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Philosophy without Religion

MajikPiG

New Blood
M
Joined
Oct 22, 2007
Messages
13
Hey all,

I'm a bit of a philosopher myself, and I've read quite a bit out there from the famous names. However, I'm looking for something special, and I think maybe some forum members can help me.

I'm looking for writings by philosophers that are about knowledge, science, and the field of philosophy that don't rely on or refer to religion or religious writings. I know there are a few out there that are on the subject of civics that don't include it, and I've read some of these documents (well translations of them) by Plato, mainly. But are there some that I haven't found yet on the nature of knowledge and science, or perhaps about nature itself that don't mention or barely mention religious topics?

I'm not really looking for documents that try to disprove the existence of God, just documents or philosophers that disregard religion as if it were of no consequence.

Thanks,
Matt
 
MajikPiG said:
Hey all,

I'm a bit of a philosopher myself, and I've read quite a bit out there from the famous names. However, I'm looking for something special, and I think maybe some forum members can help me.

I'm looking for writings by philosophers that are about knowledge, science, and the field of philosophy that don't rely on or refer to religion or religious writings...
Click to expand...

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Image:RWS-00-Fool.jpg

The tarot's Fool key might fit here. The symbolism of 0, zero, suggests a concept which comes before our intellectual ideas about God. The name Fool implies that it is foolish to think that the concept of God can be defined.

The philosphy it comes from is Qabalah, which is a cross between Kabbalah and Hermetic/gnostic freemasonry-type teachings, supposed to be root of all knowledge about everything, the whole enchilada, but not tied to any particular religion.
 
Aquila said:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Image:RWS-00-Fool.jpg

The tarot's Fool key might fit here. The symbolism of 0, zero, suggests a concept which comes before our intellectual ideas about God. The name Fool implies that it is foolish to think that the concept of God can be defined.

The philosphy it comes from is Qabalah, which is a cross between Kabbalah and Hermetic/gnostic freemasonry-type teachings, supposed to be root of all knowledge about everything, the whole enchilada, but not tied to any particular religion.
Click to expand...

This is one of those rare posts in which I honestly have no idea wtf the poster is talking about.
 
Aquila said:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Image:RWS-00-Fool.jpg

The tarot's Fool key might fit here. The symbolism of 0, zero, suggests a concept which comes before our intellectual ideas about God. The name Fool implies that it is foolish to think that the concept of God can be defined.

The philosphy it comes from is Qabalah, which is a cross between Kabbalah and Hermetic/gnostic freemasonry-type teachings, supposed to be root of all knowledge about everything, the whole enchilada, but not tied to any particular religion.
Click to expand...


Yuck.

Utter rubbish.
 
Aquila said:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Image:RWS-00-Fool.jpg

The tarot's Fool key might fit here. The symbolism of 0, zero, suggests a concept which comes before our intellectual ideas about God. The name Fool implies that it is foolish to think that the concept of God can be defined.

The philosphy it comes from is Qabalah, which is a cross between Kabbalah and Hermetic/gnostic freemasonry-type teachings, supposed to be root of all knowledge about everything, the whole enchilada, but not tied to any particular religion.
Click to expand...

11665471e9f409d6e5.jpg
 
Thanks. Lots of great responses to this. I'm going to hunt up some Popper, Berkley, and Hume.

Thanks,
Matt
 
When you've finished with Popper, Hume and Berkeley be sure to pick up Thomas Kuhn's "The Structure of Scientific Revolutions" must read for every skeptic.

Also when you're feeling brave:
- Kant, Kritik der Reinen Vernunft (Critique of Pure Reason?)
- Wittegenstein, Tractatus Logico Philosophicus and On Certainty

Good luck!
 
Aquila said:
The name Fool implies that it is foolish to think that the concept of God can be defined.
Click to expand...

A god is an infinite bag of abilities. Thanks to transfinite mathematics, we know there is no largest infinity. So either one of the following is true, assuming at least one god even exists:

- There is always an infinitely larger god

- There is a top god, but this god is not the most powerful god possible.


Take your pick. There's always another possible god who can do everything your god can do, and beat him up as well.
 
Aquila said:
[Link removed due to my limited privileges]

The tarot's Fool key might fit here. The symbolism of 0, zero, suggests a concept which comes before our intellectual ideas about God. The name Fool implies that it is foolish to think that the concept of God can be defined.

The philosphy it comes from is Qabalah, which is a cross between Kabbalah and Hermetic/gnostic freemasonry-type teachings, supposed to be root of all knowledge about everything, the whole enchilada, but not tied to any particular religion.
Click to expand...

Ehmm, well, no actually. Qabalah is actually pretty closely tied in with numerological study of the Torah. Pretty closely tied in with a specific religion I'd say. That renaissance occultists/neoplatonists ran with it does not detract from that.

It's philosophy like this that gives philosophy it's bad name and gets it lumped in with religion in these forums. :mad:
 
MajikPiG said:
I'm looking for writings by philosophers that are about knowledge, science, and the field of philosophy that don't rely on or refer to religion or religious writings.

..are there some that I haven't found yet on the nature of knowledge and science, or perhaps about nature itself that don't mention or barely mention religious topics?
Click to expand...

Hi Matt,

Bertrand Russell springs to mind - although, as a rather vociferous atheist, he did have his moments where religion was a focus

Philosophy for Laymen
from: Unpopular Essays
Philosophy has thus been closely related to science on the one hand, and to religion on the other.

Let us consider first the relation to science. Until the eighteenth century science was included in what was commonly called 'philosophy', but since that time the word 'philosophy' has been confined, on its theoretical side, to what is more speculative and general in the topics with which science deals.

<snip/>
In Greek times, and down to the time of Newton, planetary theory belonged to 'philosophy', because it was uncertain and speculative, but Newton took the subject out of the realm of the free play of hypothesis, and made it one requiring a different type of skill from that which it had required when it was still open to fundamental doubts.
Click to expand...

Another good resource: The Bertrand Russell Archives at McMaster University
 
Aquila said:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Image:RWS-00-Fool.jpg
The tarot's Fool key might fit here. The symbolism of 0, zero, suggests a concept which comes before our intellectual ideas about God. The name Fool implies that it is foolish to think that the concept of God can be defined.
Click to expand...
Indeed. Which is why the whole Tree of Life falls through the hole at daath.

Aquila said:
The philosphy it comes from is Qabalah, which is a cross between Kabbalah and Hermetic/gnostic freemasonry-type teachings, supposed to be root of all knowledge about everything, the whole enchilada, but not tied to any particular religion.
Click to expand...

Or it is a big Jewish joke. Seriously -- I studied that whole Quabalah thing (I even managed to slog through the omnibus edition of Book 4). Some awesome symbolism, but ultimatly subjective and nonfalsifiable. You want a decent explanation of the universe, bone up on physics and algorithmic information theory.
 
MajikPiG said:
Hey all,

I'm a bit of a philosopher myself, and I've read quite a bit out there from the famous names. However, I'm looking for something special, and I think maybe some forum members can help me.

I'm looking for writings by philosophers that are about knowledge, science, and the field of philosophy that don't rely on or refer to religion or religious writings. I know there are a few out there that are on the subject of civics that don't include it, and I've read some of these documents (well translations of them) by Plato, mainly. But are there some that I haven't found yet on the nature of knowledge and science, or perhaps about nature itself that don't mention or barely mention religious topics?

I'm not really looking for documents that try to disprove the existence of God, just documents or philosophers that disregard religion as if it were of no consequence.

Thanks,
Matt
Click to expand...
Am I the only one that thinks that when someone describes themselves as a philosopher they are full of it?
 
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