Philosophy of Religion

Philosophy of religion is "the philosophical examination of the central themes and concepts involved in religious traditions." Philosophical discussions on such topics date from ancient times, and appear in the earliest known texts concerning philosophy. The field is related to many other branches of philosophy including metaphysics, epistemology, and ethics.

The philosophy of religion differs from religious philosophy in that it seeks to discuss questions regarding the nature of religion as a whole, rather than examining the problems brought forth by a particular belief-system. It can be carried out dispassionately by those who identify as believers and non-believers.

Philosopher William L. Rowe characterized the philosophy of religion as: "the critical examination of basic religious beliefs and concepts." Philosophy of religon covers alternative beliefs about God (or gods), the varieties of religious experience, the interplay of science and religion, the nature and scope of good and evil, and religious treatments of birth, history, and death. The field also involves the ethical implications of religious commitments, the relation among faith, reason, experience and tradition, concept of the miraculous, the sacred revelation, mysticism, power, and salvation.

The term philosophy of religion did not come into general use in the West until the nineteenth century, and most pre-modern and early modern philosophical works included a mixture of religious themes and non-religious philosophical questions. In Asia, examples include texts such as Hindu Upanishads, the works of Daoism and Confucianism, and Buddhist texts. Greek philosophies such as Pythagoreanism and Stoicism included religious elements and theories about deities, and Medieval philosophy was strongly influenced by the big three monotheistic Abrahamic religions. In the Western world, early modern philosophers such as Thomas Hobbes, John Locke, and George Berkeley discussed religious topics alongside secular philosophical issues as well.

The philosophy of religion has been distinguished from theology by pointing out that, for theology, "its critical reflections are based on religious convictions." Also, "theology is responsible to an authority that initiates its thinking, speaking, and witnessing... [while] philosophy bases its arguments on the ground of timeless evidence."

Some aspects of philosophy of religion have classically been regarded as part of metaphysics. In Aristotle's book Metaphysics, the necessary prior cause of eternal motion was an unmoved mover who, like the object of desire, or of thought, inspires motion without itself being moved. Today, however, philosophers have adopted the term "philosophy of religion" for the subject, and typically it is regarded as a separate field of specialization, although it is also still treated by some, particularly Catholuc philosophers, as part of metaphysics.

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