General Information about Philosophy and Religious Studies

What is Philosophy?

Perhaps the best way to understand philosophy is to practice it. You'll find that philosophers characteristically focus on certain questions. Traditionally, philosophical questions fall into some broad areas. They are, with some illustrative questions:

• Metaphysics - What kinds of things exist? For example, do properties exist? God? Free Will? Minds? Is everything material?
• Epistemology - What constitutes knowledge? Do reason or experience provide justification for our beliefs? Are there adequate answers to skepticism?
• Ethics - What should we do? What makes an action good or bad? Should some things not be done even if the result would be good? Is there such a thing as evil?
• Aesthetics - What is art? What, if anything, makes something beautiful?
• Logic - What distinguishes good reasoning from bad? How do we evaluate arguments?
• History of philosophy - How have great thinkers from the past addressed philosophical questions? What reasons have they given for their answers? Were they successful?

Other questions don't fall neatly into these groups or overlap with a few of them. Oftentimes, they are placed in these more specialized areas:

• Philosophy of Mind - Are minds distinct from brains? What are minds? What sort of stuff are we made up of?
• Philosophy of Religion - Can religious beliefs be true or false? If they can, which are they?
• Philosophy of Science - What distinguishes good scientific reasoning from bad? What are the limitations of science?
• Social-Political Philosophy - What is justice? What is a social contract and what sort should we have? Is democracy the best system for government?
• Philosophy of Law - Is punishment justified? How should particular offences be punished?
• Applied Ethics - In what circumstances is abortion morally permissible? Is war ever justified? Should we use new technologies such as stem-cell research or cloning if they promise to give us longer or more productive lives? What is the nature of sexual harassment?

Why study Philosophy?

• You find yourself interested in one or all of the above questions.
• You're interested in exploring the way other people have answered questions like these over the course of history.
• You want to improve your ability to analyze problems and think your way through to solutions.
• You want to learn to write more clearly and cogently.
• You want to be more skilled at reading difficult texts.
• You're interested in going to law school or another professional school.

What is Religious Studies?

• Religious Studies oftentimes examines some trends of religion in the 19th and 20th Century.

• Some of the Eastern contributions of Hinduism, Buddhism, Confucianism, Taoism, and Zen Buddhism are explored.

• Religious Studies may review the "religions of the book", especially Zoroastrianism, Judaism, Christianity, and Islam, and the forces that shaped them.

• Some studies place special emphasis on an objective, scholarly reading of the Judeo-Christian scriptures.

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