In his essay “Religious diversity: Where exclusivists often go wrong”, David Basinger argues that religious exclusivists, even if they are not obligated to do so, should examine their basic, core beliefs; especially when such beliefs are a subject of discussion in peer conflicts. As a result of this view, he continues to state that exclusivists who fail to see the importance in such an examination “have in a sense gone wrong” (Basinger 43). This essay will summarize and provide counterpoints to the arguments presented by David Basinger in his essay “Religious diversity: Where exclusivists often go wrong.
According to Basinger “an exclusivist is someone who believes that her perspective on a given issue is superior in the sense that she believes that her perspective alone is true or is at least closer to the truth than any other perspective” (43). Exclusivism-in the context of this essay-exists as a direct result of religious diversity. Diversity in religion is created by differing, irreconcilable beliefs found throughout various
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Notable exclusivists in the philosophical world believe there is no need for exclusivists to acknowledge they are in direct disagreement with epistemic peers. This belief is grounded in the idea that in order for an exclusivist to designate someone as a true epistemic peer, he or she must have aligning beliefs (Basinger 46). This conclusion can be drawn from the definition of exclusivism given by Basinger. If someone is a true exclusivist they believe that their perspective in a given situation is superior to all other beliefs. Therefore, in order for someone to be a true epistemic peer in the mind of an exclusivist, their beliefs would need to be aligned. Thus, as a result of this belief, there is no need to question the validity one’s own
When different political views and spiritual beliefs are put together, the consequences behind that mixture are often dire and it ultimately results to violence. He emphasizes the importance of learning the past as well as the most up-to-date events of these particular religions. Kimball does his best to explain why those types of problems tend to occur, but he also gives us insight as to how these problems can be corrected, which could lead to a better hope for the future. All it takes is people of good faith as well people of goodwill to come together to speak aloud against the fundamentalists.
In order to focus on the foundation of religions, locations and time of events are limited to the minimum. It “does not attept to give a rounded view of the religions considered.” (p.2) It tried to do reasonable justice to several perspectives instead of attempting to catalogue many types. When he decides which view to present, the guideline
In “Sam Harris: Religions Are Failed Sciences,” which is a video on YouTube under the channel Big Think, Sam Harris, an America neuroscientist, blogger, and philosopher, conveys his opposition for the term religion and the ideas behind it. Harris believes that the term religion is misleading to the general public, especially concerning specific religions, and this could result in people being influenced in an extremely bad way. Harris elaborates on his opinion by giving his audience two examples, while explaining the main differences between the two. Harris talks about how Jainism, which is a religion in India, followers believe in nonviolence and have no doctrine of holy war or self-defense. On the other hand, Harris explains that Islam followers
Ronald H. Nash dedicates the first part of his book to the overview of Exclusivism and to address the arguments of leading pluralists, especially those of John Hick. Nash provided a good explanation and defense of Christian Exclusivism using sound biblical criticism and logical arguments. Nash narrates the books while using a simple language that is easy to read and understand, thus the book is suitable for a general audience. The setting of the book is the early stages of John Hick’s pluralism. Nash begins his text book narrative providing the three major reasons why he has written the book.
Every Resident Advisor (RA) answers the on-call phone with a bit of apprehension, but when the caller tells you that they are concerned that their friend may hurt herself physically, all your nerves stand on edge. It was this experience and others like it that reaffirmed my decision to pursue a career in the Healthcare field with a specific interest in mental health. My life’s journey began on a small multiracial island where we believed and practiced “every creed and race find an equal place,” these words taken from our country’s national anthem. In our multicultural society, religion played a large role in influencing the societal norms and practices which were of a conservative nature.
This essay will define Black feminist epistemology is the study of how the knowledge that is cultivated by black feminists is or can be proved or shown to be rational. This essay will then state that Black feminists will encounter epistemologies that are either Black feminist or White male and that the process of the verification of knowledge is dominated by homogenous groups and the opinions of minorities such as Black women are often ignored due to this. The essay will show that therefore Black feminist epistemology states that the criteria for the credibility of knowledge should be the use of lived experience, the use of dialogue to evaluate knowledge claims, the use of the ethics of caring and the ethic of personal accountability. Epistemology
James Harvey Robinson once said, “Most of our so-called reasoning consists in finding arguments for going on believing as we already do.” Peter Elbow’s “The Believing Game,” extends on this idea (without directly referencing it) in many ways. In “The Believing Game,” Elbow asserts the idea that our society is built around methodological skepticism. We have ingrained in ourselves this skepticism, but have methodologically separated it from the act of reject/not believing. Elbow acknowledges the usefulness of this, but sees it as only a half (albeit, a very useful half).
Why College Matters to God In the introductory chapter of Why College Matters to God, the author focused on what a worldview is and why it is important in a Christian college setting. According to the author, “A worldview is a framework of ideas, values, and beliefs about the basic makeup of the world.” One point made was that worldviews are more about actions, not just beliefs.
In relation to Christianity, Ninian Smart’s Seven Dimensions of religion seem to all be at play and sometimes overlap between dimensions. But because Christianity is such a vast religion with many subdivisions and differing views, certain dimensions that are consistent throughout the differing sects play a greater role than other dimensions that are less consistent across sects. Consistently prioritized in this religion are the aspects of the ritual or practical dimension, the ethical or legal dimension, and the experiential or emotional dimension. For Christianity, the ritual or practical dimension applies to the various forms of worship, prayer, and other practices of the Christian church.
Have epistemologists managed to provide the sufficient conditions for propositional knowledge? Epistemologists study knowledge, in particular what makes something knowledge. In this essay I will be looking at several arguments for the sufficient conditions for propositional knowledge. I will assess each one to show that the only true argument for propositional knowledge is Infallibilism.
I will do an essay on the heated topic of intellectual pluralism. As an international affairs student with a multicultural background, I believe I am able to give my arguments on this topic. Intellectual pluralism does not belong in a democracy because it does not respect its basic definition and encourages intolerance. Consequently, I will present three assertion proving the fallibility of the idea of intellectual pluralism, and therefore, offer an in depth examination of the arguments in its favor, followed by my answer, which defends the opposite vision: purism. As previously stated in this essay, this text defends one position, purism, against an other one, intellectual pluralism.
What causes someone to become an atheist? Does objective rationality eventually lead to the rejection of God, or does the experience of life lend itself to the same conclusion? In Faith of the Fatherless: the Psychology of Atheism, Paul Vitz examines the concept of atheism from an interesting angle, by studying the psychology of the leading atheists. He attempts to discover what psychological factors might lead a person to embrace atheism. What he finds is a startling similarity in the family life of many notable atheists, particularly with regard to their relationship with their fathers.
Therefore, what the individual may perceive as a truth to them, may not be the same for another person. To expand on this, Leibniz explains in his argument that the ‘general truth’ that we obtain does not count as sufficient enough evidence because the individual cannot be one hundred percent certain that they will get the same exact results a second time by only relying on their senses (Leibniz, New Essays on
In this essay I will be discussing the concept of toleration and its importance for pluralist societies. The concept of toleration is difficult to understand because when you tolerate someone or something you do not necessarily agree with it, you just do not act out in violence because of it. Tolerance shows that individuals acknowledge that other individuals have the right to believe in what they want to even though it may not be what others also believe in. This acknowledgment is important in a pluralist society because in order for a pluralist society to exist and function well, the society must practice the act of tolerance. In a pluralistic society, there are a diverse group of religious cultures and traditions.
Epistemic Knowledge -what is it and why is it important? Epistemic knowledge is a knowledge of building knowledge itself, the crucial components of involved in the process of building knowledge and the capacity of justifying the knowledge produced by science such as a hypothesis, a theory or an observational claims(diSessa, 1993; Duschl, 2007). Epistemic knowledge plays a paramount role on how we know what we know. Such knowledge enables to understand the nature of science(diSessa, 1993). Understanding nature of science demands to identify scientific theory from hypothesis as well as scientific facts from observations (Hammer, 1994; Laudato, 2010).