Christian philosophy

[PKJ]

What happened to christian philosophy? Did it die with the Renaissance?I'm especially thinking about epistemology.

 

[levi501]

Why it was busy seeing the virgin marry in a grilled cheese sandwich I pulled a john wilkes booth.

 

[TeddyKGB]

Are you familiar with the Transcendental Argument for God?

 

[Kaonashi]

It got replaced with Christian Apologetics

 

[TeddyKGB]

It got replaced with Christian Apologetics

Largely. But there are still the Bahnsens and van Tils of the world who think they understand logic at a more fundamental level than everyone else.

 

[Multi-Elis]

What do you meen by "christian philosophy"? There are many philosophies, some have nothing to do with theism, some have been adapted by christians (christian exestentials, for example) and in practice everybody follows a philosophy of life...

 

[PKJ]

What about christian epistemology, christian philosophy of mind, christian linguistics?

 

[Orontes]

What happened to christian philosophy? Did it die with the Renaissance?I'm especially thinking about epistemology.

There is an inherent tension in the very label "Christian Philosophy" as devotion to Christianity implies certain assumptions: i.e. Jesus is the Christ or other appeal that is not necessarily amenable to rational inquiry alone.

What may be typically considered Christian philosophy is either heavily Neoplatonic in scope or Scholastic. Both were more metaphysical in orientation rather than simply epistemic schema. The initial outside threat came from the reintroduction of Aristotle to the West (13th Century: this was the impetus to Scholastic thought). The internal check came via the Probablists i.e. William of Ockham (14th Cen.) Probablists challenged the metaphysical conclusions of Scholastic thought. The final outside critique came from Kant where he undercut the basis for making metaphysical claims by rational means alone.

Christian theology has continued from the Medieval Period on to the present.

 

[JBrian]

What happened to christian philosophy? Did it die with the Renaissance?I'm especially thinking about epistemology.

I don't think that one philosophy is inherently Christian. I think that some philosophies are more conducive and accurate in regards to Christian theism, but I'm not sure if there is X Phil.

 

[elman]

I don't think that one philosophy is inherently Christian. I think that some philosophies are more conducive and accurate in regards to Christian theism, but I'm not sure if there is X Phil.

I think the idea that God is Love and we please Him by loving our neighbor is inherently Christian.

 

[JBrian]

I think the idea that God is Love and we please Him by loving our neighbor is inherently Christian.

I think that is more theology. I can't think of a Christian form of epistemology, or metaphysics, etc. I guess Thomism could be considered so however.

 

[Patzak]

I think that is more theology. I can't think of a Christian form of epistemology, or metaphysics, etc. I guess Thomism could be considered so however.

But his epistemology and metaphysics were basically just expanded Aristotelism, nothing specifically Christian about them. They only become Christian with the introduction of concepts like the trinity etc, but Aquinas himself admitted this was a theological, not philosophical move.

Anyway, Heidegger once wrote that Christian philosophy was "a great misunderstanding" and I tend to agree with him. Not to disregard all the great Christian philosophers or those whose philosophies were influenced by Christianity, I just think that as soon as a philosophy embraces concepts theological enough to qualify it as Christian, it ceases being a philosophy and becomes wholly theological.

 

[elman]

But his epistemology and metaphysics were basically just expanded Aristotelism, nothing specifically Christian about them. They only become Christian with the introduction of concepts like the trinity etc, but Aquinas himself admitted this was a theological, not philosophical move.

Anyway, Heidegger once wrote that Christian philosophy was "a great misunderstanding" and I tend to agree with him. Not to disregard all the great Christian philosophers or those whose philosophies were influenced by Christianity, I just think that as soon as a philosophy embraces concepts theological enough to qualify it as Christian, it ceases being a philosophy and becomes wholly theological.

Is theology god based philosophy? Does philosophy not include theology?

 

[Patzak]

Is theology god based philosophy? Does philosophy not include theology?

It does, but not in a religious way. There's a branch of metaphysics called natural theology (or rational theology, I'm not sure) that deals with God as he can be known through reason (and observation) alone. So, it's certainly theology, since it concerns itself with God, but I wouldn't call it religious. It is of course influenced by the philosopher's own religion (for example Christian philosophers always deal with a single God; Plato, on the other hand, talks about a Demiourgos - the creator god, a seperate Divine Mind - which holds the plan for creation, and a Chora - the infinite substance of creation) - but I wouldn't call it religious, since it actively tries to exclude faith as a guiding principle.

 

[Orontes]

Is theology god based philosophy? Does philosophy not include theology?

It does, but not in a religious way. There's a branch of metaphysics called natural theology (or rational theology, I'm not sure) that deals with God as he can be known through reason (and observation) alone. So, it's certainly theology, since it concerns itself with God, but I wouldn't call it religious. It is of course influenced by the philosopher's own religion (for example Christian philosophers always deal with a single God; Plato, on the other hand, talks about a Demiourgos - the creator god, a seperate Divine Mind - which holds the plan for creation, and a Chora - the infinite substance of creation) - but I wouldn't call it religious, since it actively tries to exclude faith as a guiding principle.

Theology and philosophy are distinct. Theology is necessarily connected to and accepts the faith tradition it seeks to expound on. This is the case whether the theology is Buddhist, Muslim or Christian. Philosophy is the rational pursuit of truth. It admits no other assumptions. It is therefore a more fundamental mode of inquiry.

Natural theology is scholasticism. It is the product of the Christian Medieval Tradition specifically concerned with marrying Aristotelian thought to Christian cosmology. Its most famous thinker was St. Thomas.

 

[Parableman]

I suggest you take a look at Alvin Plantinga.

 

[Lifesaver]

What happened to christian philosophy? Did it die with the Renaissance?I'm especially thinking about epistemology.

Philosophy itself died during the Renaissance. Some good philosophical insights happened here and there, but mainly what happened in the so-called Renaissance was a huge retrocess in philosophy in all areas.
The study of formal logic, for instance, was only revived in the 20th century!

 

[PKJ]

Philosophy itself died during the Renaissance. Some good philosophical insights happened here and there, but mainly what happened in the so-called Renaissance was a huge retrocess in philosophy in all areas.
The study of formal logic, for instance, was only revived in the 20th century!

Because they had to re-discover Greek writers from the start, because of the Church. That took a while.

 

[Lifesaver]

Because they had to re-discover Greek writers from the start, because of the Church. That took a while.

The renaissance marked the end of study of the great Greek writers. Aristotle and Plato were read and well known during the Middle Ages.
They had already been very developed, and popular philosophies of the past (epicurism, stoicism) were also known and had been long surpassed, though their thinkers were valued in the intelligent or right things they had wrote. There was true advance in philosophy.

With the Renaissance, philosophy went back to the Pre-Socratics, the sophists; and rather than serious, academic philosophical debate, there were fads and fascination with style rather than substance.

That is not to say there were no worthy philosophical thinkers after the decadence of the Medieval period; but what happened was a great retrocess, a return to the most basic and crude kinds of philosophy, and a general disdain for logic.

 

[elman]

It does, but not in a religious way. There's a branch of metaphysics called natural theology (or rational theology, I'm not sure) that deals with God as he can be known through reason (and observation) alone. So, it's certainly theology, since it concerns itself with God, but I wouldn't call it religious. It is of course influenced by the philosopher's own religion (for example Christian philosophers always deal with a single God; Plato, on the other hand, talks about a Demiourgos - the creator god, a seperate Divine Mind - which holds the plan for creation, and a Chora - the infinite substance of creation) - but I wouldn't call it religious, since it actively tries to exclude faith as a guiding principle.

I don't see the distinction. I see faith as a part of all philosophy that deals with God or the supernatural and I see my theology being based on reason and observation. I think theology and philosophy are the same thing. Theology is just a more limted definition of a kind of philosophy that deals with the supernatural.