rick@hanauma (Richard Ottolini) (03/16/90)
A PHILOSOPHY is an intellectual abstraction. A RELIGION is a way of life, a social system. Most religions include a philosophy. A philosophy can grow to cover all aspects of life and guide all of one's daily decisions. Then is would be indistinguishable from a religion.
mukund@phoenix.Princeton.EDU (Mukund Srinivasan) (03/17/90)
In article <14568@phoenix.Princeton.EDU> rick@hanauma (Richard Ottolini) writes: >A PHILOSOPHY is an intellectual abstraction. >A RELIGION is a way of life, a social system. Most religions include a >philosophy. >A philosophy can grow to cover all aspects of life and guide all of one's >daily decisions. Then is would be indistinguishable from a religion. I have trouble with this because I seem to see the presence of GOD(s) very prominent in RELIGION. A philosophy need not profess any faith in a God, but a religion needs God and doesn't need to set out a way of life. Perhaps eastern religions also contain a lot of philisophy apart from a belief in God. In response to my earlier question about religions without worship of a God, there have been several positive responses. It appears that these religions acknowledge the existence of God(s), but do not require that he should be worshipped. I wonder if there are eastern religions which are atheistic, and if there are, should they be called as merely PHILOSOPHIES? -Maruti