seems odd to me that a teacher has said "we learn there isn't really a god", because it sounds like (s)he's teaching with an agenda.

Reply 18

RawJoh1

Sara x

xxx

If your teacher says that we "learn that there isn't really a God" then I think that that's really poor teaching.

You can certainly be religious and study philosophy. There are many religious philosophers, both historical and contemporary. Whilst I would say that contemporary philosophy academics tend to be non-religious, there are a fair few religious ones (eg. Alvin Plantinga, William Alston, Peter Van Inwagen etc).

Reply 19

xXx-lucrecia-xXx

Yes like everyone else i think that you can be religious and study philosophy. I mean my teacher is christian! That says it all really. You just got to be open minded thats all. :p: