Equality of Life Essay -- Argumentative Philosophy Religion Papers

I defend the uniqueness and irreducibility of religious forms of life from rationalistic criticisms. I argue that such a defense of religion affirms the fact of incommensurability between differing forms of life. Put differently, such a defense tacitly affirms ineradicable pluralism as well as cultural diversity. I contend that the defender of religion who argues from the incommensurability of this form of life must also give up all traces of "worldview exclusivism," the dogmatic claim to possess the one truth about the world. Finally, I argue that if we are to move into a future of peace, we must acknowledge that various forms of life are lived on a level playing field. That is, all forms have important contributions to make, and none have revelatory advantages over another. A critical discussion of differing forms of life will be concerned with cultural desirability of these forms. The Role of Philosophy in an Edifying Cultural Discussion of Religion A rationalistic agenda has traditionally dominated discussions in the philosophy of religion. Most of the discussions in this field have focused on an assessment of the rational coherency of religious belief, where "belief" is understood to name the intellectual assent religious believers are alleged to give to the propositional formulations of natural theology and creedal dogma. "Belief" in this sense is no different from the belief the analytic philosopher gives to the conclusion of logical arguments based on empirically verifiable premises. According to this way of understanding belief, both religion and philosophy are seen as competing forms of method with the same goal—uncovering or apprehending the one truth of mind-independent reality. Kai Nielsen is a well-known phi... ...lace. Importantly, by learning the foreign culture, Liberman is in the unique position of intimately understanding that culture, and can therefore highlight salient differences that emerge between the culture he has indwelled and the one he has momentarily left behind. Only by immersing himself in both cultures—that is, only by forsaking the search for a neutral vantage point—is he able to stand in a place from which comparision and criticism can be made of both sets of cultural practices (but, of course, only of these particular cultural practices—Aboriginal and European). Human reason is in operation here all along the line, yet nowhere in the foundational sense insisted upon in Enlightenment metaphysics and epistemology. (14) Beyond Objectivism and Relativism 91-92, my gloss in brackets. (15) Barry Allen, "Atheism, relativism, Enlightenment and truth," 175.