INTERNATIONAL CONFERENCE ON CONTEMPORARY PHILOSOPHY OF RELIGION | Year:2014 | دوره:2 |Papers Count:11

I WOULD CRITICIZE NORMAN MALCOLM’S THEORY OF GROUNDLESSNESS OF FUNDAMENTAL RELIGIOUS BELIEFS. HIS THEORY WAS BASED ON WITTGENSTEIN’S LANGUAGE GAMES THEORY IN WHICH THERE IS NO WAY TO EXPLAIN RATIONALLY THE RELIGIOUS BELIEFS, BECAUSE THE RELIGION AND THE RATIONAL KNOWLEDGE ARE TWO DIFFERENT LANGUAGE GAMES. THE MALCOLM’S THEORY WAS REPRODUCING FIDEISM, HAS BEEN ACCOUNTED AND DECORATED WITH WITTGENSTEIN’S POINT OF VIEW. MICHAEL MARTIN HAS CRITICIZED HIS THEORY AND CONCLUDED THAT IT IS NECESSARY TO RATIONALLY KNOW RELIGIOUS BELIEFS FOR APPROACHING THEM. I WILL CRITICIZE MALCOLM’S THEORY FROM THE OTHER STANDPOINT. THE FIRST CRITIQUE EXAMINES THE ONE SIDE OF MALCOLM’S THEORY. HE HAS EXPLICATED THE FUNDAMENTAL RELIGIOUS BELIEFS DO NOT NEED TO EXPLAIN, BECAUSE THEY ARE FOUNDATIONS OF OTHER BELIEFS. I WOULD ARGUE THAT EXPLAINING ANY SYSTEM OF PROPOSITIONS OR BELIEFS NECESSARILY REQUIRES ELUCIDATE THE FOUNDATIONS EXACTLY AS WELL AS THE OTHER PROPOSITIONS OR BELIEFS. THE SECOND CRITIQUE EXAMINES THE OTHER SIDE OF MALCOLM’S THEORY BY WHICH FIDEISM WILL BE IRRESISTIBLE, BUT I THINK THE RELIGIOUS BELIEFS SHOULD NECESSARILY BE APPRAISED WITH RATIONAL THINKING; OTHERWISE THERE WILL BE NO WAY TO THINK ABOUT RELIGION AND IT WILL FINALLY BECOME A NON-RATIONAL OR EVEN IRRATIONAL THING. IN ADDITION THERE WILL BE NO WAY TO COMMUNICATE AMONG THE BELIEVERS AND NON-BELIEVERS, ALSO AMONG DIFFERENT RELIGIONS, EVEN AMONG BELIEVERS OF DIFFERENT SECTS OF A CERTAIN RELIGION SUCH AS CHRISTIANITY OR ISLAM AND SO ON.

THAT OUR PUBLIC LIFE NEEDS WHATEVER WISDOM WE CAN FIND, WHETHER RELIGIOUS OR SECULAR; THAT THE SCRIPTURES AND THE WISDOM TRADITIONS OF MAN ARE A RICH SOURCE OF SUCH WISDOM; THAT OUR RELIGIOUS AND SECULAR WORLD NEEDS FRAMEWORKS, PATTERNS, SETTLEMENTS AND INSTITUTIONS WITHIN WHICH THIS AND OTHER WISDOMS (BOTH RELIGIOUS AND SECULAR) CAN BE PUT FORWARD, LEARNED, TAUGHT, EXPLAINED, DISCUSSED, DISPUTED, DELIBERATED ABOUT AND HAVE PRACTICAL EFFECTS IN PUBLIC LIFE; THAT IN THE CONTEMPORARY WORLD AND IN OUR PRESENT ENVIRONMENT THE WAYS OF DOING THIS THAT HAVE BEEN WORKED OUT HAVE CONSIDERABLE POTENTIAL, BUT THAT THEY NEED TO BE BOTH CRITIQUED AND DEVELOPED MUCH FURTHER; THAT THERE IS A SPECIAL NEED TO DO FULLER JUSTICE IN THE PUBLIC SPHERE TO RELIGIOUS INTENSITIES, THOSE DEEP AND POWERFUL CONVICTIONS, UNDERSTANDINGS, DESIRES, COMMUNITY ATTACHMENTS, HABITS AND PRACTICES THAT ARE AT THE HEART OF EACH TRADITION, AND THAT ONE VITAL WAY OF DOING SO IS BY THOROUGH ENGAGEMENT WITH THE SCRIPTURAL TEXTS THAT ARE AT THE CORE OF THEIR IDENTITIES; AND, FINALLY, THAT BECAUSE RELIGIOUS INTENSITIES IN THE PUBLIC SPHERE RIGHTLY GIVE RISE TO DEEP FEARS OF FANATICISM, DIVISIVE CONFRONTATION AND BLOODY CONFLICT, ONE OF THE GREATEST NEEDS IS FOR THE HEALTHY INTENSITY OF PASSIONATELY WISE FAITH.

IN THE PAPER, I WILL ARGUE THAT THE SO-CALLED CHALLENGE BETWEEN SCIENCE, ESPECIALLY HUMANITIES OR SOCIAL SCIENCES, AND ISLAM, ESPECIALLY ISLAMIC JURISPRUDENCE OR “ALFIGH”, DERIVES FROM A MISLEADING UNDERSTANDING OF SCIENCE AND RELIGION UPON WHICH HUMANITIES OR SOCIAL SCIENCES HAVE METAPHYSICAL FOUNDATIONS, METHOD AND THEORETICAL CONCEPTS MIGHT BE CHANGEABLE ON THE ONE HAND, AND RELIGION, ESPECIALLY ISLAM, COULD AND MUST RESOLVE ALL HUMAN PROBLEMS AND DIFFICULTIES WITH THE JURISPRUDENCE ON THE OTHER HAND. ON THE BASIS OF SUCH A MISUNDERSTANDING, THE PROPONENTS OF CONFLICT BETWEEN ISLAM AND SCIENCE HAVE PRESUPPOSED THAT THEY CAN ESTABLISH THE ISLAMIC HUMANITIES. FIRST, I WILL ARGUE THAT THIS OPINION IS A MERE ILLUSION, AND THEN I WILL SHOW THAT THERE IS ANOTHER STANDPOINT UPON WHICH THERE WOULD NOT BE ANY CHALLENGE OR MIXTURE BETWEEN ISLAM AND SCIENCE.

THE TERM “PHILOSOPHY OF RELIGION” CAN BE EXPLAINED IN TWO DIFFERENT SENSES, ONE OF WHICH HAS BEEN USED HISTORICALLY PRIOR TO THE OTHER. THE FIRST POSSIBLE MEANING OF THE TERM, DERIVED FROM THE HEGELIAN NOTION OF PHILOSOPHY OF RELIGION, IS THE STUDY OF ABSOLUTE RELIGION, I.E. THE STUDY OF RELIGION AS A GENUS FOR CONCRETE RELIGIONS. THE SECOND MEANING, WHICH HAS BEEN PREVAILED IN CONTEMPORARY PHILOSOPHY OF RELIGION, IS TO EXPLORE PROBLEMS OF SPECIFIC RELIGIONS PHILOSOPHICALLY. ALTHOUGH THE FORMER MEANING OF THE TERM IS INDEPENDENT OF ANY KNOWLEDGE OF SPECIFIC RELIGIONS, “PHILOSOPHY OF RELIGION” IN ITS LATTER MEANING IS RELYING ON RELIGIOUS PROBLEMS. IN THIS SENSE, PHILOSOPHY OF RELIGION COULD BE RELIGIOUS, THAT IS THE PHILOSOPHER CAN PROBE INTO PROBLEMS OF A CONCRETE RELIGION. HENCE, PHILOSOPHY OF RELIGION CAN SIMULTANEOUSLY EXPLORE THE GENERAL PROBLEMS, WHICH RELIGIONS HAVE IN COMMON, AND THE PROBLEMS THAT BELONG TO A CONCRETE RELIGION IN PARTICULAR. IN THE LATTER, WHEN THE PROBLEMS ARE RAISED FROM A SPECIFIC RELIGION, THE INVESTIGATION OF THOSE PROBLEMS WOULD BE A RELIGIOUS PHILOSOPHY OF RELIGION. IT SHOULD BE NOTED THAT IN THIS VIEW OF THE NOTION, THE TERM “RELIGIOUS” HAS NOT ANY APOLOGETIC IMPLICATION, BUT IT MERELY DESCRIBES THE SPHERE OF THE PROBLEMS.

WE WILL CONFINE OURSELVES IN THIS WORK TO FOCUS ON THE NATURE OF THE RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN PHILOSOPHY AND PROPHECY AND WE WILL SUBMIT THE METAPHYSICAL TOPIC TO DEBATE IN THE PHILOSOPHY OF THE PROJECT WITH THE PROPHET ON THE LEVEL OF THE FOUNDATIONS; WE MEAN SPECIFICALLY THE STRUCTURE OF THE TRUTH. IF WE START FROM THE DIAGNOSIS OF THE STATUS OF THE MIND OF THE PHILOSOPHER AS A PREDOMINANT TOOL OF PERCEPTION, WON’T IT END US TO THE ADOPTION OF A CONTRADICTORY RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN HIM AND THE PROPHET? WE WILL NOT INTERPRET THE WHOLE ISSUE OF RELIGION BUT WE WILL FOCUS ON THE PERCEPTION OF IBN SINA. OUR CHOICE OF THIS PHILOSOPHER IS DUE TO HIS SPECIALIZED READING WHICH WE WILL REVEAL DURING OUR TREATMENT OF THESE MATTERS…

THE NEW AXIOLOGICAL APPROACH IN PHILOSOPHY OF RELIGION IS INTRODUCED. ONE INSTANCE OF AXIOLOGICAL APPROACH, EPISTEMOLOGICAL PRO-THEISM, IS DISTINGUISHED WHICH TAKES THE POSSIBILITY OF KNOWLEDGE TO BE CONDITIONED BY GOD'S EXISTENCE. TWO MAIN FORMS OF EPISTEMOLOGICAL PRO-THEISM, ANTI-SKEPTIC AND PRO-SCIENTIFIC, ARE CHARACTERIZED AND ROUGHLY FORMULATED. THEN, AXIOLOGICAL REASONING IS IDENTIFIED TO BE BASED ON REASON-TO-WISH AS OPPOSED TO REASON-TO-BELIEVE. AT THE END, TWO MAIN QUESTIONS ARE SINGLED OUT AS DEMANDING SPECIAL CONSIDERATION.

INTRODUCTION: ONE OF THE GREATEST QUESTIONS (ESPECIALLY IN THE MODERN WORLD) IS THE MEANING OF LIFE WHICH WAS NOT PROPOUNDED BOTH IN THE MIDDLE AGES AND RELIGIOUS SOCIETIES. THE QUESTION IS NOT AN EVERYDAY QUESTION, WHICH WE MIGHT ASK TO EXTRACT USEFUL INFORMATION FROM SOMEONE WHO HAPPENS TO POSSESS IT. IT IS NOT A SCIENTIFIC QUESTION, WHICH WE MIGHT POSE IN SEEKING AN EXPLANATION TO A PARTICULAR PHENOMENON...

PHILOSOPHY OF RELIGION IS NOW FACED WITH MANY QUESTIONS. ONE OF THE QUESTIONS IS HOW TRADITIONAL PHILOSOPHY OF RELIGION RESPONDS TO THE CHALLENGES POSED BY NEW RELIGIOUS MOVEMENTS SUCH AS EMBODIMENT OF OUR NOTION OF GOD AND STRANGE RELIGIOUS BELIEFS ABOUT METAPHYSICS. NEW RELIGIOUS MOVEMENTS SUCH AS ECKANKAR, CHURCH OF SATAN, RAJNISHISM, INDIAN MYSTICISM, BAHA'I FAITH AND UFO CULTS OR FLYING SAUCER CULTS HAVE CHANGED OUR CONCEPTION OF RELIGION AND ITS GOALS IN THE WAY THAT WE CAN DO NOTHING BUT MAKE A NEW PHILOSOPHY OF RELIGION. IN THIS ARTICLE WE WILL ATTEMPT TO EXAMINE SOME OF THE CHARACTERISTICS OF THIS MOVEMENT AND GIVE A NUMBER OF THE SOLUTIONS WE CAN POINT OUT IN ORDER TO SOLVE THEM, EMPHASIZING THAT TRADITIONAL PHILOSOPHY OF RELIGION SHOULD OPEN THE WAY TO THE NEW CONCEPTS IN RELIGION IN ORDER TO FORM A NEW CONCEPT OF THE PHILOSOPHY OF RELIGION.

“NEUROTHEOLOGY” REFERS TO THE MULTIDISCIPLINARY FIELD OF SCHOLARSHIP THAT SEEKS TO UNDERSTAND THE RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN THE HUMAN BRAIN AND RELIGION. HOWEVER, NEUROTHEOLOGY CAN BENEFIT FROM THE RICH DOCTRINES, TENETS AND TRADITIONS OF ISLAM AND MUSLIM SCHOLARSHIP AS A USEFUL AND MORE SPECIFIC PERSPECTIVE. ISLAMIC RITUALISTIC PRACTICES NOT ONLY INVOLVE EXOTERIC OBJECTIVE TRADITIONS OF ISLAM, BUT ALSO INCLUDE SUBJECTIVE INNER TRAINING OF SELF, WHICH IS THE RESULT OF NEUROLOGICAL PROCESSES OF THE VARIOUS COMPONENTS OF BRAIN STRUCTURES RELEVANT TO NEUROTHEOLOGICAL SCHOLARSHIP. FURTHERMORE, NEUROTHEOLOGY MIGHT BE USEFUL FOR UNDERSTANDING THE RATIONALE OF SPECIFIC ELEMENTS OF ISLAM AS THEY RELATE TO THE HUMAN EXPERIENCE ON PERSONAL LEVEL, SUCH AS THE EFFECTS OF PRAYER, FASTING AND OTHER RITUALS, AS WELL AS ON SOCIAL ASPECTS WHICH INCLUDE COMMUNITY-BASED RITUALS, SOME OF WHICH ARE UNIQUE TO ISLAM. THE BENEFITS OF THESE PRACTICES ON HUMAN MIND WOULD EXPAND OUR HORIZON IN THE EMPIRIC FIELD OF NEUROSCIENCE AND ENHANCE OUR ENLIGHTENMENT. THIS ARTICLE AIMS TO INTRODUCE NEUROTHEOLOGY IN GENERAL, AND TO CONSIDER ITS POSSIBLE APPLICATIONS IN THE CONTEXT OF ISLAM.

MOST RELIGIONS AS WE KNOW THEM TODAY ARE ORGANIZED AROUND ONE OR A GROUP OF TEXTS WHICH ARE CONSIDERED SACRED FROM ONE POINT OF VIEW OR ANOTHER. IT IS THIS UNIQUE CHARACTER THAT GIVES THEM A SPECIAL FORCE TO DEFINE ONE SPECIFIC RELIGION AND THE RELIGIOUS FAITH OF THE BELIEVERS. MOREOVER, THE SACRED TEXT FOUNDS A RELIGIOUS COMMUNITY AND IT CONSTITUTES A FUNDAMENTAL DISTINCTION POINT BETWEEN RELIGIONS. IF WE CANNOT BE CHRISTIANS AND MUSLIMS AT THE SAME TIME, IT IS NOT IN THE LEAST BECAUSE WE CANNOT ACCORD THE SAME PLACE TO THE BIBLE AND TO THE QURAN IN OUR LIVES. HOWEVER, IF THE SACRED TEXTS ARE EXCLUSIVE IN THE COMMITMENT THEY IMPLY, WHAT KIND OF DIALOGUE CAN THERE EXIST BETWEEN DIFFERENT RELIGIONS? IT IS MY AIM TO EXPLORE THE MEANING OF SUCH A DIALOGUE, BEYOND THE MERE THEORETICAL OBSERVATION OF SIMILARITIES BETWEEN RELIGIONS, BY THINKING ABOUT WHAT A SACRED TEXT ACTUALLY IS. FOR THIS PURPOSE, I WILL EXAMINE RICOEUR’S BIBLICAL HERMENEUTICS WHICH OPENS AN APPROACH TO THE GOSPEL BEYOND ITS LITERAL MEANING AND CONSIDERS IT A METAPHOR THAT SPEAKS ABOUT OUR EXISTENCE, HERE AND TODAY. IT IS PERHAPS THIS HERE AND TODAY OF OUR EXISTENCE THAT CAN MAKE US LOOK BEYOND THE TEXTUAL DIFFERENCES AND MAKE A BRIDGE BETWEEN DIFFERENT RELIGIONS.

I AM HONORED TO ADDRESS THIS DISTINGUISHED CONFERENCE. THE SUBJECT MATTER OF MY TALK WILL CONCENTRATE ON THE CRUCIAL AND INESCAPABLE INTERCONNECTION BETWEEN MYSTICAL EXPERIENCE, EPISTEMOLOGY AND METAPHYSICS. ITS PURPOSE WILL BE TO ILLUMINATE SOME OF THE KEY EPISTEMOLOGICAL AND METAPHYSICAL ISSUES TO WHICH CLAIMS REGARDING MYSTICAL EXPERIENCE GIVE RISE...