Topics Philosophy

Question Is there a proper role for faith in philosophy, or do they function in distinct realms?

Accepted:
June 29, 2010

Comments

Interesting question! Please forgive me for replying with what is probably the classic philosophical response: it depends what you mean by "faith." If by "faith" you mean something like trust, then I think philosophy must involve trust. One must (at a minimum) trust one's own faculties / thinking / reflection. Linda Zagzebski has been arguing recently for the essential role of self-trust in all thinking. This is also an area that Keith Lehrer has contributed to. If by "faith" one instead means a body of religious beliefs or convictions, then a lot of philosophy does function independent of faith though not all philosophy. For many medieval thinkers and some contemporaries Anselm (1033-1109) and Nicholas Wolterstorff today philosophical reflection can take place from the standpoint of faith. This does not mean such philosophers thereby cut themselves off from philosophers who are not working from any faith perspective. Rather, it means the scope of what counts as philosophy becomes broader. And this is not simply true with Christianity and Judaism and Islam. As a philosopher one might do philosophy from within a Buddhist perspective. In this context, a philosopher might begin with a Buddhist precept about desire or imperminance and then develop a theory of knowledge based on those precepts. A critic might choose either to raise objections against such a philosopher from either an external point of view (the point of view of a non-Buddhist) but she might also (at least for the sake of argument) assume the basic Buddhist precepts and then argue that the theory of knowledge is problematic on internal grounds.

For an interesting body of literature on faith and philosophy, you might check out the journal called: Faith and Philosophy.

Question Is there a proper role for faith in philosophy, or do they function in distinct realms? Accepted:June 29, 2010

Question Is there a proper role for faith in philosophy, or do they function in distinct realms?

Accepted:
June 29, 2010