Philosphy of Religion

Question

Can we have a complete system of morality without religion ? You should address at least one of the following

Could we have motivation to be moral without religions rewards and punishments

Could we know how to be moral without religion guidance

Could morality even exist if God doesn 't invent it (in Ten Commandments or something like them

Philosophy of Religion

Plato thought the source of all morality to be the Logos , the transcendental ideal that stood atop all the imperfections and corruptions of the phenomenal world . When

truth equates to virtue , then to pursue and conform to the highest truth is to be moral . He derived the idea of the philosopher-king ' as the agent to establish this morality on earth . When the ruler is at the same time philosopher he rules according to the highest precepts , and thereby establishes the moral kingdom , or Utopia . In fact a golden opportunity for implementing Utopia came his way . The King of Syracuse , enamored of Plato 's philosophy , invited him to take over the reins of his realm for a year The upshot was that it did little good for the kingdom of Syracuse , but was an invaluable learning experience for Plato himself , who was humbled into accepting that the philosopher-king concept was a remarkable contract of logic , but that it was not for the real world

What hope for secular morality if the philosopher-king cannot induce his subjects to be moral ? Is the Logos of Plato a secular construct , or it is pertaining to the divine ? The historians of religion plot a course in which Plato 's Logos is the starting point of an evolution whose end product is Christianity , through the intermediate stages of Platonism and Neo-Platonism . Theologians , however , disagree , judging Plato 's ideas to be mere anticipation of the profounder truth that Christianity contains . The Greek word `logos ' translates to `word ' or `reason . When the Greek Bible was translated into English the opening to the Testament of John became , In the beginning was the Word , and the Word was with God , and the Word was God . And the Word became flesh and dwelt among us (John 1 :1-3 , 14 . From this it becomes clear that the inner truth of Plato 's philosophy and that of Christianity are identical . Historians may argue the primacy of Plato , but the fact remains that the Greek philosopher hardly encouraged a single moral act whereas Christianity lent the moral underpinning to a civilization

The same drama is being played out in the modern era . The European renaissance was actually a revival of the philosophical spirit of ancient Greece , with a significant advance in that empirical experimentation and the method of induction , as exhorted by Francis Bacon , took primacy over pure philosophical speculation . Whatever the means , the overriding aims were identical . The aim was to rationalize the phenomenal world , to the extent that rational may sufficiently meet all human needs , both physical and spiritual . The rational is also the moral , and therefore the quest is to have morality without religion . The generic term for this trend is modernism . How successful is modernism ? The remaining part of this essay examines this question

The European renaissance was characterized by the belief in the untapped and unbounded potential of man . Here man is considered as separated from his faith , therefore the renaissance quest is for a secular morality Francis Bacon laid the ground map for the establishment of this new rational by championing experimentation and the method of induction . Subsequently Newton offered a universal theory of mechanics that is able to encompass all phenomenon . These were the two crucial accomplishments that laid the ground for hope that secular morals would prevail . But the new knowledge needed to be verified in an absolute sense , thus epistemology was the key . The morality stands on firm ground only if the knowledge it is based upon is certain . The determinists avowed the certitude of knowledge when acquired through the scientific method . But philosophy lent no support to their claims . Instead it floundered in empirical skepticism - the position that maintains that all knowledge is through the senses , and therefore relative and without objectivity . The Cartesians struggled vainly to overcome this complaint But David Hume demolished empiricism systematically and thoroughly , and then went on to propose a new rationalism . Plato , and the determinists put reason above all else . Hume differs : Reason is , and ought to be the slave of the passions and can never pretend to any other office than to serve and obey them (Hume , Treatise , 2006 . He is suggesting that we are moral before we are rational . Indulge your passion for science ' nature tells us , according to Hume , but let your science be human , and such as may have a direct reference to action and society (Hume , Enquiry , 2006 . This is what he calls the science of man . In this new scheme the moral human being is at the centre of the universe reason being merely the means towards implementing the science of man

Kant took the cue of Hume , abandoned his Newtonian studies and took on the task of analyzing completely the new rationalism , which he called pure reason . After conceding the premise to empirical skepticism , he continues

Although all our knowledge begins with experience , it does not follow that it arises entirely from experience . For it is quite possible that our empirical knowledge is a compound of that which we receive through impressions and that which our own faculty of knowing (incited by impressions ) supplies from itself (Kant , 1999

The pre-existing faculty is described as a priori , and that which comes after sense impression he calls a posteriori . Reason is a priori , but without sense experience it has no separate existence . The sensory data is lent shape by reason , and the composite of the two is knowledge Reason is thus restored as a fountainhead of all human experience , but it is not the same reason which Hume described as serving the passions It is pure reason ' and as such is the origin of the passions . Our limited and fallible reason is serving the higher and infallible pure reason . In the process of measuring up to the higher reason we become moral . This is expressed through the Kantian categorical imperative : I ought never to act except in such a way that I could also will that my maxim should become a universal law (Kant , 1993

The pertinent observation here is that Kant is mimicking the Christian moral code in every step of his philosophy , and yet he remains doggedly atheistic , and still aiming for secular morality . The Kantian categorical imperative is nothing other than a rewording of the Christian ethic love thy neighbor as thyself . His critique of pure reason is but a wordy exposition of the Biblical pronouncement that God created man in his own image . The only difference is that the Christian is serene in his submission , whereas the Kantian is feverishly applying his intellect in to measure up to pure reason . Kant is telling us that the busy and straining intellect is the only path to secular morality . The heroic Western spirit heard Kant and did not falter in its thrust . Hegel was inspired to rationalize the entire course of human history , which Marx particularized to the economic sphere to create a political ethic that is potent enough to move the masses towards constructing political Utopia - in the form of nation states . The experience of Marxism has convinced many observers that it is indeed a religion . In this way the thrust for secular morality has indeed failed for it has come back to its point of departure - religion

If Marxism was for the masses then existentialism was for the philosophers themselves . This is the philosophy that revolts against the urge to rationalize , and instead stresses immediate existence . Edmund Husserl founded phenomenology as a tremendous Kantian endeavor to rationalize each and every existent moment , towards which he took notes of his daily thoughts in vast detail . His pupil Martin Heidegger revolted and declared reason as unable to understand existence . A century earlier the Danish philosopher Soren Kierkegaard , away from the attention of the world , composed reflective pieces that expressed a far deeper form of existentialism . He not only rejected the rational frameworks of experimental science , but also the rational s of organized religion . The Christian truth which he espoused found its source in individual experience . Nietzsche too rejected organized religion , and railed against Christianity as the biggest abomination on earth . But the prophetic zeal with which he appeals to the 'bermensch (the Superman ) has religious connotations . At the same time the 'bermensch he describes is nothing other than the transcendental being that religion speaks of . And thus Nietzsche is religious in the midst of his raging blasphemies

I draw the conclusion that morality cannot be expected from beyond religion . All forms of secular morality , when examined more closely turn out to be stemming from religion . It is either a diffused form of religion , or a mutilated and separated part that convinces itself that it is not religious because it does not adhere to the customs of religion . My exposition is meant to show that as philosophy becomes more and more honest in its quest it flows back towards the sea of religion and ultimately there is a confluence

References

Hume , D (2006 . A Treatise on Human Nature .

. 417 . Charleston , SC BiblioBazaar

Hume , D (2006 . An Enquiry Concerning Human Understanding .

. 7 . Tom L Beauchamp (Ed ) New York : Oxford University Press , USA

Kant , I (1999 . Critique of Pure Reason .

. 1 . Werner S . Pluhar (Trans , Eric Watkins (Ed ) Boston : Hackett Publishing Company

Kant , I (1993 . Grounding for the Metaphysics of Morals . Trans . James W . Ellington .

. 47 . Boston : Hackett Publishing Company

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