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In philosophical terms, religions can be understood as the search
for purpose, goals, meaning, and order. It is a search for what
we might call the cosmic order -- some greater structure
within which human lives and societies exist. In this context,
religions are systems of belief and commitment around which
the faithful order their lives.
The
twin pillars of Western civilization are Greek philosophy
and the Judeo-Christian-Islamic
religious tradition. Philosophy affirms that, in principle,
all things ultimately can be explained by reason; religion,
however, sees the cosmic order as mysterious and beyond human
comprehension. Questions about the cosmic order include
whether it is transcendent or immanent; whether
the world is purposeful; the extent to which personal perspective
is related to truth; the role of the state in human salvation;
and what kinds of knowledge (reason or faith)
are most reliable.
Although
skepticism is an ancient part of the Western intellectual
tradition, the conflict between reason and faith may be said
to have become a "crisis" only in the modern age. The responses
to this "crisis" may be organized into six types:
- Retaining
the classical view that the cosmic order is found in the structure
of the external physical world, which might be either
transendent or immanent. (Held by Augustine
& Aquinas.)
- The
view that humans internally perceive the purposeful
cosmic order because of an external, transcendent Being who
acts through our will. (Montaigne, Pascal,
Luther, Calvin, Kierkegaard)
- The
view that humans internally perceive the purposeful
cosmic order because of an external, transcendent Being who
acts through our Intellect. (Descartes)
- The
affirmation of a transcendental order - that is, a practical
and moral cosmic order related to our mental framework, which
we project on the external world in the act of perceiving
it. (Kant)
- The
scientific and secular view that natural physical laws control
the mind and its perception of order. (Spinoza,
Comte, Helvetius)
- The
belief that the mind internally produces only an illusion
(or a created idea) that there is a cosmic order at all. (Freud,
Sartre,
Camus)
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On
two audiotapes - about three hours in length.
Narrator: Ben Kingsley
Author: Dr. Nicholas Capaldi
Editor: Professor Walter Harrelson
Publisher: Knowledge Products, Inc.
This
title is part of the Audio Classics Series by
Knowledge Products. Knowledge Products publishes a variety of
audio presentations on the great ideas and events of history.
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