Religionsfilosofin och frågandets existentiella innebörd

Abstract

Philosophy could be said to be that activity which clarifies human activity in its diverse forms. In this respect, there is something to the traditional description of philosophy as the queen of the sciences: the striving for scientific self-understanding leads one beyond the particular sciences into philosophy, but when there, there is no further sphere to go to, for the striving for philosophical self-understanding is itself philosophy. Since clarification is, at bottom, an existential task, striving for self-understanding could in the end be described as doing philosophy of religion: the striving for philosophical self-understanding leads one beyond the particular philosophical activities into philosophy of religion, but when there, there is no further sphere to go to, for the striving for existential self-understanding is itself philosophy of religion. The philosophy of religion is however, in its usual forms, when understood as one discipline alongside all the others, characterized by a comparatively low degree of self-understanding. How such a self-understanding could be gained is illustrated by a discussion of one debate in mainstream philosophy of religion – the one about miracles – and of that existential attitude lurking behind it.