Religious Disagreement

Elements in the Philosophy of Religion

by Helen De Cruz

This Element examines what we can learn from religious disagreement, focusing on disagreement with possible selves and former selves, the epistemic significance of religious agreement, the problem of disagreements between religious experts, and the significance of philosophy of religion. Helen De Cruz shows how religious beliefs of others constitute significant higher-order evidence. At the same time, she advises that we should not necessarily become agnostic about all religious matters, because our cognitive background colors the way we evaluate evidence. This allows us to maintain religious beliefs in many cases, while nevertheless taking the religious beliefs of others seriously.

Genres: Religion

76 pages, Paperback

Published November 15, 2018

About the author

Helen De Cruz was a Belgian philosopher and Danforth Chair of Philosophy at Saint Louis University who specialised in philosophy of religion, experimental philosophy, philosophy of blogging, and philosophy of cognitive science. She was also an activist supporting the rights of EU citizens in the context Brexit.

Reviews

[Jeffrey Howard · Rating 4 out of 5]

While aimed more toward philosophers of religion, Cruz's book offers us some lessons on what we can learn from religious disagreement.

Religious Disagreemnt is a reminder to remain intellectually humble and to take seriously the religious beliefs of others. This isn't to say all religious beliefs are equal, nor that we should defer to "religious experts" for privileged insight. Instead, we should be intellectually curious about religion and the benefits that can come from religious disagreement. Reasoned discourse can offer some ways forward for a world with "polarizing and tribalizing beliefs."

[Avel Deleon · Rating 5 out of 5]

Helen De Cruz, a philosopher, whose work I closely follow writes eloquently about the nature of disagreement in the context of religion. The short, insightful book is a must read for all of those interested in the philosophy of religion, disagreements, and the common religious person.