Smoky Mountain Bible Institute
(Est. 2009) Lesson #68
Philosophy: what is it, and why does it matter? More
importantly, as this is a Bible institute, why does it or even should it matter
to a Christian? We looked at Ethics and
political philosophy last time, and now we come to a sort of catch-all for
multiple specialized branches of
philosophy. There are a number of realms of philosophy which some would debate
should or should not be on this list, but for the sake of this article we will
look briefly at six of these specialized branches.
Philosophy
of language explores the nature,
origins, and use of language. This is different from linguistics which is the
scientific study of language. Philosophy
of language is concerned with four questions: the nature of meaning, language
use, language cognition (understanding), and the relationship between language
and reality. This area of philosophy, combined with linguistics and study of
the history of language, is helpful in identifying the origins of all language
groups, which of course, is the plain south of the mountains of Ararat where
one language was split into many at the Tower of Babel.
Philosophy
of law, also called jurisprudence, studies
basic questions about law and legal systems, such as "what is law?",
"what are the criteria for legal validity?", "what is the
relationship between law and morality?", and similar questions. You can
often hear people say that one cannot legislate morality, but the truth is that
every law is a legislation of a moral code.
Philosophy
of mind studies the nature of the
mind; mental events, functions, properties, and consciousness, and the
relationship of all of these to the physical body, particularly the brain. This
is a large area of study with many different areas of research seeking to
understand and define the mind. Dualism, Monism, Mysterianism, Externalism, Internalism,
and Naturalism are all “isms” that are used in this area of philosophy. It even
has philosophies contained within it, Philosophy
of perception and Philosophy of mind
and science are considered part this area of philosophy.
Philosophy
of science explores the foundations,
methods, implications, and purpose of science. The central questions of this area
of study are concerned with what qualifies as science, the reliability of
scientific theories, and the ultimate purpose of science. The Lutheran scientist
Johannes Kepler described science as "thinking God's thoughts after Him”.
Christians are not opposed to science; we invented it as a way to clearly read
God’s book of creation!
Metaphilosophy, sometimes called the philosophy of philosophy, is
'the investigation of the nature of philosophy.' Its subject matter includes
the aims of philosophy, the boundaries of philosophy, and its methods.
Philosophy
of religion is the branch of
philosophy concerned with questions regarding religion, including the nature
and existence of God, the examination of religious experience, analysis of
religious vocabulary and texts, and the relationship of religion and science.
Other areas of philosophy used to work within this one include metaphysics and
logic. This area of philosophy, in discussing the question of the existence of
God, is where we get all the “isms” that describe the understanding of God. For
example, Theism (the belief in the
existence of one or more divinities or deities), Pantheism (the belief that God is immanent, existing as part of all
things), Panentheism (the belief
that God encompasses all things but is greater than all things; that is to say
that he is both immanent and transcendent), Deism (the belief that God does exist but does not interact with
the universe), Monotheism (the belief
that a single deity exists), Polytheism
(the belief that multiple deities exist), Henotheism
(the belief that multiple deities may or may not exist, though there is a
single supreme deity), Agnosticism (the
belief that the existence or non-existence of deities or God is currently
unknown or unknowable and cannot be proven), Atheism (the rejection of belief in the existence of deities), and
lastly, Apatheism (apathy towards
the existence of any supreme being).
I would also add to the above list Scientism (the belief in the universal
applicability of the scientific method and approach, and the view that
empirical science constitutes the most authoritative worldview), and Humanism (the belief that the
collective sum of human learning is the most authoritative worldview). Humanist
beliefs hold to the potential value and goodness of human beings. Humanism is
also a philosophical and ethical stance that emphasizes the value and agency of
human beings, individually and collectively. I add these to the list because many
who hold to them do so with religious fervor, and these two positions in
essence are choosing the collective human mind as God. Those who hold these views
would claim to be agnostic, atheist, or apatheist but they are in fact are
placing their faith in the human mind. That concludes our discussion of
specialized branches; next time we will address my favorite area of philosophy:
logic.
In
Christ,
Pastor
Portier
