Philosophy of religion

The philosophy of religion is that branch of philosophy concerned with religion and religions. It It differs from philosophical theology in that the philosophy of religion applies philosophy to religion, while theology applies philosophy to questions and problems within religion. There is considerable overlap, however, between the topics and methods of the two disciplines.

The philosophy of religion typically investigates metaphysical questions such as the nature of religion, the existence and nature of a god or gods, and the possibility of miracles, epistemological questions such as the status and nature of faith and of religious experience, questions of the possibility and nature or religious language, and ethical questions concerning the relationship between morality and a god or gods.

(In what follows, the term "god" will be used to stand for "a god or gods".)

Further reading

Collections of readings

• Ann Loades and Loyal D. Rue [edd] Contemporary Classic in Philosophy of Religion. La Salle, Illinois: Open Court, 1991. ISBN0-8126-9169-5
• Eleonore Stump and Michael J. Murray [edd] Philosophy of Religion: The Big Questions. Oxford: Blackwell, 1999. ISBN 0-631-20604-3

General and introductory monographs

• Brian Davies An Introduction to the Philosophy of Religion. Oxford: Oxford University Press, 1993. ISBN 0-19-289235-5
• Robin Le Poidevin Arguing for Atheism: An Introduction to the Philosophy of Religion. London: Routledge 1996. ISBN 0-415-09338-4
• J.L. Mackie The Miracle of Theism. Oxford: Oxford University Press, 1982. ISBN 0-19-824682-X
• Arvind Sharma The Philosophy of religion: A Buddhist Perspective. Delhi: Oxford University Press, 1997. ISBN019564272-4
• Charles Taliaferro Contemporary Philosophy of Religion. Oxford: Blackwell, 1998. ISBN 1-55786-449-7

See also

• Natural theology
• Psychology of religion
• Sociology of religion
• Theology