The Connection between Philosophy and Religion
by Tatiana Velitchkov © 2009

There seems to be confusion most of the times over whether and just how religion and philosophy should be distinguished from each other. This confusion is indefensible because there are very sturdy similarity between religion and philosophy. Philosophy and religion are interconnected. These two usually deal with problems like, what is good, what it entails to live a good life, and what does it mean to live a good life. What is expected of us? Why are we here in the first place? These two mainly tend to rely on the act of reasoning. Both philosophy and religion tend to address many of the same issues.

There are similarities that show that religion can be philosophical but need not to and on the other hand, that philosophy can be also religion but need not to. It is as if we have two different words that mean almost the same. However, this is not because there are some real differences between the two, which demands looking at them as two different things even they sometimes have common characteristics. Philosophers mostly emphasize on the use of reasoning and decisive judgment while religion will make use of reasoning usually in connection to faith. Some philosophers have argued that reasoning on its own can never discover truth. This way they are describing the limitations of thinking in some way.

In religion and even in religious philosophy some reasoned arguments can be traced back to faith in God, idols, or religious beings discovered in some exposure. Religion differentiates well between the sanctified and the irreligious something, which is not found in philosophy. Many a times philosophers will converse about religious wonder, mysterious issues and the significance of sanctified items without necessary having some feelings of wonder and mystery around such items in philosophy. Religions require that people read sacred scriptures while philosophers will sometimes go back to notes on other philosophers.

Firstly, only religions have rituals. Religion marks ceremonies for vital life moments like birth, marriage, death and for different times of the year. Philosophy does not have such things as rituals. Philosophists do not adhere to any actions on rituals. The distinction between religion and philosophy should not be taken that the two are purely separate. Religion and philosophy deal with many of the same subjects. Many a times you will find a person engaged in both of the two at the same time.