How do I determine my philosophy?

It finally dawned on me a week or so ago that I wasn't really clear on the distinction between religion and philosophy, or whether one even existed. So often when presented with religious beliefs, I'm faced with questions that I now understand to be philosophical in nature.

Brother John Raymond summarizes it thusly:

"Philosophy, means to love wisdom. People conduct their lives under the assumption of their own philosophical insights. Even a little child often philosophizes when asking questions concerning aspects of the world they are experiencing. So, what is philosophy? To answer this question, we will need to consider the basic definition of it, the four general categories of it, and its relationship to the individual sciences and religion.

Basically, philosophy can be reduced down to the simple art of wondering. It encompasses all we experience. The only way it is possible is because of our ability as humans for reflection. Animals do not wonder what will happen after death. They can not raise their minds above their daily sustenance. On the other hand, some people lead their entire lives with very little wondering. Why is this? One possible explanation is that certain people have to struggle on a daily basis just to survive. Thus, philosophy becomes more applicable to an individual’s life when he has some time for reflection. We are not moved to wondering until we are posed with a problem. Can we wonder or doubt about everything? Fortunately, Saint Augustine was around to give us a starting point. He claimed that we can not doubt our existence. To doubt is to exist. This would seem to leave a very broad area to wonder about. Not only that, but we need some method to draw conclusions to our questions. To philosophize we must engage in two basic tasks. We must analyze our ideas to discover if we truly know them. Also, we must synthesize all our knowledge to find out if we can attain a larger and better view. Thus, the simple act of doubting or wondering is not enough to come to conclusions.

We will have to look at the well known philosophers to see how they put wondering into practice. They begin with a dialogue. Within the dialogue, they ask each other to clarify their reasons behind statements, give definitions, and pursue the implications of the statements. They reject authority or personal beliefs as reasons for accepting a statement. The method for reasoning which was chosen by philosophers is formal logic and informal logic. Thus, in a dialogue one has to learn how to ask questions and perceive meaningful answers.

Philosophy can be broken down into four general classifications. These are synoptics, activists, antinomians, and analytics. Synoptic philosophers try to understand every event in the largest possible way. Thus, they need a wide range of knowledge to obtain the overview they desire. Knowledge is seen to have a certain unity. All the parts must be understood in relationship to each other. The activists become involved in the world through their philosophy. They can be further classified into prophetic activists, pragmatists, and existentialists. Prophetic activists use philosophy to bring about major reforms in social conditions. The pragmatists contend that ideas only have meaning in relation to the practical results which they effect. The existentialist states that the only reality that is worthwhile is self-experience. Further, one must always concentrate on the present since past or future do not exist. The antinomians are those who deliberately choose to exist outside the accepted norms of society. They contend that anyone concerned about the quality of his existence must withdraw from the world. Finally, the analytics are mainly concerned with the analysis of ideas. They are preoccupied with the problems of clear thinking. Thus, these classifications give us an idea of what known philosophers dialogue about. Now that we have some knowledge of what philosophy is, we can compare it to the individual sciences and religion.

How does philosophy compare with religion? Again, we find different schools of thought on this issue. The first states that religion and philosophy have nothing to do with each other. They say that religious statements can not be falsified or verified. One can not use reason like in philosophy. Apparently, these people have not looked at Catholic Theology. The next school states that religion is a contradiction of philosophy. The next school gets even worse by claiming that philosophy tries to unmask religion. Another school states that there is a unity between religion and philosophy. "I believe in order to understand." The next school claims that religion is a higher philosophy. Only faith leads to true philosophy. Finally, the last proposal is that religion and philosophy are complementary. This position supported by Saint Thomas Aquinas seems to be the best to hold. Against the first three schools of thought, Saint Thomas argues that since our intellect and revelation come from the Same source, they can not contradict each other. The next two schools fall short due to the difference between faith and reason. Since faith transcends reason, it would seem to fall beyond philosophy. Philosophy is a rational science which bases conclusions on experience. Thus, the relationship between philosophy and religion seems to be a complementary one.

In conclusion, philosophy can be better understood in light of its basic definition along with the examples of philosophers. It also becomes clearer when compared to the individual sciences and religion. Thus, philosophy becomes the basic art of wondering. Examples of philosophers come under the four general categories of synoptics, activists, antinomians, and analytics. Philosophy differs from the individual sciences by trying to look at the whole picture, presupposing no method or object, and trying to get at the root of experience through reflection. Philosophy is complementary to religion since both the intellect and revelation come from the same source. They differ due to the fact that faith transcends reason. One can see all the different views of what philosophy is trying to do and its relationship to other disciplines. It has an impact on our individual lives depending on how much we apply ourselves to it. It also has had a major impact on whole cultures both now and in the past. Therefore, we see the need for proper understanding of this rational science which so effects our lives."

So I now feel pressed to find out what it is that I truly believe. In my many years I have been a Baptist, an agnostic, a Democrat, a Republican, a believer and a backslider. Being honest with myself, I really haven't believed in any idea that stayed with me for any considerable amount of time. I know that I try to differentiate right from wrong, that my family ranks towards the top of what is most precious for me. But aside from that my beliefs are all a jumble - no to abortion, no to capitol punishment, yes to uthenasia, yes to God, no to God. No to religion, yes to philosophy, no to intolerance, intolerance of the intolerant. Wow I've got a lot of sorting to do. I need to flesh this out a bit. I begin to read.