As the main forms of spiritual activity, philosophy and religion took shape several millennia ago. At one time they were even inextricably linked, so it is quite difficult to draw a line between the philosophical and religious views of the ancients. Yet there are not only similarities between philosophy and religion, but differences as well.
Difference between philosophy and religion
Religious beliefs mean living in union with God. The purpose of such spiritual communication is often to find ways to save the soul and find a solid foundation in life. Those who are constantly in religion often find joy and peace of mind, feel peace and contentment.
Philosophy is the science of the most general laws of being, society and human thinking. She stands above personal interests. The ultimate goal of philosophical knowledge is to establish and comprehend the relationships between objectively existing phenomena of the material and spiritual world.
If religion implies the primacy of faith, then philosophy is built on a solid foundation of objective and verifiable knowledge about the nature of things.
Comprehension of religious truths does not require from a person logical constructions and clearly deduced proofs of the existence of God, who, according to theologians, is the basis of the universe. The dogmas of the church require faith, not scientific research and rigorous justification. Philosophy, on the other hand, seeks to find the objective fundamental principle of the world, relying on the achievements of modern sciences and empirical data that can be measured and systematized.
Similarities between philosophical and religious worldview
The main similarity between religion and philosophy is that both of these forms of spiritual activity are aimed at comprehending the truth. Both religion and philosophy seek to penetrate deeply into the essence of being and provide answers to those questions that have worried mankind since ancient times.
What is life and death? What are good and evil? What is the purpose of man and humanity as a whole? These and similar questions are at the center of religion and philosophy, although they are solved from different positions.
Religion, like philosophy, tends to get an answer to the question of the driving forces of life in the most general sense of the word. In both areas of spiritual activity, there is transcendence and transcendental experience. Some provisions of modern science, on which philosophy is based, are still unprovable, which translates them into the category of assumptions that require faith or denial.
Philosophy and religion actually help a person to create an integral picture of the world. Moreover, it often does not matter what methods and methods are used to achieve this goal. Both directions mutually enrich and complement each other, have a direct impact on the formation of a person's personality and his system of views on life, nature and society.
