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Issues in Philosophy

n balance that the predominant focus on the readings thus far is on the analytic methodology. This is evident in the work of William James, for example. Discussion of various fallacies (pp. 48--50) is further evidence of the emphasis that is placed on the analytic approach in the text thus far.

While religion, philosophy and science share some salient features, they are representations of significantly different approaches to understanding the self and the world. Religion seeks to identify the existence of a Prime Mover, a Supreme Being, or a Creator-Deity at work in the world. It also uses metaphysical and ontological "proofs" of such an existence or Being to illustrate the ways in which human existence has been shaped and formed, and to assess the proper relationship between man and God and man and his fellow human beings. Often, religion and theological inquiry draw upon the "natural law" to posit that there are observable and knowable proofs that God exists.

Further, religion is focused in a striving for spiritual perfection and recognition of the Problem of Evil in the world. Several arguments (the argument from design, the First Cause argument, the ontological argument) are advanced to identify the existence of God. Unlike science, which rests largely upon the use of an empirical method of identifying causes and their effects, religion requires acceptance of a single verity: that there must be and is a Supreme Being or a First Cause.

Science has replaced truth by authority because it calls for reliance on the scientific method. In this method, the scientist begins by making a large number of observations of some aspect of the world and then testing empirically (or experimentally) the validity of a theory emerging from these observations. Science moves methodologically from observation to theory and then to generalizations or universal statements with predictive ability. Science is, ultimately, an attempt to ...

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Issues in Philosophy. (1969, December 31). In LotsofEssays.com. Retrieved 14:32, March 28, 2024, from https://www.lotsofessays.com/viewpaper/1695952.html