Sample Material of UPSC Mains Philosophy (Optional) Study Kit
Topic: Philosophy of Religion (Philosophy, Religion, Theology and Philosophy of Religion)
“While the salvation of the soul is the end of religion, the discovery of truth is the object of philosophy- - S. Radha Krishnan
In order to understand philosophy of religion and its significance we have to study primarily the definitions and ideas of philosophy and religion.
PHILOSOPHY
The word ‘philosophy’ is derived from the Greek words ‘Philos’ (love) and ‘sophia’ (wisdom), which etymologically means the love of wisdom or pursuit of knowledge. It is an tempt to arrive at a rational conception of the reality as a whole. It enquires into the nature of the universe in which* live, the nature of the human soul, and its destiny, and ‘the nature of God or the Absolute, and their relation to one another. It enquires into the nature of matter, time, space, causality, evolution, life, and mind, and their relation to one another. It is ht art of thinking all things logically systematically and persistenly.
The word “rational” is important. It emphasizes that philosophy, more obviously than other disciplines, rejects and condemns all foams of superstition, dogmatism, and uncritical opinion, and seeks to replace them with concepts that are born of hard and coherent thinking. Philosophy is, in this broad sense of the word, rationalistic; its principal tool is reason and its business is reflection, both critical and constructive, analytic (it takes’ ideas apart) and synthetic (it puts them back together). In short, the philosopher believes with Socrates that an unexamined life is not worth living.